Author: talbinho

Solving time: About 5 mins (interrupted, unfortunately, or maybe fortunately given my mistake at 7dn) Struggling for time at the moment I tried to cram this into what I thought was a suitable gap; it … Read more “ST 4380 (Sun 9 May) – S Club 7 x 2”

Solving time: about 5 mins A reasonable puzzle with a few quibbles here and there, mostly with regard to the cryptic ‘grammar’ of the clues, but no actual mistakes that I saw. There are a … Read more “ST 4379 (Sun 2 May) – Hung up”

Solving time: 5:28 Generally not too difficult and well-clued, with a couple of good long anagrams at 1ac and 27ac. One or two clues let the puzzle down with superfluous words spoiling the cryptic reading, … Read more “ST 4378 (Sun 25 Apr) – Triskaidekaphobia”

[posted slightly early (by PB on Neil’s behalf) as I’m away for much of tomorrow and don’t want to rely on remembering to post in the morning] Solving time: 5:51 A good puzzle with a … Read more “ST 4377 (Sun 19 Apr) – Return of the deadeye”

Solving time: a very tired 13 mins, one mistake (8dn) There were some excruciating clues in this puzzle, as well as several difficult answers such as BARATHEA and CHOLO (which I managed to work out) … Read more “ST 4376 (Sun 11 Apr) – Cholo victory”

Solving time: 3:01 A fastish time usually means a decent crossword, and by and large this was. The clues were straightforward but mostly read fairly smoothly with concise and accurate cryptic indications. A couple of … Read more “ST 4375 (Sun 3 Apr) – Antre matter”

Solving time: 10:15 This was a pleasant surprise, being very good in parts. There was an enumeration error at 12dn (IN-TRAY), one or two clues were a mess and I had quibbles with a few … Read more “ST 4374 (Sun 28 Mar) – Ghouls ‘n’ Gobelins”

Solving time: 6 mins The schedule suggested we were due a good one and sure enough this was excellent. I don’t understand 18dn (WAYSIDE), though. * = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’. Across 4 … Read more “ST 4373 (Sun 21 Mar) – Trouble garage”

Solving time: 5:13, one mistake (10ac). This might have been quicker if my Ks, Us and Ls didn’t look like Gs, Ls and Is repectively, and if I hadn’t rushed into an incorrect answer at … Read more “ST 4372 (Sun 14 Mar) – Edit Iranian”

Solving time: 4:06 This puzzle would have been improved if the setter/editor had consulted the periodic table (for WOLFRAM at 15dn). The definition of ODIN at 11ac is also extremely dubious. This blog would have … Read more “ST 4371 (Sun 7 Mar) – Tung tied”