Author: Penfold

All being well, as this write-up magically appears on LJ, I’ll be in the land of nod in a lovely spa hotel on a Mallorcan clifftop.  So I’ll field any comments as and when I … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1516 – anyone fancy having lunch for lunch?”

Hello again Jumbo fans.  I can’t say how long this offering took me as I solved it across a number of sessions under various solving conditions.  It was tricky though, with a fair few bits … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1511 – the doctor will see you now”

This was, IMHO, a Jumbo of average difficulty, with a smattering of tricky bits to keep us on our toes. I was done and dusted in about 45 minutes.  In writing up the blog I … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1506 – two jumps in a week”

Well what do you know, the third consecutive bank holiday jumbo falls into my blogging lap.  Last time out, to avoid pushing in front of Kitty’s blog, I published some time on the Saturday afternoon … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1501 – egg egg egg egg egg Florentine”

The fates decided to throw me a second consecutive bank holiday jumbo (this time I haven’t barged in front of Kitty) and once again I was kept entertained for somehwere over an hour.  The bank … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1496 – pardon me boy, is this the bodega?”

Well, this was a right bank holiday challenge.  I have to confess to requiring aids to finish, as some of the (cultural, foreign) “general” knowledge was beyond my Ken.  Kudos if you finished all correct … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1491 – a bank holiday culture lesson”

I thought this was a brilliant puzzle, jam-packed with clever definitions and original, witty, crafty wordplay.  Those two elements meant it took me somewhere over an hour to get to grips with everything.  I hope … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1486 – Jumbo bucket”

I thought this was a moderately tricky puzzle with some smart misdirection and a few peculiarly British elements that might have overseas solvers chewing their pens. Probably an hour’s worth of solving and parsing including … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1481 – send in the clouds”

This was a leisurely New Year’s Day solve, done in a single session with no hangover whilst simultaneously watching football and joining in family conversations.  Not too easy (possibly because many of the definitions were … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1476 – Let’s. Play. Crosswords.”

I’m guessing this was of roughly average difficulty.  I was watching football on the telly at the same time as solving so my time of just over an hour isn’t really a reliable guide.  Writing … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1471 – The one where I can’t think of a clever title”