Author: piquet

I had to put on a spurt for this one as Mrs K was waiting to drag me on a shopping expedition for such annoying trivia as curtain poles, having just moved house. No real … Read more “Times 27153 – mostly 27a but more fun than shopping.”

I am a Lewis Carroll enthusiast. An Aliceophile. So, just about on topic; when I saw the answer to 28a, it prompted me to read once more (although I could nearly recite it from memory) … Read more “Times 27147 – `Have some wine,’ the March Hare said in an encouraging tone.”

A twenty minute stroll, but a few tricky ones to parse once the answers were plucked from the likely-box; 17a, 18a, 3d, 15d for example. A pleasant if not demanding puzzle for a Wednesday, I … Read more “Times 27141. Dum spiro, spero.”

I found this a straightforward job, lots of anagrams and ‘do what it says’ type wordplay, but overall I couldn’t get excited about it. Maybe I was just not in the mood, in the middle … Read more “Times 27135 – That dog again!”

For some reason I began this from bottom right to top left, but none of it did I find hard, twenty minutes had it done even with a couple of interruptions by the telephone. A … Read more “Times 27129 – not the usual Wednesday challenge, but pleasant enough.”

I had two stabs at this, at the first in around 35 minutes I had completed and understood all except most of the top left hand quadrant, a.k.a the north west. That took me another … Read more “Times 27123 – a serious workout, but not unfair”

Today is a public holiday in my neck of the woods – Assumption – so I have a much needed respite from the daily grind of trekking 220 km by taxi, at the nation’s expense, … Read more “Times 27117 – “The explanation requiring the fewest assumptions is most likely to be correct.””

I had a lot of fun with this one, for some reason starting with 20a on a quick glance through, finishing the SE corner and working my way up and across to end with the … Read more “Times 27111 – not marketed correctly?”

I can’t say I enjoyed this offering. It may have been because I feel knackered after four weeks of being blasted daily by (effectively) intense gamma rays, and still three weeks more to endure. A … Read more “Times 27105 – A bit of a struggle”

Never a dull moment in this cracking puzzle, I thought, the best I’ve had to grapple with on a Wednesday for a while. Nothing too obscure, and some smiles here and there. It took me … Read more “Times 27099 – Doh, it’s not Scottish, for once.”