A pretty easy Mephisto, taking me about 35 minutes, but with an added bit of fun – the COUNTDOWN answer to 1A is an introduction to the theme – all the numbers from ten down … Read more “Mephisto 2554 – Mike Laws”
Author: petebiddlecombe
Times 24302
Solving time: 12:38 Found this quite tricky, with a minute or so of mild panic before getting 19 to start the SE corner clean-up (followed by 27, 15, 25). Answers entered without full wordplay understanding … Read more “Times 24302”
Charity bike ride completed
The ride in aid of Helen and Douglas House took place yesterday – full details here.
Times 24296
Solving time: 9:19 This seemed a good representative of current Times puzzles – not that difficult, but with enough exotic vocabulary and original wordplay to keep experienced solvers thinking for a while, aided by a … Read more “Times 24296”
ST 4339 (Sun 26 Jul) – Proper noun?
Solving time: 4:16 I solved this online, though I’m never sure whether this makes it faster or slower; possibly faster to enter the answers but slower to solve the anagrams because you can’t just cross … Read more “ST 4339 (Sun 26 Jul) – Proper noun?”
Times 24290 – nature class
Solving time: 14:58 Quite a tricky puzzle this, with one word which I’m sure many will not have known before today. My last few answers in order were 17, 9, 1D, 1A, 18, and 13. … Read more “Times 24290 – nature class”
Times 24284
Solving time: 11:29 I made a good start to this puzzle but got bogged down fairly soon afterwards. All four of the long answers were pretty tricky, and so was the SE corner. The last … Read more “Times 24284”
Mephisto 2550 – Paul McKenna
I had to admit defeat on this one with two clues unsolved (2 and 21). Speak up if you have the right answers (and possibly the right answers for clues I got wrong elsewhere – … Read more “Mephisto 2550 – Paul McKenna”
Jumbo 823 – July 4, 2009
This took 18:58 so ranks as a quite easy jumbo – at least for someone who knew the composer and other arty references. As ever, I’ve tried to pick out the clues that may have … Read more “Jumbo 823 – July 4, 2009”
Times 24278
Solving time: 25:05 This felt like the toughest puzzle for a few weeks – maybe since a very tough Saturday puzzle. Only 7 clues fell at all easily – 9, 10, 11, 4, 5, 8, … Read more “Times 24278”