Author: Curarist

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”

Bit more of a workout today. Took a while to get going, straightforward in the middle then held up at the end. I liked the surface at 20, and I was suitably wrongfooted by 4 … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1204 by Oran”

In contrast to recent blog outings, I had a very low-resistance trip through this one, coming in a shade under 6 minutes. It seems to be a very fair and straightforward puzzzle, and hopefully a … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1194 by Rongo”

I rather liked this, though it took me ages to get going. Fairly straightforward in the end, but I suspect it may take a few casualties. The reason I think it might be a bit … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1184 by Mara”

Well, well. I dread to think what any solver would make of this if they had never heard of the TV series Only Fools and Horses. For those of us based in the UK, it … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1174 by Del Boy”