Today, a letter from James Harding, Editor of The Times, was sent to all crossword club members. Here’s what it said Dear Mr MemberSurname, This is a letter of apology. I know that you have … Read more “Times Club – e-mail from the Times Editor”
Author: petebiddlecombe
23,835 – challenging but still lovely
Solving time: 12:54 Hardest of the month so far I think, but also one of the best. Had to wait until about 14A for my first answer, and then needed a minute or two on … Read more “23,835 – challenging but still lovely”
Jumbo 740 – or not
As the remaining comment points out, I put this up a week too soon. Babs_gee will get credit next week for the explanation she provided to debaffle me on one clue.
23,829 – another fairly easy one
Solving time: 7:01 One musical mafia clue at 10. The main trouble for me was 4D. COD 5A for me. Across 1 DE TROP = ported rev. 5 SO (ME)WHAT 10 KNIGHT – ref. Sir … Read more “23,829 – another fairly easy one”
Fortnightly blogging vacancy
Ilan Caron has asked to move to the subs’ bench, so we have a free blogging slot every other Tuesday. If you’re interested, send an email to newblogger at biddlecombe dot demon dot co dot … Read more “Fortnightly blogging vacancy”
23823 – short and 9
I was a bit disappointed when I stopped the clock – I thought I’d been quick enough to break 5 minutes. As ever, there are ones where I’m now wondering why it took so long. … Read more “23823 – short and 9”
23817 – a better effort here?
8:48 for this, which felt better than two successive slowish times for puzzles that others found easy. Across 4 SANSERIF = fairness* – type=print 10 MILKS,TOUT 12 CHINO,O.K. – saw something v. similar recently, so … Read more “23817 – a better effort here?”
Mephisto 2470 – at last
Apologies for the lateness of this report. This was a fairly tough Mephisto from Mike Laws, taking me about 70 minutes. Across 1 SELF – 2 meanings 10 URAL-ALTAIC – (call it aura)* – wasted … Read more “Mephisto 2470 – at last”
Jumbo 736
A brief report on this. I thought I’d solved it when it appeared zand then lost it, but it felt like fresh solving – especially as one answer defeated me – or I lost patience. … Read more “Jumbo 736”
Definition by example – what do you think?
A poll not about choosing the best clue for a change. Definition by example is where a clue gives an example of a type (or the name of a sub-type), and the solver responds with … Read more “Definition by example – what do you think?”