Author: Zabadak

  14.41, as I took my time making sure everything was parsed and nothing was going to produce an unwanted pink. There’s one I’m not fully convinced by, which usually means I’ve missed something obvious … Read more “29302 Given an even break.”

  A much appreciated puzzle completed (mostly parsed) in 23.12, which seems to be about par for me on blogging Thursdays. A lot of great surfaces inviting (possibly controversial) commentary, and as far as I … Read more “29290 Mine’s A Good Attempt.”

  18.33 Most of this I found relatively straightforward, and the geographical and literary references were known to me, even if I misremembered the nationality of the writer at 4. Where I hit a bit … Read more “29278 Not the end of the world.”

  I got through in 19.18 without too many holdups, aside from looking out for additions to the three clues which formed a sort of theme for the puzzle. I put in the cricketer at … Read more “29266 Is it a bird? Is it a cricket?”

  Almost 24 minutes on this rather good crossword, a fair few of those banging my head against a bit of wordplay which I was determined to resolve before submitting, but didn’t. The tech whizz … Read more “29254 It made one Gasp and Stretch one’s Eyes”

  Completed in 17.36 with no major hold-ups, though the novel may not be on everyone’s reading list. I enjoyed this, especially with some well-worked long anagrams which fell out easily enough, and some witty … Read more “29242 I wish you all joy of the worm.”

  My 22.36 suggests, accurately, that I found this quite chewy, even if, with the exception of one abomination, I didn’t stumble over any words not found in my crossword lexicography. There was the hint … Read more “29230 Come on you Squares!”

  A leisurely 28.07, with quite a lot of it spent fruitlessly looking at one clue which ended up being thrown in regardless. There’s a rare example of a definition in the middle of its … Read more “29218 M’aidez!”

  I rather struggled through this, my flow being glacial rather than the pyroclastic referred to in the puzzle. Only that mountain appeared out of the nowhere of my forgettery/never’eardery, and with the crossers even … Read more “29206 Turns out it really is a mountain”

  I’d like to think that the high proportion (so far) of single error entries indicates that we have a clue that is capable of sustaining more than one answer, the sort where if you … Read more “29194 The Maddening Crowd”