topicaltim – Page 10 – Times for The Times

Times 25,552

topicaltim13th August 2013 at 9:29 AM10 September 2025Daily Cryptic

23:03 on the club timer. I know there isn’t a timetable for these things, but like yesterday’s, I’d class this one as “unexpectedly tricky for its day”, based on my experience of alternate Tuesday puzzles. … Read more “Times 25,552”

Times 25,540

topicaltim30th July 2013 at 2:28 AM10 September 2025Daily Cryptic

15:39 on the club timer. Fans of economical clueing will like this one (it might almost be an exercise in using the least words possible for a Times daily), though the most concise clues are … Read more “Times 25,540”

Times 25,528 – not necessarily in the right order?

topicaltim16th July 2013 at 9:42 AM10 September 2025Daily Cryptic

Just under 10 minutes, for a puzzle which I thought had a pleasantly old-fashioned feel to it. In line with that, I could be wrong, but my instinct suggests this will be a puzzle where … Read more “Times 25,528 – not necessarily in the right order?”

Times Jumbo 1042

topicaltim13th July 2013 at 9:19 AM10 September 2025Jumbo Cryptic

41:49 on the Club timer, which rightly suggests something a bit trickier than usual. This was a tremendously good puzzle, I thought, with very smooth surfaces, some tricky definitions, a wide range of required general … Read more “Times Jumbo 1042”

Times 25,516

topicaltim2nd July 2013 at 1:58 AM10 September 2025Daily Cryptic

11:57. Pleasant everyday not-too-difficult puzzle, without anything I can see that might prove really obscure. Unless you know differently… Across 1 GALLOPING – OPus in GALLING. 9 LYRICAL – (ALLICYRiver)*. 10 RIGHT ON – BRIGHTON … Read more “Times 25,516”

Times 25,498

topicaltim11th June 2013 at 9:39 AM10 September 2025Daily Cryptic

Morning, all, I am standing in for Jim while he’s on holiday. Timed at 13:24, and based on the leaderboard so far*, this might be a bit of a tester for the less experienced. Some … Read more “Times 25,498”

Times Jumbo 1037

topicaltim8th June 2013 at 2:11 PM10 September 2025Jumbo Cryptic

28:52 on the Club timer (which normally suggests something reasonably straightforward) but with an error. Based on the comments on the Crossword Club, I wasn’t the only one who found an apparent inconsistency at 4dn, … Read more “Times Jumbo 1037”

Times 25,492

topicaltim4th June 2013 at 11:08 AM10 September 2025Daily Cryptic

16:32, and showing an error. I’m hoping that as I blog it will become obvious to me where I’ve slipped up, but if not, I’m sure someone will oblige. Let us see if it’s necessary…aha, … Read more “Times 25,492”

Times 25,480

topicaltim21st May 2013 at 10:03 AM10 September 2025Daily Cryptic

18:05, but the state of the leaderboard so far (not a single genuine, all-correct, time under 10 minutes even after Magoo and Jason have done their worst) confirms what I was feeling as I solved, … Read more “Times 25,480”

Times 25,468

topicaltim7th May 2013 at 10:39 AM10 September 2025Daily Cryptic

14:32 is good enough to put me in the current top 10 of the Club leaderboard, so suggests this is trickier than the normal challenge. Sorry for the slight delay to the blog; as so … Read more “Times 25,468”