Solving time: 17:49, but with one wrong. I’d have done better to solve this before the other Olympic puzzles while I was still fresh. But I tackled them in reverse order, and was so tired … Read more “Vintage Olympic Crossword 5734 – originally published 29 July 1948”
Author: tony_sever
Times 5000 (16 March 1946)
Solving time: 28:43 (1 answer wrong) I’m pretty sure this puzzle will not have appealed to everyone as it lacks the precision of modern-day Times crosswords and breaks a fair number of Ximenes’s rules. There … Read more “Times 5000 (16 March 1946)”
TLS 858 (3 December) – UP with WITCH I did not put
Solving time: 18:42 (1 wrong) I had all but three clues solved in around 12 minutes and then agonised for half as long again over BLUE, MOLOSSI and RICHARD UPWITCH, failing (perhaps not entirely surprisingly) … Read more “TLS 858 (3 December) – UP with WITCH I did not put”
TLS 856 (19 November) – kan’t spell!
Solving time: 30:00 (3 wrong) There are times when I feel I’m completely losing my grip. With A—A-Y-S- in place, I failed to see APOCALYPSE, despite wondering at one point whether the “white horseman” might … Read more “TLS 856 (19 November) – kan’t spell!”
TLS 854 (5 November) – Mor Mis!
Solving time: 30 minutes (2 wrong). Les Misérables is one of those books I’ve always meant to read but never got round to, so although I’ve heard of Jean Valjean I simply didn’t connect him … Read more “TLS 854 (5 November) – Mor Mis!”
TLS Autumn Acrostic (22 October)
Solving time: 50:48 I expect there’s a knack to these acrostics, but clearly I haven’t yet got it! Perhaps I’ll do better next time, particularly if I’m more careful about transcribing letters from one grid … Read more “TLS Autumn Acrostic (22 October)”
TLS 852 (15 October 2010)
Solving time: about 25 minutes (3 wrong) Oh dear! Perhaps if I’d thought harder, I might have ended up all correct, but I made two unforced errors (missing MONSARRAT and SUSS), and although I didn’t … Read more “TLS 852 (15 October 2010)”
TLS 850 (1 October 2010)
Solving time: 30:00 (16 right; 16 wrong/unsolved) I was feeling tired and made extraordinarily heavy weather of this puzzle, missing the obvious UNCERTAIN (I read That Uncertain Feeling years ago), which would almost certainly have … Read more “TLS 850 (1 October 2010)”
TLS 846 (3 September)
Solving time: 21:16 (1 wrong) I’d no idea about CHLOE, never having either seen or read Back to Methuselah. Apart from that, this was mostly plain sailing, with the unknown answers readily guessable, though I … Read more “TLS 846 (3 September)”
TLS 844 (13 August)
Solving time: 30:00 (1 wrong) At present I just don’t seem to be able to nail a TLS puzzle, and again finished with one letter wrong: BELL instead of DELL at 25A. GALT (10A) and … Read more “TLS 844 (13 August)”