Not so very Fridayish, with much that could be filled in quickly and a few chestnutty clues; but certainly not without its charms. My favourite clue was probably the homophone at 22ac, though I did … Read more “Times 27,785: Off To The Races At The 23d 28a”
Author: Verlaine
Monthly Club Special 20,240: Pooh Dreams
A quick look at the completed grid for this one should be enough to tell you if you are going to love or hate the Monthly Club Special: some people just won’t want to painstakingly … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,240: Pooh Dreams”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1459: “When The Moon Is A Ghostly Galleon, Tossed Upon Cloudy Seas…”
I liked the GK-ish aspects of this, such as 9dn, 12dn, 32dn, 37dn, 14ac, and our friend the poet of course, surely the second best Alfred among all poets. Cluing wise I liked 39ac, and … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1459: “When The Moon Is A Ghostly Galleon, Tossed Upon Cloudy Seas…””
Times 27,779: Fyodor Trotsky
A little disappointing difficulty-wise at the end of an above-averagely easy week, but I found much in here to enjoy, with some really exceptional surfaces. 17dn was very jolly but I think I’ll give COD … Read more “Times 27,779: Fyodor Trotsky”
Times 27,773: Gimme Shelter
Not the hardest end to a week but not without its tricky clues. It feels like a long time since I could last say it was one corner giving me particular trouble, but I ground … Read more “Times 27,773: Gimme Shelter”
Times 27,767: Liblab Thug
Cracking Friday puzzle I thought, with lots of interesting GK require to successfully negotiate its nuances: just look at the triple bill from 12 through 16 down… I enjoyed “mug’s hot!” and “behind houses” but … Read more “Times 27,767: Liblab Thug”
Times 27,761: I Could Be Bounded In A 15×15 And Count Myself King Of Infinite Space…
If this turns out to be the hardest puzzle of the week I think it’ll be mostly accidentally, Monday to Thursday having held nothing TOO strenuous, if memory serves. This had a couple of interesting … Read more “Times 27,761: I Could Be Bounded In A 15×15 And Count Myself King Of Infinite Space…”
Monthly Club Special 20,239: Nuke The Scrabble Tile Factory From Orbit, It’s The Only Way To Be Sure
Yes, to a certain extent this grid is just one of those MCS exercises in maximising the silly-letter quotient of each answer (worth fewer than 10 points in a game of Scrabble? You can just … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,239: Nuke The Scrabble Tile Factory From Orbit, It’s The Only Way To Be Sure”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1454: Douze Points
I thought this was a superb jumbo, with all sorts of interesting words well, in some cases brilliantly clued. 7 to 9 down is a run of three of my very favourites, but 8dn wins … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1454: Douze Points”
Times 27,755: Two Jags Before The Mast
Cor blimey, there was some hard stuff in here and no mistake. If you hadn’t heard of the American historian or the colonial-era slang for “hired” or the wartime hidey-hole, you, like me, might just … Read more “Times 27,755: Two Jags Before The Mast”