Solving time 25 minutes A far better puzzle than recent offerings with some testing wordplay. I found the eastern half easier than the western and solved in a circle starting in the NE and finishing … Read more “Times 24,516 Of Tanners and Knuckle Sanwiches”
Author: dorsetjimbo
Mephisto 2588 by Tim Moorey
After some reasonable standard puzzles last week’s (2587) was a little easier but any concern was misplaced. This puzzle was back in the groove. It appeared on the same day as the AZED monthly competition … Read more “Mephisto 2588 by Tim Moorey”
Times 24,504 Send Her Victorious on a Wing and a Prayer
Solving time 20 minutes After a run of difficult puzzles I expected an easy one today. This was on the easy side of average without being a total give away. I have three clues perhaps … Read more “Times 24,504 Send Her Victorious on a Wing and a Prayer”
Mephisto 2586 by Paul McKenna (the ESP puzzle)
Regular readers will know that a while back a number of us were criticising The Times for dumbing down this puzzle. Happily over recent weeks we have seen a return to normal standards. The Times, … Read more “Mephisto 2586 by Paul McKenna (the ESP puzzle)”
Times 24,492 Smoke Gets In Your Eyes
Solving time 25 minutes Standard fare of average difficulty with no real quibbles. A couple of unusual usages and some well signalled anagrams. The song “Daisy, Daisy” may not be familiar to the younger solver … Read more “Times 24,492 Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”
Mephisto 2584 by Mike Laws
An easier puzzle than of late mainly distinguished by its inclusion of two rather obscure UK locations. I knew of Herne Bay because my aunt once took me there when I was about 10. I … Read more “Mephisto 2584 by Mike Laws”
Times 24,480 Virgil and The Day of Madness
Solving time 25 minutes An enjoyable puzzle of about average level of difficulty. An even worse homophone than yesterday. Surely FIGARO lends itself to a rather better clue. Some obscurities as well but all derivable … Read more “Times 24,480 Virgil and The Day of Madness”
Mephisto 2582 Tim Moorey
A very enjoyable puzzle, considerably harder than the AZED published on the same day. It would hopefully appear that this puzzle has now returned to an appropriate level of difficulty. I made steady but quite … Read more “Mephisto 2582 Tim Moorey”
Times 24,468 No Need of Harry Houdini Today
Solving time 15 minutes A puzzle can be easy and yet fun to do. Perhaps interesting or amusing. This one is neither of those things. Sometimes when writing these blogs one struggles to work out … Read more “Times 24,468 No Need of Harry Houdini Today”
Mephisto 2580 by Paul McKenna
I thought this reasonably difficult with quite a small number of starter clues and even then some needed Chambers to verify a word derived from an easy wordplay. As it appeared on the same day … Read more “Mephisto 2580 by Paul McKenna”