Author: plusjeremy

97:47. An embarrassing performance. I got through a good chunk of it in 20 minutes, but there were five or so clues at the upper-right corner of the grid that were very difficult for me. I spent possibly 15 minutes on the last clue, thinking it was extraordinarily difficult. It turned out to be a sitter. I blame it on the root canal I had this morning…

29:56, perhaps a bit overblown, as the puzzle felt a bit gentler than the time suggests. I’m sitting here at a restaurant with two fellow NYC puzzlers, solving while sipping a martini and chatting idly. I really enjoyed this puzzle, although my tablemate just grimaced at 26 down, for what that’s worth.

37:20. This felt to me like a puzzle of medium-ish difficulty, yet there were a few clues I had to bang my head against (and alphabet trawl) in order to finish.

59:07, although I did have to look things up as I solved. I found this very difficult, though I had the suspicion if I’d known a few more things, it might have been quite a bit easier. Then again, if I’d known a few less things, it might have been quite a bit harder.

DNF, because I needed to look up one clue to finish things off. I found this challenging, and was stuck about halfway through, when thankfully Mr Biff came to my rescue. I’ll need to parse some of these as I write the blog.

DNF. I wish I had been a little more up for a challenge as stiff as this — I’ve been waiting for a puzzle like this for weeks.

45:01. I found this hard, and if my suspicions are correct, most UK solvers will not agree with me: I had the distinct feeling that this puzzle required more UK-specific knowledge than most. (Which is quite all right, of course!) I enjoyed many of these clues — even more after I’d taken the time to parse them!

34:10. After a not-particularly-strenuous week, I wondered if we might be in for a very difficult puzzle.

20:21. I’m not sure what I’ve done to deserve getting the easier Fridays. I was kind of hoping to get smashed by a real toughie, but it doesn’t seem like this is the one.

In which I pay the price for not being more well-read.