I don’t usually encourage setter-naming here, as I don’t want to amend the anonymity policy of The Times on their behalf, but just occasionally, rules can be broken. In a posting last November, I mentioned … Read more “23691 Postscript – Congratulations Anax!”
Author: petebiddlecombe
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 7 – your times please
This is a weekly unofficial contest based on your times for the Times cryptic crossword from Saturday to Friday. In July 2007, someone commenting on Tony Sever’s Times 2 RTC blog suggested a competition like … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 7 – your times please”
23,692 – easy enough
Solving time 6:20 Started this at high speed, filling in most of the NW and hoping for a clean sweep until I got to 6D, where I (a) looked for “catches up” to match ???S … Read more “23,692 – easy enough”
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC contest No. 6 – results
After the fireworks of last week, we get back to that hard fact about competitive solving: speed is irrelevant if you make mistakes, so accurate solving at say 10 minutes a puzzle will beat just … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC contest No. 6 – results”
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 6 – your times please
This is a weekly unofficial contest based on your times for the Times cryptic crossword from Saturday to Friday. I’m harbouring hopes for my first win this week after Mark G told me that he’d … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 6 – your times please”
23,686 – ou you are awful, but I like you!
Easily the slowest of the week so far for me. Good start with 1A, though wordplay not fully understood at the time, but then slowed down a bit. The right hand side seemed easier than … Read more “23,686 – ou you are awful, but I like you!”
Mephisto 2450 / Tim Moorey – in the shade
Solving time: say 80 minutes, no books As presented on the Times club website, this puzzle had a grid with two diagonal sequences of squares shaded, but no preamble. There may have been some instructions … Read more “Mephisto 2450 / Tim Moorey – in the shade”
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC contest No. 5 – results
Mark Goodliffe wins the mini-championship by a country mile this week, but there were fewer mistakes than in the previosu couple of weeks and some close contests, with the margins between Sabine and Tony, and … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC contest No. 5 – results”
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 5 – your times please
(This is a weekly unofficial contest based on your times for the Times cryptic crossword from Saturday to Friday.) At last I can log a set of all-correct times adding up to less than an … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 5 – your times please”
23680 – making sense
Solving time 6:57 Quick start, with 1A (a classic easy but entertaining clue) falling immediately, but slowed down a bit in the bottom half. In various clues we have references to eyes, brains and sound … Read more “23680 – making sense”