Author: TheRotter

I know we bloggers tend to repeat ourselves overly much, but I’m not going to apologise for doing it again here.  This is a lovely crossword puzzle, with some excellent surfaces, hidden subtleties, disguised definitions … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1063 by Tracy”

Eleven minutes this morning, which is just outside my new target time, but this was a nice puzzle from Hurley.  I spent an extra minute or so trying to parse SPENDER for 18a after falling … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1053 by Hurley”

I must be getting better at these things, as this is another QC solved well inside my 15 minute target (10 minutes and small change).  I may have to adjust my target down by a … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1043 by Joker”

This was my fastest time for a while at just over 5 minutes, so definitely on the easier side for an Izetti puzzle.  Entertaining nonetheless! In my last blog I talked about HOLAs! (Harrumph – … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 1033 by Izetti”

A lovely little QC this morning from Pedro, taking me less than 10 minutes to solve, so my best time for a while, but full of interesting stuff.  Following yesterday’s discussion of first letter abbreviations … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 1023 by Pedro”

Fairly straightforward in terms of difficulty I thought, but with some lovely precise and succinct clueing from Teazel.  There are some novel ANAGRINDS (anagram indicators), plenty of double definitions, charades, containers, initialisms, deletions and combinations.  … Read more “Quick cryptic No 1013 by Teazel”

Happy New Year all!  After two weeks off over the holidays, which I survived – just, this is my first blog of 2018.  Before I begin, can I add my appreciation to that of others … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 1003 by Teazel or Hurley, depending where one looks”

An interesting offering from Tracy, which was right on my target time, so if my yardstick is any good, the rest of you should find this about medium difficulty.  Coincidentally, this is the same grid … Read more “Quick cryptic No 993 by Tracy”

This is a great QC in my opinion, with all sorts of richness and interest, some beautifully crafted surfaces, depth and nothing too obscure.  To add to the pleasure, it is a pangram, containing all … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 983 by Izetti”

I am standing in for Rolytoly this week, who is taking a slightly extended holiday, and this was a nice puzzle to blog.  There was some chewy General Knowledge (1a, 5a, 22a and possibly 18d … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 968 by Izetti”