11:22 on the club timer. Mostly straightforward stuff, with a tendency towards some more teasing cryptic def. / charade type clueing, which I liked. Across 1 RICK – (PAT)RICK. Patrick is one of the standard … Read more “Times 25,133”
Author: topicaltim
Times 25,121
26:13 on the club timer, which certainly indicates something of a step up in difficulty from yesterday. Less to do with the vocabulary per se, I think, than some very roundabout definitions. Definitely a challenge, … Read more “Times 25,121”
Times 25,109
Time-wise, a pacy and enjoyable 13 minutes, but even as I was solving it, it occurred to me that this might well turn out to be a “wavelength puzzle”: it certainly had a very individual … Read more “Times 25,109”
Times Jumbo 967
A solving time of 32 minutes, and a puzzle requiring some thought. Lots of playfulness in both definitions and wordplay, which I find to be something which tends to divide the solving community; most of … Read more “Times Jumbo 967”
Times 25,097
A reasonably straightforward 19 minutes. Some pleasing wordplay (“action in court”, “charming female”) and several sporting allusions, including 25 across, which might suggest this puzzle was compiled during England’s most recent Test series. Across 1 … Read more “Times 25,097”
Times 25,085
You know those puzzles where the definition or the word lengths alone give away the answer, and there are lots of obvious devices, crossword cliches, and laboured attempts at concealment? Well imagine the opposite of … Read more “Times 25,085”
Times Jumbo 962
A straight down the middle puzzle this, by which I mean I didn’t find very much that could be regarded as demandingly obscure, but at the same time not too many clues which were blindingly … Read more “Times Jumbo 962”
Times 25,073 – messing about in boats
I’ve been shockingly busy with Real Life since my last blog, hence not even managing to find time to solve most of the intervening puzzles, let alone comment, so I hoped it wouldn’t be too … Read more “Times 25,073 – messing about in boats”
Times 25,061 – 1404/40=?
Today’s online puzzle bears the caption “Today is the fortieth anniversary of Wadham Sutton’s first crossword for The Times. This is his puzzle no. 1,404.” Given that the paper still favours the cloak of anonymity … Read more “Times 25,061 – 1404/40=?”
Times Jumbo 957 (December 24th)
No meaningful time available for second Jumbo in a row; as a matter of fact, when I re-open the puzzle now, the clock is still ticking despite my crossword being safely submitted and given a … Read more “Times Jumbo 957 (December 24th)”