Author: piquet

Mostly straightforward, I thought, but with one totally unknown word I had to guess and then check, and I find 5a a bit strange or perhaps I’m missing something again. 20 minutes and as long … Read more “Times 28071 – your Wednesday B and LOG.”

At first sight I thought this was going to be hard but it unravelled quickly once 1a and 1d went in and was all done in fifteen minutes. There are a couple of rather obscure … Read more “Times 28065 – as you like it.”

I enjoyed this one, taking around 20 minutes with a few BIFFs, before settling down to explain and blog it. And I’m stumped. The answer to 6d is clear enough, but my failure to explain … Read more “Times 28059 – am I losing the plot?”

As you read this (unless you’re time zones ahead) I am on my way to a foreign land, as Scotland seems to be becoming these days. So anything that needs a response will have to … Read more “Times 28053 – pas mal, pas exceptionnel.”

Another Wednesday, another pleasant enough puzzle which I didn’t find to be a stiff test. My one unknown GK at 24a was clear from the wordplay. It took me 20 minutes, with nothing hard to … Read more “Times 28047 – what kind of ovum are you?”

… in 1928 the IX Olympiad began in Amsterdam, and in 1984 the XXIII in Altanta; how will the XXXII Tokyo  Olympiad be remembered, I wonder, prompted by the answer to 8d?I found the top … Read more “Times 28041 – on this day, July 28 …”

Not in Havana, unfortunately from a nice-weather viewpoint, but at least Rutland is not on the amber list. Actually we’re moving again, from 1 mile inside Leicestershire (but only 4 miles from Oakham, Rutland’s capital … Read more “Times 28035 – from Our Man in Rutland.”

Once again our mystery setter has delivered the goods, I think, with a very enjoyable and erudite puzzle; it does require a little GK (1a, 4d, 19a, 24a, 16d) but there’s almost nothing my 11 … Read more “Times 28029 – quatorze juillet, and a storming crossword.”

Another witty Wednesday, here and there, and nothing to scare the equine brigade in this, as long as you knew about obscure Scottish places as I did from football results on television. Merit marks to … Read more “Times 28023 – not that East London, innit!”

 I worked through this steadily with no real problems, knowing the ancient card game at 23d and the forest at 24a, and the rest; then struggled to explain how 22d works, even though the answer … Read more “Times 28017 – transport for the chop”