Author: Merlin

My time, 14:31. Timeline: Execution of Joan of Arc, 1431. Bang on average for me these days.

Hardest QC I’ve ever seen. By miles.
Not sure what Orpheus is trying to do here. Some of the clues and vocabulary are Mephisto level.

A very clever new device made this an interesting puzzle. Even then I found it challenging in several places, and yet again, missed my target time on by Blogday.

When does a great clue become a chestnut? For newer solvers, the first time they come across a great cryptic, they want to cry “Bravo, Setter”, but old hands dismiss it with “Chestnut”.

I’m sure there is a typo at 7d, where “with” should be “within”. What with the backwards usage of “without”, which actually means “within”, I’m calling today St Withins Day.

A challenge from Mara which uses one word that I can’t find in the OED or Collins. My time 14:28.

Oink is our setter today with a well-balanced puzzle, about medium level of difficulty as I see it. 

My first blog, I took some notes on paper, hence don’t have a time, but maybe 19 mins. A few tricky misdirects from Orpheus slowed me down.