Times Cryptic Jumbo 1730 – Monday 5 May 2025. With a little help from my friends

Hello! This was a bit of a piglet. At least, I found it so: some very good stuff but some chewy bits. I didn’t finish solo as I had to ask my solvemate for the last answer, 40d. There were a few things I had to look up to write the blog and others I know only from crosswords, such as old crossword friends Timothy and Eric. Nice to meet them again – it’s been a while. Thanks setter!

Times Cryptic Jumbo 1720 – 8 March 2025. She’ll be coming round the mountain

Hello everyone. I started slowly with this one, then moved up to a steady medium pace before grinding to a halt on my last couple … if you’re not a plant person you may well have felt the presence of something nasty in the woodshed!