Author: Guy du Sable

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”

…last of all, as it happened. Must have heard of this fellow before, though. He was quite an achiever. There is a charming note ending the online Britannica entry that I just had to include … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4979, by Dean Mayer — THE DOCTOR IS IN”

A painless and entirely successful operation! Inspired by 14—or just for the hell of it—I’m listening (via YouTube Music) to Emerson, Lake & Palmer’s fourth studio album, whose title I’ve copped for my headline. I … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4977, by Robert Price — Brain Salad Surgery”

I hope someone out there enjoyed this more than I did. Aside from a few clues—notably 7, with its smooth and very apt surface, and 19, which pointedly alludes to and whose entire surface could … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4975, by David McLean — just business”

You’d be well advised to bewareAnd cross this terrain with due care.The surface is calm,But maybe a bombIs lurking not far under there… This entry is dedicated to the American pullout from Afghanistan. I indicate … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4973, by Dean Mayer — Try to see… watch your step!”