Author: Zabadak

Ford Prefect’s 15 year stay on Earth expanded the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy entry on the Blue Dot from “harmless” to “mostly harmless” which adequately describes this puzzle which I more or less scampered … Read more “28858 Après Mao.”

  My 23 minutes is in retrospect a disappointing time for what looked suspiciously like a big Quickie until I got into the nether regions and just blanked on clues which were still, with one … Read more “Times 28846 The chief of the Ways of God”

  Do you know, I thought this was relatively easy, at least until I submitted when I found I had entered a plausible but wrong answer, misunscrambling an anagram. 14 minutes is quick for me, … Read more “28834 Probably would puzzle a monkey.”

  Continuing my series of slow solves this week, I devoted 32.25 to this challenging offering, which as it happens caused many a reminisce along the way, including my acquaintance as a Cadet Bombardier with … Read more “28822 Curriculum Vitae”

  I have absolutely know idea why this took me 25.23, as there’s only one word I didn’t know, the cheese, and everything else is pretty straightforward, if occasionally requiring rather more elaborate construction work. … Read more “28810 Spot the X”

  Not that difficult until I froze with my last three in the Kent area, pushing up my time by a good 5 minutes to 16.35. 22d could really only be one answer, but I … Read more “28798 Arsenic ’as as many as you could want”

  Not my quickest ever solve at 27 minutes, and all done in rather a patchy fashion as the well-crafted clues gave up their secrets. The plant early on may not be in everyone’s meadow, … Read more “28786 Mr Flibble’s very merry”

  I’m not sure about this one, and it took me over 30. Partly that’s because my guts are doing an audition for the remake of the Mr Creosote sketch, which is a shame because … Read more “28774 It’s not Advent yet.”

  Well that was fun, though my time of 28.21 suggests I also found it challenging, which I did, especially getting going at all in the top half. But I liked it: the clues are … Read more “28762 Et in Arabia ego”

  Another short-sighted typo marred my 24.27, which didn’t feel that long and will probably prove to be slower than it should have been. I have the impression of a puzzle with an almost comprehensive … Read more “28750 Blow winds and crack your cheeks”