A most enjoyable romp with an intriguing mix of some unusually (for “Harry”) straightforward stuff – 1d, 18d and 7d come to mind – and some tricky ones such as 5d, 15d and the excellent … Read more “Sunday Times 4687 by David McLean – Off With His Head!”
Author: nick_the_novice
Quick Cryptic 532 by Hurley
An interesting puzzle from Hurley with several clues where, whilst the answer went in easily enough from definition and cross checkers, the parsing was somewhat trickier (at least as far as I was concerned) – … Read more “Quick Cryptic 532 by Hurley”
Sunday Times 4685 by Jeff Pearce
Found this one quite chewy with some tricky definitions (e.g. 7a) and (at least to me) unusual clueing devices (e.g. 17a). 25a caused some comment on the club Forum in terms of (maybe) a singular … Read more “Sunday Times 4685 by Jeff Pearce”
Quick Cryptic 522 by Rongo
This one had a bit of a different feel to it. A quick initial glance through the clues revealed no less than seven ending with a question mark, suggesting that this one was going to … Read more “Quick Cryptic 522 by Rongo”
Sunday Times 4683 by Dean Mayer – Lean ‘n’ Mean…
Something of a tour de force from Dean this week, in my view. Decidedly tricky in places (13a was devious in the extreme, and 15a had me pacing around and growling for several minutes until … Read more “Sunday Times 4683 by Dean Mayer – Lean ‘n’ Mean…”
Quick Cryptic 512 by Mara
An interesting mix from Mara with a few very easy clues (such as 11a, 19a, 21a) and some which were quite tricky I thought (most notably 7d, but 1a and 8d might also present a … Read more “Quick Cryptic 512 by Mara”
Sunday Times 4681 by David McLean
I found this one highly enjoyable but quite tough. A pleasingly eclectic cast of characters are on display – Bowie, Dryden and a zombie with nasty habits are all presented for our delectation and delight … Read more “Sunday Times 4681 by David McLean”
Quick Cryptic 502 by Dazzler
I thought this puzzle was around the middle of the spectrum in terms of degree of difficulty. No obscurities, but some of the clues seemed to offer a range of possible constructions that required exploration … Read more “Quick Cryptic 502 by Dazzler”
Sunday Times 4679 by Jeff Pearce
A solid sort of puzzle this week – no pyrotechnics but pleasant enough. 7d was unknown to me, but fortunately the wordplay was generous and we were given 60% of the cross checkers. Thanks to … Read more “Sunday Times 4679 by Jeff Pearce”
Quick Cryptic 492 by Izetti
I thought this was a wee gem of a QC – elegant, tightly constructed and testing without (hopefully) being overly daunting for newcomers to the game. That said, probably at the trickier end of the … Read more “Quick Cryptic 492 by Izetti”