Author: Curarist

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”

Pretty straightforward today from Felix. I don’t know how often he sets but I wonder if there’s a story behind the self-referential 2dn. Quite a lot of anagrams (7), some clunkier than others. LOI 12dn, … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1264 by Felix”

It’s all going wrong today. First there is the error at 23 ac which threw me. Then distracted by that, I failed to spot a typo elsewhere and was plugging in ever more ridiculous answers … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1254 by Izetti”

Very much a puzzzle of two halves for me – write-ins on the East side, and more tricky on the West. None of it helped by the slightly tricky grid design which means you don’t … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1244 by Kenny”

NIce and fair, very straightforward. I biffed quite a few. Given the number of this puzzle I was on the lookout for a nina, but I can’t spot one. 5 and a half minutes. (BIFFED: … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1234 by Flamande”

On reflection I see I’ve been a bit harsh on this one, nitpicking a couple of the definitions. What I realise now is that, as a whole, it is a masterclass in the art of … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1224 by Joker”

Nothing to scare the horses this morning. Started off with a long sequence of write-ins, and apart from the minor peeve at 9ac, a pleasant solve. Hard to pick a winner, perhaps 6dn for the elegant surface. … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1214 by Teazel”