Author: Zabadak

Perhaps it’s the sheer plethora of extra puzzles over the holiday period, or the sheer horror that was yesterday’s competition sample, but I find I’m not at my quickest at the moment, and this one … Read more “Thursday, 3 January 2019 Times Cryptic No 27238 #Cannabis sativa”

Oh now come on, this was not difficult, unless you know neither the spy nor the poet at 16 down. I, however, buoyed perhaps by the mighty Spurs’ triumph over A***nal, managed to breezily muck … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27226, Thursday, 20 December 2018 When’s the coach due?”

A straightforward enough solve which I marred with a precipitate entry to 12 down, so my time of 15.38 is moot. I had to guess the blouse at 25, though the wordplay was more than … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27214 Thursday, 6 December 2018 Anyone fancy a hot toddley?”

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”