Author: TheRotter

14-minute completion for this Orpheus puzzle, which includes much to be admired.

Today’s puzzle from Orpheus took me just under 11 minutes to solve, my quickest this week.  However, a gap in my GK meant that I needed some more time to properly parse 13d when I came to write the blog.  The answer was obvious, if not the means of getting there.  There was also a surprising lack of anagrams, with only one partial anagram to be found, although homophone clues seemed to make up the difference.

A plethora of anagrams and double definitions from Mara today, my second consecutive blog of a Mara puzzle.  I like the dd at 1d, and the device used to drop letters from 16d, and give clues of the day jointly to them.  1a was FOI.  Hopefully you will all find this one satisfyingly doable.  I don’t have an accurate time as busy doing other things, but I feel this was certainly within my target.

An interesting puzzle that didn’t take up too much of my time, unlike the last couple of days where I was over target.  At 9 minutes to complete, this was one of my quicker solves, … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 2123 by Mara”

Well, I found this a very interesting puzzle from Breadman.  My solving time of 11 minutes suggests that it was easier than average, but I think some of the parsing was tricky, particularly in the … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 2113 by Breadman”

Some neat surfaces, nice definitions and more unusual words in this puzzle from Wurm, and a European and Asian geographical feel to it, with several towns and regions included in the answers and clues.  My … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 2103 by Wurm”

A 13 minute solve for me, which equates to middling difficulty on the Rotterometer.  I had to write out the anagrist for 10a as the cryptic definition wasn’t particularly helpful.  We have ‘snake’ as both … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 2093 by Izetti”

I think this was a classic Quick Cryptic; nothing too obtuse, nothing too difficult, simple devices clearly indicated.  It still took me 13 minutes, and probably should have been quicker, but I took a moment … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 2083 by Hurley”

An uncommon diagonally symmetric grid this morning from Teazel, with an unusual number of double definition clues (5 of them, all in the down clues).  I blasted through this in 11 minutes, which is at … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 2073 by Teazel”