Author: rolytoly

Quite a tricky one from Pedro (although I mightn’t be in peak solving condition), holding me to the 18 minute mark. The last couple in particular (21ac and 19d) required a few minutes teasing out, … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1518 by Pedro”

Nudging a bit past average difficulty from Hurley today, I found. I had all bar 19ac done around the 10 minute mark, and spent the next couple of minutes considering it and various Christmas related … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1508 by Hurley”

On the gentle side today from Oink. A fairly straight solve, although a shoddy bit of spelling at 6d returned the Unlucky! sign a bit after the six minute mark. That’s about as quick as … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1498 by Oink”

On more of an even keel today after a bit of a struggle with yesterday’s: I was four minutes over my target with that one and came in two minutes under today, so it wasn’t … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1488 by Izetti”

Tough enough from Orpheus today – I found this on a par with Tuesday’s, which I did just before, each taking close to 12 minutes. I managed six of the acrosses on a first read … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1478 by Orpheus”

You know you’ve competed in a classy pub quiz when your ability to apple bob in an outsize bucket nets your team enough points to win, and you wake up in your clothes with a … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1468 by Pedro”

An enjoyable, average-difficulty puzzle from Hurley. I usually like to try the across clues first, which seemed like a slight handicap today, what with that nice big 7d on the far left – without it … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1458 by Hurley”

Tricky enough today from Corelli, with quite a lot of misdirection and unyielding definitions that needed checkers to unravel. Oh, and an impressively interwoven Hamlet theme running throughout – I count a dozen characters directly … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1448 by Corelli”

I was creeping close to my target, so didn’t hang around to think more about 1d and 18d, and was marginally surprised not to see the unlucky sign for a change. 1d is news to … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1438 by Orpheus”

Tricky enough today from Mara. I only had five of the acrosses on a first read over (8,9,10,17,19), and would have been slower than the 11-and-a-half minutes it took me to DNF had it not … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1428 by Mara”