Author: ulaca

I snuck under the half hour on this puzzle with a scintilla of a Shakespearean theme, which is always pleasing for a non-Olympian type such as I. The right-hand side yielded its secrets first, including … Read more “Times 26,629 – Where there’s a Will there’s a neigh?”

I ended the old year as I mean to carry on in the new one, cheating like a proverbial on this to finish in a half decent time. It seems like my new year’s resolution … Read more “Times 26605 – Like a Lambda to the Slaughter”

A dodgy dog, a strange fish, a couple of sea-captains and one of the most epochal sea-battles of all time. What more can a solver ask for on the penultimate Monday before Christmas? ACROSS 1. … Read more “Times 26593 – Not one for the Morninke?”

Finally, after many a near thing and one unfortunate crash-landing, the time machine is safely in my possession. And what a work of art it is! I hope you will indulge me as I describe … Read more “Times 26569 – Boldly going…”

Due to an unfortunate concurrence of events – not least my PC being on the blink and the time machine needing further time at the service centre to remove all traces of the use it … Read more “Times 26,551 – Sweets for my sweet, what the heck for my honey”

I thought this was a little on the trickier side for a Monday. Well, a lot trickier if you include 10a, where I managed to fall into the heffalump trap like Pooh and his cerebrally … Read more “Times 26533 – Pay More Heed”

A quick look at the Crossword site scorecard shows a lot of singletons, error wise, which I am assuming (though very probably wrongly) to owe more to the Ashford clue than to the pianist clue. … Read more “Times 26515 – Just chilling out in the hood with the West Staines massiv”

I thought this was a slightly trickier than usual Monday offering, but that may have been because of my masochistic streak, which saw me up till all hours watching England’s hapless football team play like … Read more “Times 26509 – Beware of the Biff!”

Not a personal best, but my 26’59” sees me on the first page of the leaderboard, ahead of certain luminaries, who shall remain nameless. (Hint: They have been known to finish faster than Jason.) It … Read more “Times 26497 – We’re Not All Rob Roys”

A weekend for the sports fan, with Wellington (NZ), Sri Lanka and England all notching significant wins, with Manchester United chipping in with an insignificant one of their own. As for the proposal to switch … Read more “Times 26485 – Playing for one’s average”