Author: Zabadak

Well. That was exciting! There are some Mephisto-ish words around, mostly workoutable from the wordplay, and quite a few places where the setter tries to bamboozle you into thinking you need some specialist knowledge to … Read more “27598 Thursday, 27 February 2020 Ĉu ni ne amuzas nin!”

I have to admit to this being a rather dozy solve over 24 minutes with a single typo which I should have spotted and (probably) a rather dozy exposition. An impressive five “rounds” appear in … Read more “27586 Thursday, 13 February 2020 Round and round and round we go”

A small confession: my solving is currently spasmodic, and when I clicked on the crossword as the clock ticked over into Thursday, Wednesday’s grid occupied my solving attention until I submitted and found myself in … Read more “++++++++++++++++++++++++++27574 Thursday, 30 January 2020 Daydream believer”

Whether it’s because my solving is not currently as regular as I’d like, or because this is a bit demanding will doubtless bee revealed by you, dear readers, but I took 35 minutes to reduce … Read more “27562 Thursday, 16 January 2020 Through each perplexing path of life”

At the time of writing my 16.44 looks pretty slow, so I would appreciate some of you coming up with some dragged out times to make me look more the second division player I contrived … Read more “27550 Thursday, 2 January 2020 The Sound of Meeoosic”

With a variety of additional commitments, I’ve missed out on a lot of puzzles since the Champs, so approached this one without being in finely honed practice, but fortunately it didn’t matter too much, as … Read more “27538 Thursday, 19 December 2019 Il Grillo Parlante”

A pleasant ramble over 18 minutesand some, for once spotting the typo before submitting. I promise you 9ac is in the dictionary, though you may never have the need to use it. 17 reminded me … Read more “27526 Thursday, 5 December 2019 Play up, play up, and play the game”

An amiable puzzle with not too much to send you diving to the reference books, which I resolved in a tad under 17 minutes, the top right resisting most. There is, for me, an impression … Read more “27514 Thursday, 21 November 2019 Consuming passions”

Rather as Sunday’s match between Everton and Tottenham (in truth, a rather dull affair) was overshadowed by a gruesome injury to Everton’s Gomes (one of those where the TV shows no replay), this crossword, a … Read more “27502 Thursday, 7 November 2019 The giddy limit”

I liked this lot, particularly given the smoothness of the clues (almost) throughout, effortlessly throwing you off the track. I am fully aware that there are references in here, particularly to people from the arts … Read more “27490 Thursday, 24 October 2019 Isn’t it fun…?”