Solving time: 3:34 A real mixture this week: some very good clues, much better than average, and a few that are a bit questionable. There seems to be a mistake in the clue for 14ac … Read more “ST 4293 (Sun 7 Sep) – Pergola alarm”
Author: talbinho
ST 4292 (Sun 31 Aug) – Sofia so good
I’ve lost my solving time for this, but I think it was about average. There were some trickier words this week though, as well as an erroneous definition at 18dn. * = anagram. Across 1 … Read more “ST 4292 (Sun 31 Aug) – Sofia so good”
ST 4291 (Sun 24 Aug) – Lesser of two weevils
Solving time: 7:58 A couple of dodgy clues this week but on the whole a decent puzzle, with nothing too difficult or obscure. * = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’. Across 1 PL(ANT)AIN – … Read more “ST 4291 (Sun 24 Aug) – Lesser of two weevils”
ST 4290 (Sun 17 Aug) – Butterfly nuts
Solving time: not taken. I’m afraid I lost interest in this puzzle when I realised that there were several more clues than there should have been. It seems that (in the online version) several additional … Read more “ST 4290 (Sun 17 Aug) – Butterfly nuts”
ST 4289 (Sun 10 August) – No smart aleck
Solving time: 11:45 Not very good from me – got stuck on 2dn, which was excusable as I didn’t know the architect, and 1ac which I really should have got much faster. I’ll blame it … Read more “ST 4289 (Sun 10 August) – No smart aleck”
ST 4288 (Sun 3 Aug) – Argy-bargy
Solving time: 9:53 Firstly, thank you very much to sotira, dorosatt, jackkt and yfyap who have blogged the Sunday Times puzzles over the last few weeks in my absence. After a largely crosswordless month I’ve … Read more “ST 4288 (Sun 3 Aug) – Argy-bargy”
ST 4281 (Sun 15 Jun) – Troll booth
Solving time: 6:10 (solved online) Some decent clues in this puzzle, and nothing too difficult; TIMAEUS at 4dn was the only clue that really held me up, and 23dn (TROLL) might have caught some out … Read more “ST 4281 (Sun 15 Jun) – Troll booth”
Jumbo 761 (Sat 7 Jun) – Reductio ad absurdum
Solving time: 13:28 On the easier side of average, I thought, and perhaps I should have been faster – plenty of straightforward clues but also a few harder names and phrases. I’m not anti cryptic … Read more “Jumbo 761 (Sat 7 Jun) – Reductio ad absurdum”
ST 4280 (Sun 8 Jun)
Solving time: 6:28 (one mistake – 15ac). 27ac in this puzzle was NAOMI, clued as ‘I MOAN’ backwards, which pretty much says it all, I think. A few more difficult words (tondi, maenads, colobus) but … Read more “ST 4280 (Sun 8 Jun)”
ST 4279 (Sun 1 Jun) – A load of rubbish?
Solving time: lost, but about 7:30 rings a bell. No, actually – not a bad puzzle this week I thought, by Sunday Times standards. A few of the many cryptic definitions were a bit weak, … Read more “ST 4279 (Sun 1 Jun) – A load of rubbish?”