Guardian 25,000 by Enigmatist – paper solving fogeys like me should click on “PDF version”. Roger Squires (Rufus in the Guardian on many Mondays) has his 1000th puzzle in the Telegraph.
Author: petebiddlecombe
24523
Solving time: 9:12 That’s 9:12 just after midnight, so possibly a soft target for Peter beaters. There are no obscure answers in the grid, and the grid pattern is one of those “natural” grids that’s … Read more “24523”
Jumbo 868
Just for the record, the club site has a new variety of cock-up today – Times2 Jumbo clues for the cryptic Jumbo, and those clues are obviously for a different grid. I thnk this combines … Read more “Jumbo 868”
At last the Mephisto 2589 show – Paul McKenna
Solving time: about 100 minutes in 4 sessions I decided to give up bookless solving fairly early on with this one, being pretty much stuck with about 10 answers written in. Sadly, my first entry … Read more “At last the Mephisto 2589 show – Paul McKenna”
24517
Solving time: 10:53 A puzzle with a bit of trickiness – 14A was my first answer in, and the SW corner was last to be completed – 24, 18, 26 and 23 in that order … Read more “24517”
Anax in the FT
Congratulations to Anax, who had his first puzzle in the Financial Times today, under the new pseudonym “Loroso”. Here’s a link to the PDF version. The link should be good for about 3 weeks – … Read more “Anax in the FT”
Times Crossword Championship – first qualifiying puzzle
This appeared today and can be printed in a clear PDF from this page. My guess is that links to the later qualifiers – on (Thursdays) May 13, June 10, and July 15 – will … Read more “Times Crossword Championship – first qualifiying puzzle”
24511
Solving time: 9:59 A mixture of easy clues and some old-fashioned touches which I suspect I’d have seen through faster a couple of decades ago when they were more common. The SW corner was tricky … Read more “24511”
24505
Solving time: 10:31 Mostly a puzzle of about average difficulty from the speed-merchant’s viewpoint, with one answer that I took an extra minute or two to find – 9A, where the E?O??R?I?R pattern didn’t suggest … Read more “24505”
Farewell, Bank Holiday Jumbos
I’ve just heard on the bush telegraph that the Bank Holiday Jumbo is no more. It seems you will not find one in tomorrow’s paper, nor any future Bank Holiday edition of The Times. Solvers … Read more “Farewell, Bank Holiday Jumbos”