Author: Curarist

A welcome 6-minute romp for me after a bit of a late night. Not too hard but very neatly clued and thoroughly enjoyable. Contains a few of the staple niche definitions found in crosswordland, that some … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1504 by Joker”

A pleasant 6-minute solve for me. Plenty of anagrams, a couple of double definitions, and a very nice triple, too which you don’t see often in the QC. I was more thrown by the few that were … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1494 by Hurley”

Perhaps a bit chewier than recent offerings, but with a fair share of write-ins. LOI 1 dn, which I did not know. Across 1 Support friend grabbing editor to issue retractions? (4-5) BACK-PEDAL – BACK … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1484 by Rodney”

Well, the theme of today seems to be the compound anagram, 15ac, 3dn, 5dn, 16dn. Assuming that doesn’t throw you it’s a pretty straighforward offering today. I love the Dallas reference, who’s going to claim … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1474 by Felix”

Well, I started badly by solving yesterday’s by mistake, then wondering why Therotter had already blogged it and 30+ people had already commented on it. The perils of leaving browser windows open. Anyway, this was … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1464 by Tracy”

This one was fun, and a pangram no less, which helped when I was staring at 2dn and realised I still needed a Q. A good range of difficulty, 11 min for me. Across 7 … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1454 by Alfie”

A gentle workout today, though I overthought 4 down because of a common 15×15 trigger word. 6 minutes for me. Across 1 Finally wheel in lots of compost (5) MULCH – L (last letter of wheel) … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1444 by Hurley”

Now, I’m going too stick my neck out and say this is a nice easy one that should generate some quick times, provided the mild general knowledge required doesn’t cause trouble. 6dn my favourite Across … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1434 by Breadman”

Nothing too scary today, though 21dn might be a trap for the unwary. I was held up for ages by my inability to spell 14dn, which doubled my time, and I kept getting the “UNLUCKY!” alert … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1424 by Joker”

So, not straightforward I would posit; took me well over 10 minutes. Rather rewarding in the end though. There’s a great example of an important device that beginners should all learn from: the familiar two-word phrase which needs … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1414 by Wurm”