Maybe I was not thinking clearly, but this ‘quickie’ took me longer (12 minutes) than last Monday’s proper Times Cryptic; not least because I’d made a screen capture and printed it out such that the … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 399 by Mara – a tricky quickie”
Author: piquet
Times 26205 – not all cats and witches
After a year and a half of this blogging malarkey, I ‘ve concluded that for me there are three sorts of Times crossword. There are those like Monday’s or yesterday’s, where you pick it up, … Read more “Times 26205 – not all cats and witches”
Quick Cryptic No 394 by Orpheus
Easier, I think, than the last couple of Fridays I’ve covered; a 5 minute write-in, with only two anagrams and one hidden word clue to chew on. A fair test for cryptic solvers on the … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 394 by Orpheus”
Times 26199
The PDMs were a bit slow to arrive this morning after watching too many hours of cricket and tennis last night (Aussies fall short this time!). This took me 30 minutes to finish, hopefully all … Read more “Times 26199”
Quick Cryptic No 389 by Izetti
No waffle today, busy schedule; I’ll leave the waxing lyrical to my French poetic friend. A nice balanced puzzle with nothing to frighten the horses. D = definition; DD = double definition; CP = cryptic … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 389 by Izetti”
Times 26193 – well, I liked it.
This was another puzzle which at first sight had me wondering if I should give up my Wednesday self-mutilation sessions, but in due course yielded both the answers and some wry smiles, taking me half … Read more “Times 26193 – well, I liked it.”
Quick Cryptic No 384 by Corelli – or maybe not so quick
I did this immediately after a main TC puzzle and I have to say it wasn’t the easy 5 minute write-in these things used to be; like last Friday’s, it seemed to have a good … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 384 by Corelli – or maybe not so quick”
Times 26187 – a game of two halves, or four quarters
For some reason I romped away with this one, finishing the SW and NE quarters in little time at all, with a few write-ins like 8d, 13d, 15a,20a, 16d. Then the SE fell into place, … Read more “Times 26187 – a game of two halves, or four quarters”
Quick Cryptic No 379 by Teazel
Not the easiest of quickies, it took me ten minutes or so but I had to duck and dive around the grid, not just write them in from top to bottom. Only two anagrams today … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 379 by Teazel”
Times 26181 – pot pourri
I found this a curious mixture of the ridiculously easy and the subtle and difficult. I had it completed in about 17 minutes over the usual tea and toast, but it took me a while … Read more “Times 26181 – pot pourri”