A good solid puzzle this week from Jeff which took me somewhat longer than it should have done with the benefit of hindsight. No real obscurities or particularly tricky stuff to negotiate, but not a … Read more “Sunday Times 4697 by Jeff Pearce”
Author: nick_the_novice
Quick Cryptic 582 by Teazel
An elegant puzzle characterised by a number of cryptic double definitions / clues – which are fine if you are on the setter’s wavelength, but can prove tricky if you are not (somewhat like a … Read more “Quick Cryptic 582 by Teazel”
Sunday Times 4695 by Dean Mayer
An absolute ripper from Dean this week: loved every minute of what turned into a very long grapple indeed. Some ingenious cluing (5a, 8d and 24a being prime examples for my money), great surfaces (6d … Read more “Sunday Times 4695 by Dean Mayer”
Quick Cryptic 572 by Grumpy
An enjoyable offering from Grumpy which I thought was just about right for a QC – nothing obscure, a few splashes of wit and it kept you on your toes throughout. As usual, definitions underlined: … Read more “Quick Cryptic 572 by Grumpy”
Sunday Times 4693 by David McLean
An enjoyable mix of some tricky stuff tempered with a few gimmes – and with an overall style I’d describe (in a very positive way, I should stress) as “quirky”. From an ST enthusiast’s perspective, … Read more “Sunday Times 4693 by David McLean”
Quick Cryptic 562 by Hurley
Don’t know about you, but I found this a bit of a strange experience. Quick first whizz down the Across clues only yielded a couple, and I started to get worried! Then a quick whizz … Read more “Quick Cryptic 562 by Hurley”
Sunday Times 4691 by Jeff Pearce
I find that quite a few of Jeff’s puzzles share the same overall characteristics – a significant number of nicely constructed but eminently gettable clues, laced with two or three where the answer is something … Read more “Sunday Times 4691 by Jeff Pearce”
Quick Cryptic 552 by Mara
I personally found this one at the very easy end of the spectrum, but such things are highly subjective! A Double Definition fest (none the worse for that), and both 24a and 17d suggesting (happily) … Read more “Quick Cryptic 552 by Mara”
Sunday Times 4689 by Dean Mayer
Found this one particularly tricky, even by Dean’s standards – but very rewarding as I slowly worked my way through it. Solved in bits and pieces in sub-optimal circumstances – flying to San Francisco sitting … Read more “Sunday Times 4689 by Dean Mayer”
Quick Cryptic 542 by Pedro
Maybe it was just me, but I found this one quite an odd experience. For me, it was one where the answers flowed in easily enough (no obscure GK or unusual words) but where the … Read more “Quick Cryptic 542 by Pedro”