Author: Guy du Sable

Ingenious and entertaining, with vivid surfaces hiding a variety of devious devices. I first thought of headlining this “the pusher is in.” One would expect a 5 to do more than sell medication, but of … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4999, by David McLean — and very him”

Anything here to effrayer les équidés? Worked this at a leisurely pace, as usual, taking plenty of time to think, and I found it rather educational. I learned, or at least solidified my knowledge of, … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4997, by Dean Mayer — all in the family”

Maybe it’s because Bob is one of our fellow commenters on this blog (regularly providing an erudite and apt literary citation) that his puzzles rarely, if ever, occasion any MERs, let alone controversy over definitions, … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4995, by Robert Price — Turn that frown upside down!”

Well, out of 10, I’d give it a 7.5, at least. Maybe an 8.Slick surfaces, indeed.On which we see pattern dances, arabesques, backflips.And these always end with a solid two-footed landing.There are also a couple … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4993, by David McLean — Olympics-level performance?”

Solid, sufficiently scintillating session.Slick surfaces.Succinct suggestions.Sly subtexts.Some small something seemed strange, still… I indicate (a Sam rang)* like this, and italicize anagrinds in the clues. ACROSS  1 Poor piece of work that setter’s put away? … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4991, by Dean Mayer — What it’s all about”

…this puzzle is constructed. No exotic vocabulary, no CDs (not that I mind either), no stretchy definitions, all quite clear and no questions or quibbles left after solving… and yet I had to look at … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4989, by Robert Price — With wit and cunning”

You can’t fool me! Ha. Having got the long song title at the bottom right away, I expected very smooth sailing… but it turned out not to be a steady breeze. There were a few … Read more “Sunday Times Christmas Cryptic 4987, by David McLean — There ain’t no sanity clause!”

I was watching Saturday Night Live as I worked this (discovered that Billie Eilish’s birthday is the same as mine, the day this will go live in the United States), and the show was a … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4985, by Dean Mayer — Our plastic, 19 language”

…and I still didn’t finish this on Saturday night (it wasn’t a 3). As the remaining answers dawned the next day, I had to ask myself why this had seemed the most difficult of Bob’s … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4983, by Robert Price — One more cup of coffee”

Synchronicity! Not long after I had gotten comfy in front of my SmartTV to work this in my usual unhurried fashion, YouTube offered a video of a Thelonious Monk performance, which you can bet I … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4981, by David McLean — Straight, No Chaser”