Author: Zabadak

It occured to me that a crossword in which the same word appears four times might set some sort of record, which would at least offer some distinctive for this one. Fastest of the week … Read more “26050 A fourth ‘and piece of work”

No push over this one, though I did manage to scrape in 59 seconds before the big hand hit the 6. That’ll be 29.01 for those of you who are too young to be bothered … Read more “26038 In which Marx fails both as economist and film maker.”

Stopped the clock at 19.36, and only time will tell whether that’s a decent time for a slightly tricky puzzle or a stumbling dawdle through a piece of standard fare. There were some decent chuckles … Read more “26026 In which I restored Mlle Nina to her rightful place”

Knocked off in 20.47, including a last minute change of heart over the ending of 9 across, where I suspect we might see a few error messages today. A decent array of clue types on … Read more “26014 Not just a bog standard crossword”

16.43 for this one, slowing down towards the end and puzzling a while over the entry at 24 (25 two days ago) where I currently have only a sketchy idea of how it might work. … Read more “26002 In which philosophers have a race. On camels?”

An odd feel to this one: it felt harder than is was, and I disposed of it in 15.12, about 2 minutes sub par for me. Mostly somewhat lengthy clues, of the kind which conjure … Read more “25990 The one with a mission to the Gentiles.”

Not much of a festive feel about this one, unless you’re antipodean, I suppose, in which case the relative abundance of cricket references might make some sense. As far as I can make out, there … Read more “251214 Cricket one left, right?”

I tried hard to find the corner of this crossword where lurked the unknown that might attract complaints, but I really don’t think there is one. Perhaps the “Road to” clue will baffle those who … Read more “Times 25967: Did Poirot ever do crosswords?”

Touch of the nursery slopes about this one with the few, perhaps less familiar, words well clued so that it’s quite hard to go wrong. No doubt someone will manage it, but I expect some quickish … Read more “25955 I say, ding dong!”

I stopped the clock at 19.25 for this delightful concoction, all proper clues but with a great deal of wit, and at least one laugh out loud clue. No cricket, and plants that I either … Read more “Times 25943: The ideal gift or those who hanker after a true penn’orth.”