Author: Zabadak

  Something of a Quickie feel to this, and indeed about halfway through I checked to make sure I was doing the right crossword. Only the orchid stands out as an odd, esoteric word, though … Read more “29014 Nothing to get stuck on”

  A rather cheerful and friendly number which occupied me for 17.44, with no real hold-ups along the way. Perhaps a feature of this setter’s quirkiness is the rather high number of instances where capitals … Read more “29002 Well, I felt lucky…”

  Happily completed in a steady 17.28, with no particular hesitations except the American city, which I have now added to my list of hazily remembered places should I ever need it again. While there … Read more “28990 Blackbird, learn to fly.”

My 17.32 suggests that on a blogging night, when I’m more careful and less likely to throw stuff in without thinking, I didn’t find this particularly tough. Indeed there’s nothing in here that I didn’t … Read more “28978 A lying POTUS. Imagine that!”

  I did this in 16.23, which indicates that for me it wasn’t too tricky, but I was aware going through that there were words on the fringes of common vocabulary that might cause issues … Read more “28966 You might not catch a lot of these.”

Y 24.33, so not so easy for me, not least because on blogging night I had to be reasonably sure that all was in place and understood, and then this was no connected solve, answers … Read more “28954 Taking one consideration with another.”

  This felt brisker than my 19.34 might indicate, but it was an engaging time spent, with quite a lot on my last two in. Plenty of quirks, some slightly dodgy, definitions and allusions, and risqué … Read more “28942 Our survey says: completed at a cantur”

  I found this rather fun, and thought I was quicker than my 18.08. I definitely slowed towards the SE, with the specialist field and the steel proving elusive despite some pretty kind cluing, and … Read more “28930 THE [squiggly bit] TIMES”

  27.24 I freely acknowledge that I was slow through this one, missing the artfully disguised definitions wherever possible and, of course, diligently working out the ways and means of reaching the answers rather than … Read more “28918 Not the sharpest Tool in the box.”

I thought I was on for a very quick time as the top half went in at Quickie pace, but part two appropriately glowed with the red of 15 acrosses, and the pace slowed. I … Read more “28906 From the Chargé des Choses”