Author: plusjeremy

This was one of the harder puzzles I’ve managed to complete. Very few clues gave up their secrets easily, but everything was solvable with a bit of chin-scratching.

I felt sluggish and found this one very difficult, though I was aware at several points that I might have saved 20 minutes or more if I just could have remembered a few key answers.

Somehow this was not so hard and not so easy, all at the same time. Many unknowns for me today, but all fair and gettable.

I was held up in the beginning, bracing myself for another hard puzzle, overthinking many clues. A few minutes in, I started to realize this was on the gentler side. That loosed me up and allowed me to finish quickly.

Not a fast time, but no problems here, and I never felt concerned that I wouldn’t finish. Many elements here I didn’t quite understand or recognize, and a fair amount of biffing.

Is this puzzle hard? You tell me.

DNF. It took me about 40 minutes to get halfway through this puzzle, painstakingly. I didn’t have the heart to finish it, and something tells me I wouldn’t have been able to if I’d tried.

45:15. Got stuck at around 25 minutes in with the last four clues. Contemplated giving up many times but ground out each letter and finally made it home. Not quite sure whether I should feel satisfied or frustrated!

28:28. Shortly before attempting the puzzle, I was informed by a fellow blogger: “main very easy – you got a sitter for your blog”. My experience differed, to put it mildly.

39:29, reflecting a very slow finish to what was otherwise a fairly normal difficulty, and truly excellent, puzzle. I was rather stuck in the upper-right corner, thanks to some particularly devious wordplay.