Solving time 9:08 Not easy, but nothing terribly hard either. COD nominations: 1D and 17, both for fitting clever changes of word meanings into smooth surfaces. Across 1 SOLE,CISM = M(u)SIC rev. 9 DAN – … Read more “23,913 – blog and pie chart”
Author: petebiddlecombe
Advertising my own stuff
Tucked away in the comments for yesterday’s puzzle was a suggestion that non-Brit solvers needing tips on cricket and the like should have a look at a web-page I wrote a few years ago. It’s … Read more “Advertising my own stuff”
New bloggers
Ken Gillett (7dpenguin) joins us to write about some Jumbos, and Uncle Yap (yfyap) joins the subs’ bench waiting for a chance to give an occasional far-east view of the daily puzzle. Welcome to both. … Read more “New bloggers”
23,907 – time for our Pantheon?
Solving time 7:50 Made a slow start with this, failing to notice that “forgotten wreaths” is one letter too long and considering it as the fodder, and not seeing GAME POINT or WOMEN as soon … Read more “23,907 – time for our Pantheon?”
Jumbo 755 – missing in the paper
I was irritated this morning to see that Jumbo 755, which I was dure to write about, was not in the paper. They reprinted Saturday’s 754 (very easy by the way – a Jumbo PB … Read more “Jumbo 755 – missing in the paper”
Good books for the Times xwd
Like my previous posting about Times xwd “house style”, this one is under the “tips&tricks” tag. You can use the link to this under ‘tags’ on the right to just see postings with the tag. … Read more “Good books for the Times xwd”
Championship qualifier 2
Quick reminder that tomorrow’s paper (1 May) will have two puzzles – one being the second qualifier for this year’s Times Crossword Championship. These qualifiers are usually easy puzzles, so don’t get too excited if … Read more “Championship qualifier 2”
23901 – getting a bit more tricky
Solving time 8:54 Slower than the last couple, though I missed out on one trick for quick solving. After guessing SWEEPSTAKE from the def at 1A but not seeing the wordplay, I should have written … Read more “23901 – getting a bit more tricky”
23892 – Saturday 19th April
Solving time: unknown Solved afresh for this report. There’s lots of good stuff in this puzzle. Across 1 S(A LAD)CREAM 7 SIDE – 2 defs 9 P(R.U. D)ENCE 10 DR. ON GO – a bird … Read more “23892 – Saturday 19th April”
Mephisto blogging vacancy
One of our Mephisto bloggers wants to drop out. If one or more others are willing to write Mephisto blogs about once a month, drop me a line – peter at biddlecombe dot demon dot … Read more “Mephisto blogging vacancy”