Author: Zabadak

I thought this was a bit of a cracker with plenty of entertainment and some rather high quality cluing, characterised by smooth surfaces that really keep you on your crosswording toes. Those who skipped Sunday … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27202, Thursday, 22 November 2018 Driving you Caracas”

Not too much to frighten the horses in this one, though a Czech play and a much-loved (by those of a certain age and disposition) comedian might cause a few scratch marks to appear on … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27190, Thursday, 8 November 2018 Second Wave”

Crickey, this was, shall we say, demanding. Not many gimmes and quite a few where definitions were at best elusive. The setter takes us on a tour of the entire alphabet and quite a lot … Read more “27178 Thursday, 25 October 2018 Gosh, golly, my word and other exclamations.”

I panicked a bit at the beginning of this one, not settling to proper solving for some considerable time, and coming home in 26 minutes, well down the early birds list. If I hadn’t left … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27166 Thursday, 11 October 2018 I is Adam”

I did not find this easy, taking just under 30 minutes, even though the nice long 1ac went straight in. 2 clues I only fully worked out, when writing up the proceedings, and I was … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27154 Thursday, 27 September 2018? Why, then, ’tis time to do’t”

I found this quite a challenge, and took just over 30 minutes to complete. I gained the impression that there were rather more first and last letter bits of wordplay than we normally get, and … Read more “roTimes Cryptic No 27142, Thursday, 13 September 2018 ‘?”

Not the most testing of grids today, which I breezed through in 16 minutes, including parsing even when the answer was obvious and checking for typos, such is my devotion to duty. The top left … Read more “Times 27130, Thursday, 30 August 2018 A Wimsey”

I’m not currently solving at top speed, and this certainly chewed up a good 30 minutes, not helped by offering a (valid?) alternative at 1 across which created a need at 2 down for a … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27118 Thursday, 16 August 2018 “It’s not bragging if you can back it up.””

By dint of (almost) skipping typo watch, I scrambled in just one second under 30 minutes, but I’m not sure why I made (for me) rather heavy weather of this one. For the most part, … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27106 Thursday, 2 August 2018 The multitudinous seas incarnadine”

A gentle stroll for a par score of 17.30, skilfully avoiding several spelling disasters and gritting my teeth over one hyphenated word that should have been strangled at birth. Maybe it’s not too late.  There … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27094, Thursday, 19 July 2018 Amazon (dis)grace, how is this found?”