The middle of the three for difficulty – my (estimated) time was 14 minutes. The third cracking puzzle of three – I often manage to enjoy at least some of the clues while trying to … Read more “Times Crossword Championship 2009 – Grand Final Puzzle No. 3”
Author: petebiddlecombe
Times Crossword Championship 2009 – Grand Final Puzzle No. 2
The hardest of the three – my (estimated) time was 18 minutes in two roughly equal bursts – halfway through, I gave up to try puzzle 3 instead. I can’t remember much about which answers … Read more “Times Crossword Championship 2009 – Grand Final Puzzle No. 2”
Times Crossword Championship 2009 – Grand Final Puzzle No. 1
The easiest of the three, I think – which isn’t saying much. My (estimated) time was 11 minutes. Unlike the other two grand finals puzzles I have no idea who wrote this but it’s just … Read more “Times Crossword Championship 2009 – Grand Final Puzzle No. 1”
Times Championship 2009 – Magoo joins the greats
A short report which I’ll expand later today or possibly tomorrow. * indicates a former champion. Mark Goodliffe* confirmed his position as the leading current solver by winning today’s final by a distance from a … Read more “Times Championship 2009 – Magoo joins the greats”
Mephisto 2562 – Paul McKenna
Not too difficult – finished in 43:25, with Chambers used for about the last dozen answers, which I think were – 1A, 21, 10, 14, 6, 29, 23, 22, 27, 24, 32 (correcting the last … Read more “Mephisto 2562 – Paul McKenna”
Late night Sunday Post
Posts about last week’s Sunday Times and Mephisto puzzles will be up fairly late on Sunday after your reporters have returned from Cheltenham. There should also be at least some kind of report about the … Read more “Late night Sunday Post”
News snippets
We’ll start with the good news. Under his real name, kororareka (Russel John) won the latest Times Crossword Club monthly clue-writing competition. Angus Walker (presumably the one who comments here) was third. Congratulations to both. … Read more “News snippets”
Times 24350
Solving time: 7:20 A fairly smooth run, with 6A and all three of its danglers solved on first sight. At least three stock wordplays here, and two of the three fooled me on first reading … Read more “Times 24350”
Jumbo 835
Solving time: 30:35 – roughly a jumbo par, as they seem to take about three times as long as cryptics. Some very ingenious clues here, so straight on to the explanations. Across 1 B(A,R(oo)M,AN – … Read more “Jumbo 835”
Times 24344
Solving time: 8:04 Another straightforward puzzle, slowed down here by taking about four goes to see the right author at 2, dimness at 29 after an early stab at TRESTLE, and failure to see the … Read more “Times 24344”