Author: ulaca

Yes, I cocked up here spectacularly in a way that would have led Rassie Erasmus to launch a 2-hr Vimeo rant. How embarrassing to learn that I was dumber than I thought – well beyond … Read more “Times 28045 – What an Idiat!”

27 minutes for me, so according to my internal Witchometer, a tad tougher than the average Monday. A nice mixture of sciency stuff, marine biology, horticulture, history, linguistics and Classics. Who needs a GK crossword … Read more “Times 28033 – All Greek to me”

I enjoyed this puzzle immensely, referencing as it did two of my favourite songs, one of which did double duty by prompting me to get the sciency clue without having to bother about what it … Read more “Times 28021 – The cold in the cooler will get hotter as a rule-r”

Well, aside from the beartrap at 1 across, this was pretty much your straightforward Monday offering – just the thing to come home to when you’ve spent the day ferrying people round the People’s Republic … Read more “Times 28009 – Rice pudding without the skin”

The tum-tiddly-dee light operatic reference did for me, in spite of the fact that I knew the work. Must have subconsciously blanked it out… The notebook at, ‘ow you say, number three down may have … Read more “Times 27997 – Tantantara tzing boom and all that caper”

A very pleasant Monday offering, which I managed to complete in a little under 20 minutes. Noteworthy I thought were a couple of inchoate chestnuts at 1 and 26 across, as well as an Australian … Read more “Times 27985 – Humphry Clinker Rides Again!”

I thought this was an ideal challenge for a Monday. Not difficult but with enough misdirection and cunning to give most of us a decent workout. 26 minutes for me, but how did you get … Read more “Times 27973 – Between a rock and a pretty easy place”

I struggled with this a bit, much of which I’m putting down to interruptions from the wife and the telephone. To add insult to injury, when we parted on Saturday morning (nothing permanent, hopefully), she … Read more “Times 27961 – I’m awight. You awight?”

Maybe that’s being a bit unfair, but the eponymous protagonist of one of Dickens’ least read books and a certain part of a church do seem to be popping up with great regularity. Not that … Read more “Times 27949 – Chestnut Season”

A sprinkling of unusual vocab gives this classically-flavoured offering a tad more bite than your average Monday offering. I came home in 25:39, but expect quicker times from the usual suspects. ACROSS 1 Unbalanced leader … Read more “Times 27937 – Never work with children or stuffed animals from Sheppey”