Author: sabine_tk

A puzzle that seemed heavy with Scots, drunkenness and fish. I wasn’t able to time it properly due to various interruptions – a newly-arrived guest needing bedlinen, the way guests do, and the visiting cat … Read more “Times Crossword 24609”

Solving time: 20.20. With quite a few answers going in at a glance (4A, 11A, 8D, 13A, 15A, 16A, 20A, 22D, 10A) I seemed to be off to a reasonable start, with bits and pieces … Read more “Times Crossword 24597”

I was interrupted twice while doing this one so can’t give an exact time, but I would guess it took 15-20 minutes. The SE corner went in at lightning speed, the NE and SW went … Read more “Times Crossword 24585”

Solving time: 20.25 I had hoped for an easy puzzle after a day that had already required considerable ingenuity, with so much sport happening all at once – Messrs. Isner and Mahut arrived back on … Read more “Times Crossword 24573”

Solving time: 13.09 After a good start, I spent a long time at the end with an otherwise completed grid, gazing at one unyielding clue (see 10 A, below). As I tend not to notice … Read more “Times Crossword 24561”

Solving time: 12.00 I found this a middling sort of puzzle both in difficulty and entertainment level. One wrongly entered answer (see 4Ac – I really should have known better) caused a bit of a … Read more “Times Crossword 24549”

Solving time: 9.02 Nothing too difficult here, with the wordplay being pretty much conclusive where I wasn’t certain of the definition. There were lots of very accessible multi-word answers and several anagrams too. I lost … Read more “Times Crossword 24537”

Solving time: 12.07 I solved the two long down clues and the linking 15A and 18A quite quickly, to find myself faced with a grid already divided into four quite separate quarters – a more … Read more “Times Crossword 24525”

I had all of this except 28A done in about 9 minutes, and proceeded to spend a further 6 minutes gazing at that one remaining unsolved clue, becoming more and more convinced it must be … Read more “Times Crossword 24513”

Solving time: 32 minutes or thereabouts, interrupted by a very brief phone call. Attentive readers will no doubt be waiting with interest to see what excuse I would produce this week for failing to blog, … Read more “Times Crossword 24501”