Author: rolytoly

Somewhat unusual solve for me today: I was getting through the acrosses rightly, with every one solved, so was busy anticipating an extremely rare perfect solve, only to come unstuck at each of the bottom … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1098 by Teazel”

On the gentler side today from Mara. I came in three minutes under my target, with a bit of biffing and help from some familiar clues. There are a limited number of ways of clueing … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1088 by Mara”

Tricky enough one today, I found, taking me nearly four minutes over my target ten – as a comparison, I did yesterday’s immediately before this and came in two minutes under. Not my finest performance: … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1078 by Mara”

A touch on the harder side today from Izetti, which is to say probably average for Izetti, and there was indeed some typical tricksiness going on. Some nicely unusual wording as well – If I’d … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1068 by Izetti”

A tough one today from Rongo, providing a good bridge to the 15×15 crossword (although perhaps less so this week). I came in a bit shy of 17 minutes, twice the time of Tuesday’s QC … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1058 by Rongo”

This is the first puzzle I’ve blogged from Pedro, and a lovely one it was too. I thought some of the surface readings were excellent, adding a rich extra layer to the answer. I particularly … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1048 by Pedro”

A tougher one today from Hurley, I found, pushing me over the 14 min mark. Some interesting general knowledge, enough imaginative cluing, and you can’t ask for much more than that. I learnt the name … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1038 by Hurley”

Very nice puzzle from Joker. I came in a notch under my target ten but it felt harder than that when solving and a few were bunged in unparsed. Lots of good clues – I … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1028 by Joker”

A bit of an animal theme going on – we have bulls and birds and rodents and a marine mammal or two. Also, after double-checking the history of “rook”, I found a bonus, animal-related verb … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1018 by Tracy”

A good puzzle from Joker – I found it middle-of-the-road in terms of difficulty and a nice smooth solve, with the few trickier clues offset and interspersed with gentler ones. My only real sticking point … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1008 by Joker”