Solving time – 11:38 This should have been about 3 minutes quicker but I dithered over 26 and 23. Good puzzle though, with some very good clues. I’ll go for 1a as my COD. Across … Read more “23951”
Author: neildubya
23,939
Solving time – 8:34 I found this very straightforward. The only thing that really held me up was 22 and that was because that I wasn’t sure that “wild” and ROMANTIC could mean the same … Read more “23,939”
23,927
Solving time – 16:23 I thought I was going to be in for the long haul with this one as my initial scan of the Across clues yielded nothing and the Downs weren’t looking much … Read more “23,927”
23915
Solving time: 8:27 Pretty straightforward I thought. I’ll go for 4d as my COD. Across 1 f(ROZE)*n – ZERO. 4 (SO A SPY)* in PLUM – PLAY POSSUM. 11 TO US,LE 14 hidden in “manY … Read more “23915”
23903
Solving time – 9:37 An easy end to what (I think) has been an easy week for the Times. No standout COD but I liked 21 so I’ll go for that. Across 5 CHASER – … Read more “23903”
23891 – Morning campers!
Solving time – 16:53 Quite tricky in places, and from the comments received so far it looks like the literary stuff (3, 22, 28) slowed a few people down. Luckily this is one of my … Read more “23891 – Morning campers!”
23879
Solving time – 11:13 Did the bulk of this in about 7 minutes but the NE corner proved something of a stumbling block. Eventually got 1d and the others followed fairly quickly after that. 1a … Read more “23879”
23,843 – floundered
Solving time – 16:35 (with one answer missing). Well, I managed to fill the grid reasonably quickly (except for 27a) but a lot of answers went in as semi-confident guesses as I didn’t understand some … Read more “23,843 – floundered”
23831
Solving time – 16:34 I enjoyed this very much but it was one of those puzzles that I looked at when I’d finished and wondered why it took so long to solve. On reflection, I … Read more “23831”
23,819 – Care taken
Solving time: 9:45 This would have been all over in about 6 minutes were it not for 27a and 17d, which between them took me just over 3 minutes. Lots of good solid clues but … Read more “23,819 – Care taken”