Author: Guy du Sable

Sitting by a fierce fan on this first day of the latest US heat wave, I’m very glad that this one is so easy to write up. It also seems calculated to make me wish … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4859, Bastille Day 2019, by David McLean — Very light”

It’s alright, Ma… I can make it. When I worked this last Saturday, with pleasantly surprising ease, I was, mercifully, in an air-conditioned room at St. Francis College, right around the corner from my flat … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4857, June 30 2019, by Robert Price — Fences of Eden”

I enjoyed this a lot. It seemed very fresh, and potent as well. There were several CDs, all very amusing; no (usually either dull or unfathomable) DDs; a not-untimely reference to a particular conjuncture in … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4855, June 16 2019, by Dean Mayer — New-made corn mash”

Every ingredient of this tasty puzzle seemed to be in apple-pie order… hence my headline. The expression, nodding here (first) to, uh, clue (a near homophone) 18—comes from the fact that pedestrian crossings in France … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4853, by David McLean — Tout est dans les clous”

This all seemed fairly straightforward, and straightforwardly fair, but wittily engaging and elegantly clued. I doubt if anyone will have had major problems. This afternoon at an event remembering Jonas Mekas (1922–2019), I learned that … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4851, 19 May 2019, by Robert Price — Scherzo in “Be Sharp” (See?)… minor”

I am writing this intro in my cosy chambre in the famous Hôtel la Louisiane (there’s a documentary about it) on rue de Seine (Saint-Germain-dés-Pres), on vendredi après-midi, after a visit to the Librairie philosophique … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4849, May 5 2019, by Dean Mayer — Oui, whee!”

Greetings from the heart of the Cévennes region of France. I wrote most of this before my trip began, fortunately. It’s rather late here and I just realized that it’s already dimanche. And I have … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4847, April 21 2019, by David McLean — Seeing double”

Well, that went down easily, a very smooth blend with some vivid, if uncomplex, notes, which left me with a warm feeling inside. I am just back from the fantastic Guggenheim show of the heretofore-unsung … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4845, 7 April 2019, by Robert Price — Pour me another one!”

This seemed harder than any Dean Mayer I’d heretofore had the honor of blogging. But maybe I was just a bit trepidatious after the previous week’s debut performance of our new Sunday blogger (with whose … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4843, 24 March 2019, by Dean Mayer — Is it just me?”

There were no “meh” moments, just much merriment. I particularly liked the definitions so well hidden in plain sight for 1A, !0A and 21A. Definitions elsewhere were sneaky in other ways (“School of note”). I … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4841, 10 March 2019, by David McLean — A barking good puzzle!”