Solving time: 30 mins As well as some Christmassy clues there were a few thematic answers in this (e.g. THREE KINGS, HOLLY TREE, FRANKINCENSE) but not enough to justify the traditionally awful grid with grossly … Read more “ST (Jumbo) 4360 (Sun 20 Dec) – Referees assistance”
Author: talbinho
ST 4359 (Sun 13 Dec) – Doctor No-no
Solving time: 4:08 Better from me this week after some poor recent efforts, and a better crossword too; 16ac is terrible, 15dn needs some work and 4dn is dubious but otherwise the clues are pretty … Read more “ST 4359 (Sun 13 Dec) – Doctor No-no”
ST 4358 (Sun 6 Dec) – Fossil fool
Solving time: Turned to a dictionary after 20 mins for 11ac and 8dn. Harder than usual this week with several obscurities. I didn’t know the flower PENSTEMON, the fossil (and old tribesman) AMMONITE, the EROSE … Read more “ST 4358 (Sun 6 Dec) – Fossil fool”
ST 4357 (Sun 29 Nov) – Illegal tender
Solving time: 7:22 I suspect the likes of Tony will demolish my time for this – I’ve had three weeks of very few crosswords and this felt commensurately pedestrian, including writing REDEEMED in the space … Read more “ST 4357 (Sun 29 Nov) – Illegal tender”
ST 4356 (Sun 22 Nov) – Chapel of discord
Solving time: about 10-15 mins with distractions. A strange puzzle with some terrible clues (e.g. CHAPEL at 5ac) and some excellent ones, of which my favourite was (appropriately) the one to ROLE MODEL at 15dn. … Read more “ST 4356 (Sun 22 Nov) – Chapel of discord”
ST 4355 (Sun 15 Nov) – Desert storm
Solving time: about 7 mins I think, with one silly mistake (21dn). Mostly concisely clued with a few decent cryptic definitions. Double definition clues often seem to be my downfall (as in the recent Times … Read more “ST 4355 (Sun 15 Nov) – Desert storm”
ST 4354 (Sun 8 Nov) – Glitter bug
Solving time: 4:14, one mistake (‘flitter’ for GLITTER at 18dn). Another reasonable puzzle – not totally accurate but mostly explainable to beginners without requiring too many apologies for ‘crosswordese’ or poor clues. Just a little … Read more “ST 4354 (Sun 8 Nov) – Glitter bug”
ST 4353 (Sun 1 Nov) – Wash daze
Solving time: 10 mins A very good puzzle, I thought – the surface readings (i.e. how the clues read if you pretend they aren’t cryptic crossword clues) were excellent throughout and the clues were accurate … Read more “ST 4353 (Sun 1 Nov) – Wash daze”
ST 4352 (Sun 25 Oct) – Fungus stricken
Solving time: About 6½ minutes until I got horribly stuck on 9ac, which I couldn’t solve until returning to the puzzle some time later. I thought this puzzle was harder than average, and I nearly … Read more “ST 4352 (Sun 25 Oct) – Fungus stricken”
ST 4351 (Sun 18 Oct) – Fly in the ointment
Solving time: 4 mins for most of it, twice as long again on 17dn (LINIMENT). A decent puzzle with some good clues, plus a couple of strange ones. I got in a right mess with … Read more “ST 4351 (Sun 18 Oct) – Fly in the ointment”