Author: rolytoly

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”

A nice sprinkling of history in today’s tricky offering from Izetti. We had a Victorian cardinal, the First and Second World Wars, an old clan member (if we’re to stretch a point), and two references … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 668 by Izetti”

This was a lovely puzzle from Joker – a good range of difficulty in the clues and some very inventive ones to boot. I particularly liked 17ac: not a double definition, not a triple, not … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 658 by Joker”

I enjoyed this – nice devices and lots of good surface readings made it a smooth and satisfying solve. A minute over my target ten with 19d unparsed. Had I not been blogging, I would … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 648 by Corelli”

A really enjoyable puzzle from Flamande. I came in around 15 mins, so maybe a bit harder than average. I came a bit of a cropper at 21ac, happily bunging in “resort” for “reorganise religious … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 638 by Flamande”

Another lovely puzzle from Izetti, this. Unfortunately I made a complete hash of it: two non-entries and what turned out to be a mistake after 20 minutes. “Putech” for 1ac definitely didn’t look like a … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 628 by Izetti”

I enjoyed this puzzle – some novel clues and lots of nice surface readings. Within the bounds of average difficulty, I’d say, almost coming witin 2 minutes of my target 10 mins. I particularly liked … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 618 by Izetti”

A pleasant solve this, towards the easier end – I was 15 mins yesterday, and about half that time today. A little bit 8ac, even, if you’ve been doing cryptics for a while, as a … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 608 by Hawthorn”