Author: Zabadak

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.”

Not, I have to say, my best ever solve: a 30 minute struggle against what I hope is subtle and difficult cluing. Either that or I’m losing my touch. My effort was more or less … Read more “25931. In which Ahmet (God willing) and Pete are told to get married again”

This was fun, with some fine punning clues of the kind that make words do stuff they’re not supposed to do. The tricky thing for your obedient servant is that, if one has to explain … Read more “Times crossword 25919: Madrid 913 761 500”

I’m guessing there will be some stellar times today, as I think this one was pretty straightforward. It still took me 22.07, perhaps because I did the Club Monthly not long before and struggled to … Read more “25907 A piece of cake”

A slightly dispiriting one, this. A whizzo start suggested a fast run around the little black squares, then everything started to fall apart around halfway down and my final time, rendered mostly irrelevant by a … Read more “25901: It’s not Cupid, stupid”