Author: rolytoly

Very enjoyable, as always, from Izetti. There was a bit of an animal theme. The grid presented a couple of other nice ideas as well – for those adorned with excessive levels of outsize jewellery, … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 768 by Izetti”

This was my slowest time after a few speedyish days, coming in at 12-and-a-half minutes, so maybe slightly harder than average. Bonus new word (or re-learnt word), which is always nice, and one I’ll try … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 758 by Rongo”

A bit north of tipsy when doing this, I gave up after 16 minutes. In retrospect, I would have been a while getting 12d, but I really should have got 13ac without… well, it’s not … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 748 by Joker”

I think this was towards the harder end of things, so I was happy to come in at the 13 minute mark. Some tricky clues, some generous checker-providers, some cracking clues, and lots of lovely … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 738 by Mara”

I don’t know if it’s because I’ve had a bit more crossword practice of recent or if today’s was a gentler offering than most, but I was satisfyingly quick today. Would have been 8 minutes … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 728 by Flamande”

I was a bit under the 11 minute mark today, making it one of the quicker ones I’ve tried in a while – helped out by a few easy clues, a few familiar clues, and … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 718 by Hawthorn”

Well that wasn’t a great performance – a DNF with 3d remaining (and 2d unparsed, and 21ac queried) at the 18 min mark, after which I gave up and checked the answer. In fairness I … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 708 by Mara”

Having been on holiday for a couple of weeks, this was my first QC in a while, and a very nice one it was too. Average-ish difficulty I suppose, but with lots of satisfying clues … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 703 by Orpheus”

This was a lovely crossword. Tricky in parts, with the SW and NE corners taking me past the 15 minute mark, but lots of smooth surface readings and satisfying clues to solve along the way. … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 688 by Orpheus”

Another lovely puzzle from Izetti. Probably around par in terms of difficulty for this setter – I took a notch over 14 mins. I was delayed a bit by the NW, having a mental block … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 678 by Izetti”