Author: Curarist

A mixed bag of write-ins and more obscure ones. Not sure I am happy with the rule-breaking 2d, especially in the quickie. Favourite has to be the elegant 9a, LOI (last one in) 14d Across … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1364 by Joker”

I made unnecessarily heavy weather of this, but in retrospect I think it is quite fair. One problem is I’m typing in the car while Mrs Curarist drives us down to Folkestone with the sole … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1354 by Hurley”

I have not come across Alconiere before, but this was excellent. Engaging and elegant without being too difficult. 8 min for me. Across 1 Regret turning back on footwear vandal (8) SABOTEUR – Regret is … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1344 by Alconiere”

I enjoyed this, and I don’t think it’s too taxing. A couple of engineered anagrams, a tad of slightly obscure vocab, and some pleasingly corny homophones. I got repeatedly interrupted so I don’t know how … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1334 by Orpheus”

This was not straightforward. I seemed to do quite a lot of biffing* for a QC, with the parsing only coming later. There are a couple which I don’t think quite work, and a few devices … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1324 by Pedro”

This was more of a challenge than I have had in recent blogs, mainly because of defective general knowledge on may part. There is a good range of clues, though. A couple of very old … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1314 by Teazel”

So I’m in another French alpine hotel with sub-dialup WiFi speed, and because the Times page took so long to refresh I almost ended up blogging yesterday’s, which would have been interesting. Another straightforward one, … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1304 by Joker”

Not a difficult puzzle, but praise due for lots of very smooth surfaces, and very few clunkers. A tad over 6 minutes for me Across 1 Crucial point made in last bit of poetry? (6,4) … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1294 by Wurm”

Morning all. I’m a bit up against it today, so have to be brief. Luckily Mara has given me an easy one. 6 Minutes, Across 7 Dog tooth (6) CANINE – doouble definition 8 Fabulous … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1284 by Mara”

I seem to have tackled this one without serious obstruction, despite my ignorance of equine anatomy. 11ac seems to be some sort of error, but a pleasant solve overall. Across 1 Before disaster, switch footwear … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1274 by Mara”