Author: Curarist

Decent rattle through today, which was welcome after recent blogging days. Nothing too tricksy, no Ninas. Took far too long to spot the parsing of 17ac so I suppose that’s my CoD. 6 minutes. Across … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1134 by Izetti”

Now, I expect this one will divide opinion. It was an enjoyable solve, and the wordplay is by and large reasonable, with the exception of 2dn maybe, and possibly 26ac if you think reversed hidden … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1124 by Alfie”

Right. Somewhat more challenging than usual I’d say – 12 Minutes for me. Having said that the wordplay is never that sneaky, although 11dn might trip up some. I think it is down to some … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1114 by Izetti”

Well, what to say here? I expect all will find this straightforward for the most part, given the number of parsings that are just A+B+C. I suspect it is deliberately so after a recent series … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1104 by Felix”

Last time I completely misjudged the mood of the room and praised a puzzle that you all thought was a stinker. This week, I’m going to stick my neck out again and risk my remaining … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1094 by Pedro”

I enjoyed this. A little more challenging than usual, but all the better for it. Some of the answers are obscure (to me) but presented with straightforward wordplay, so fair enough. Took me around 12 … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1084 by Wurm”

6 minutes without any major challenges. A good demonstration of the art of the Double definition, some of which (11ac, 3dn) had me thinking. I wonder if the setter is mourning the news that there … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1074 by Felix”

Managed to make this one take 10 minutes, but it’s hard to see why, given how most of the parsings seem to be X + Y. A bit of a quibble with 9ac, but nothing … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1064 by Joker”

I rather liked this. Not sure I have blogged Des before, but this one has a certain wit about it and certainly raised a few smiles. At one point I thought there was a very … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1054 by Des”

I’m writing this in a French hotel with the most pathetically slow internet connection, which feels like I’m sending every word by carrier pigeon. Nothing to scare the horses here, I think. It started very … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1044 by Mara”