In a year of blogging quickies I haven’t come across “Ferbot” before, he or she sounds like an anagram on “Pointless” or a cuddly automaton, who knows. Another coded alias for one of our regular … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 274 by Ferbot – musical mystery tour”
Author: piquet
Quick Cryptic No 269 by Teazel
Nothing too obscure here but plenty of practice at unravelling cryptic clues with relatively obvious definitions to help you along. Ten minutes for me. I can’t think of anything else useful to add. Across 1 … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 269 by Teazel”
Times 26049 – not too beastly after all
I had an extra little frisson this morning as I knew I had to solve and blog the puzzle before leaving early for a long drive and an all-day meeting, but I hate rising at … Read more “Times 26049 – not too beastly after all”
Quick Cryptic No 264 by Mara – one thing leads to another
At first read, quite a few of these clues’ answers are not obvious, but once the easier and longer ones are in place, the checking letters help a lot; it took me ten or eleven … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 264 by Mara – one thing leads to another”
Times 26043
Not as intractable as I had feared at first; the NE corner went in, then the two longer across clues, and the rest followed steadily, with the NW corner providing the most resistance. 1a and … Read more “Times 26043”
Quick Cryptic No 259 by Izetti – a trickier quickie?
After my DNF on Monday in the main Cryptic because of an unknown antelope, I was more clued up today when another obscure one showed up. There are several more uncommon words here too, in … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 259 by Izetti – a trickier quickie?”
Quick Cryptic No 257 by Orpheus
An elegant puzzle with a consistent level of difficulty, nothing controversial or unknown, ideal for a quickie, it took me 10 minutes to solve and parse. Across 1 TO SAY THE LEAST – Def. with … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 257 by Orpheus”
Times 26031 – s’no easy ride
I nearly forgot it was my day so I didn’t leap from my bed as early as I should have done, so apologies for a slightly late post. I then struggled for 45 minutes with … Read more “Times 26031 – s’no easy ride”
Quick Cryptic No 249 by Orpheus – a few tricky bits
A shade harder than my Wednesday challenge, I thought, and a couple (22a, 5d) I am still rather uncomfortable with (q.v.). Nevertheless an enjoyable puzzle with some smart clueing. Across 1 LATEST – LA = … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 249 by Orpheus – a few tricky bits”
Quick Cryptic No 247 by Hurley
A steady write-in for me in 10 minutes, with an extra minute or two to parse 15d; nothing very controversial I hope. Across 1 COMBAT – Hidden in Sit(COM BAT)hetic; def. fight. You don’t even … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 247 by Hurley”