Author: nick_the_novice

An elegant puzzle, not too tricky but with some neat clues included. Particularly liked 7dn, with 22ac and 13 dn also deserving a mention in despatches. If I was to carp, maybe a bit top … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 232 by Mara”

Relatively gentle offering, I thought, but most enjoyable. Plenty of wit, a droll cryptic clue, and a couple of bits of GK that might force some solvers (like me!) to resort to working it out … Read more “Quick Cryptic 222 by Felix”

Thanks to Orpheus for a most enjoyable puzzle. I think it’s probably towards the easier end of the QC spectrum, but with a wide range of clue types in play, and very nicely done. Access … Read more “Quick Cryptic 212 by Orpheus”

Most enjoyable puzzle, so thanks very much to Teazel. Whilst doing it, I was thinking it was decidedly towards the tricky end of the QC scale, but having reviewed it again I’m not sure… Will … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 203 by Teazel”

Probably a mid-range puzzle in terms of degree of difficulty, very nicely constructed so thanks to Izetti. Plenty of wit, and a mix of relatively straightforward fare and a few tougher ones. I thought 22ac … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic – 193 by Izetti”

Very nice QC, I thought: no arcane GK required, a bit of wit and whimsy (loved 22a), and a good variety of different clue types. Thanks very much to our setter Marty. (If anyone is … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 183 by Marty”

Interesting mix of quite a few fairly straightforward ones, and a couple of decidedly tricky affairs (at least, I thought 23ac and 18dn were real doozies…). A bit of cricket knowledge helps, and those of … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 173 by Dazzler”

Thanks to Joker for an enjoyable puzzle. Not too tricky (definitely at the easier end of the QC spectrum) but with a wide variety of clue types. No cricket and no birds – good news … Read more “Quick Cryptic No. 163 by Joker”

Cricket, nudity and a bit of twitching – a Somerset lad’s big day out! Really enjoyed this offering: loads of wit and sparkle, and many thanks to our setter Teazel. Plenty of jokey double and … Read more “Quick Cryptic 153 by Teazel”

Somewhat less taxing than the last couple of Quickies, but a few clues that held me up for a fair while. In particular the anagrams at 8 down and 18 across refused to yield for … Read more “Quick Cryptic 143 by Hurley”