Author: ulaca

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”

This was a pretty typical Monday offering, unless, like me, you mucked 1 down up, and then revised it in part so that it was still wrong in part. Heavens knows how much that took … Read more “Times 26473 – Sting in the head”

What a weekend for English sport! Lewis Hamilton wins at Silverstone, Froome leads the Tour, Andy Murray reigns at Wimbledon and a Manchester United inspired Portugal beat France at the Euros. Even I got in … Read more “Times 26461 – Britannia Rules the Waves!”

It may be the Fourth of July, but I detected a distinctly Australian flavour to this puzzle, what with 13 down, 16 across and 28 across. Be all that as it may, I failed miserably … Read more “Times 26455 – Off with the hillbillies!”

A very pleasant start to the week, with nothing to scare the thoroughbreds but enough to keep the palfreys on their toes. Mine trotted home in 37 minutes. I particularly liked the muddled situation at … Read more “Times 26437 – Standing on this pleasant lea”