Author: Curarist

Seasons greetings one and all. So there’s a fairly obvious theme here, and also some obscure vocabulary. I imagine the latter is there so that the former can be crowbarred in. But wordplay is fairly easy overall, … Read more “Eleven Days of Christmas – QC 1774 by Noel”

Nothing to scare the horses here, I think. Overall a nice set of surfaces, my favourite has to be 10ac. 6 minutes for me. Across 1 Look at and follow monitor (8) WATCHDOG – WATCH  … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1764 by Tracy”

Right, so what to say about this one. Fairly chewy in places, some not-altogether-straightforward vocabulary, but enjoyable nonetheless. I’m not sure about 1dn, but I expect someone who owns four different dictionaries will provide definitive … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1754 by Margaret and Bob”

An enjoyable puzzle, pitched about right I would say. I was steaming through to start with but slowed as I got further south. I has held up by 19ac, 21ac and 18dn, for reasons that are … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1744 by Trelawney”

I found this relatively straightforward. Rather a lot of multi-word double definitions. I enjoyed 3d and 5d, and got tripped up by 2d. I came in at c. 8 min. Across 1 Take foolish risks … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1734 by Tracy”

Generally straightforward with a couple of chewy ones. 3d took me a while to spot. Just over 6 minutes for me Across 1 Left excellent, decorative fabric (4) LACE – L + ACE 4 Encountered … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1724 by Pedro”

Well, this is a bit of a multi-definition fest, including two rather neat triples. Not too hard I’d say, 8 min for me. COD 8dn Across 1 Rent holiday place on the Adriatic (5) SPLIT … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1714 by Juno”

I found this thoroughly enjoyable. Some fairly convoluted wordplay, but not too difficult. Describing a banjo as a ‘sort of guitar’ sounds like it might upset a purist somewhere. 6 minutes Across 1 Miser upset … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1704 by Joker”

Nice and easy this week. Hard to pick a winner, but I rather like 18dn for its absurd surface. 5 minutes for me. Across 1 Greek character with naughty crime at sea (6) PIRACY – PI + … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1694 by Trelawney”

Seemed a bit chewy at the time, but is fairly straigtforward in retrospect, which means the surfaces are clever. LOI 6dn – they get me every time. Curarist’s third law states that if you’re completely stumped, it’s probably … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1684 by Joker”