Author: ulaca

A gentle way to ease into the new week with a weird dance and a weird painting, but little else to bother the seasoned solver. Talking of which, many congratulations to Mark Goodliffe for snaffling … Read more “Times 26233 – The Referee’s Decision is Final”

Thank you for your patience. I know some people will be champing at the bit to give their comments – and perhaps a word or two about the puzzle as well. 24 minutes for this … Read more “Times 26221 – Don’t mention the rugby…”

I’m still in mourning. Thank goodness I didn’t watch the match. Gaskets would have been blown. Maybe the Australia of the northern hemisphere will fare better against their southern counterparts. As to the crossword, a … Read more “Times 26,215 – Gwlad, gwlad, pleidiol wyf i’m gwlad!”

Definitely a notch or two up on your average Monday, with some nice misdirection and one or two clues where the definition is not at the end you might expect. Feeling as bemused at times … Read more “Times 26209 – My goddess, my dear creature, my dearest life”

Typical Monday fare, with one clue where you need to get your vowels in the right place, else you may get yourself into a lather. 25 minutes. Oh, and congratulations to Australia on winning the … Read more “Times 26185 – Happy Biffday!”

I began this as if I were an Australian batsman playing Test cricket in Nottingham but ended as if I were Slaven Bilić protecting a 2-0 lead against a hapless group of overpaid superstars in … Read more “Times 26173 – A Puzzle of Two Halves”

On her 88th birthday, my mother gets a mention at 27 across. Actually, I reckon she could probably get this at least half finished, it having about as much bite as a Moeen Ali loosener. … Read more “Times 26167 – For Mum”

I found this tougher than I oughta,Confusing my creatures of the water.While misspelling my chemical whatnotCan’t be said to have helped a whole lot. 50 minutes. ACROSS 1. GRAMPUS – ‘sea creature’ (a dolphin); GRAM … Read more “Times 26149 – A Minor Hiccough”

Similar to Verlaine on this one, with one wrong. I may have taken a little longer, though, with half of my 47 minutes being taken up by a very tricky NW corner. Now to discover … Read more “Times 26131 – Me, I’m blaming the set-up”

Definitely on the meaty side for a Monday, with one Shibboleth clue (15a) to sort out the men from the boys. I was a boy…51 minutes for my very untechnical Did Not Finish. ACROSS 1. … Read more “Times 26125 – Leave me to heaven”