This particular puzzle detained me for over an hour but I’m not sure if that’s because it was a toughie, or I was having a slow day, or was more distracted by Six Nations rugby … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1426 – Rebel without a clue”
Author: Penfold
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1421 – The Vacillations of Reedy Corkscrew
These things seem to come around very quickly when you’ve had a couple of holiday specials but I’m not complaining. I thought this was a fantastic puzzle, with some absolute gems among the clues. Thanks … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1421 – The Vacillations of Reedy Corkscrew”
Times Boxing Day Cryptic Jumbo 1416 – every time it rains
This festive offering kept me occupied for a tad over the hour on boxing day. A lot of the definitions were very well-disguised (in truth I’m still not sure exactly where some of them are) … Read more “Times Boxing Day Cryptic Jumbo 1416 – every time it rains”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1411 – two detective inspectors and two able-bodied seamen walk into a crossword
For reasons I won’t go into this blog will be brief. Normal “service” will be resumed next time. Also I’ll be at the Championships on Saturday so won’t be able to field comments efficiently. Under … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1411 – two detective inspectors and two able-bodied seamen walk into a crossword”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1406 – Grandmaster Flash and the hot-tempered five
What ho you lot (if lot is the right word in the tumbleweed-strewn ghost town that passes for the Jumbi bloggage environs) I managed to knock this off in a slightly-slower-than-average 40 minutes, despite quite … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1406 – Grandmaster Flash and the hot-tempered five”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1401 – the fastest thing on two feet
A perfectly fine cryptic jumbo this with a couple of bits of advanced vocab. at 45 minutes including parsing everything, on my scale that makes it just on the harder side of average. First in … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1401 – the fastest thing on two feet”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1396 – What about Toto?
What a lovely puzzle this was with plenty in the way of cleverness, wit and neat definitions, the mark of a pucker Times crossword puzzle. Thank you setter. It took me about 50 minutes so … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1396 – What about Toto?”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1391 – I think I’m Goan bananas
Buenos dias amigos. There was some tricky stuff in here, for which I needed aids. I smashed the hell out of my square bracket keys wiring up the clue explanations so there appear to have … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1391 – I think I’m Goan bananas”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1386 – just how much work is a QM expected to do?
Not much to say about this. It was perfectly acceptable, occasionally witty, fare (albeit with a couple of rather odd CDs), taking around 35 minutes. First in was MISINFORM at 1a, last was STALL. Clues … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1386 – just how much work is a QM expected to do?”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1381 – put your records on
Crikey, these come around quickly when you have a couple of bank holidays in quick succession so I’m afraid you’ve got me again. So here we have another puzzle with a bit of a popular … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1381 – put your records on”