Author: nick_the_novice

A puzzle at the easier end of the spectrum today, I thought. Good range of clue types, and little or no obscure GK or vocabulary required. At time of posting, SNAFU Central appears to have … Read more “Quick Cryptic 133 by Grumpy”

Enjoyable puzzle, with a broad mix of some straightforward ones and some that were quite tricky (e.g. 4 down). Thanks to Teazel. As I was going through this one, I was reflecting on an observation … Read more “Quick Cryptic 123 by Teazel”

Quite a chewy Quickie, I thought, with several of the clues taking a bit of unravelling. Looking back at it, there does not really appear to be much to frighten the horses as jackkt says … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 113 by Dazzler – A Chewy Pangram”

Greetings from Paris, where Mrs. Novice and I are currently holidaying in a charming appartment in the heart of the Marais. The holiday mood (coupled with a significant intake of Cotes du Rhone) probably impacted … Read more “Quick Cryptic No. 103 by Izetti”

Good puzzle, I thought, so thanks to Flamande. Not too tricky, but some sticky moments along the way that had me scratching my head for a while. The hardest bit was finding the damned thing! … Read more “Quick Cryptic No. 93 by Flamande”

Significantly gentler than the last couple of days, I thought, but it had some challenges. Never felt quite on the wavelength, so I probably struggled a bit more than I should have done. An unusually … Read more “Quick Cryptic No. 83 by Teazel”

Excellent offering from Joker today, I thought. At the easier end of the scale (but no pushover) it includes a wide range of different clue types, and a number of Crosswordland “conventions” – commonly used … Read more “Quick Cryptic No. 73 by Joker”

Quite a mixed bag. Several relatively straightforward clues providing a soft underbelly through which to attack the puzzle, a few trickier ones, one which I thought was decidedly tough and another one which I must … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 63 by Mara”

Significantly easier than yesterday’s offering, but not a pushover. Several that took a bit of working out. Nice puzzle, so thanks to the setter – no arcane GK, a splash of humour, and a good … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 53 by Tracy”

The last few days have seen an increasing degree of difficulty for the Quickie, as if the setters had decided that 8 weeks was enough time to get the newcomers to develop their skills and … Read more “Quick Cryptic No. 43 by Teazel”