A gentle giant, this one, that I tore through in not much more than the time it would take to do a toughish 15×15. Lots to enjoy though, with some very chucklesome surfaces (5ac, 4dn) … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1369: I Bless The Rains Down In Africa”
Author: Verlaine
Times 27,299: Got A Gridful Of Clues, It’s Dark And We’re Wearing Sunglasses. Hit It!
I was straight off to the races on this charming, pangrammatic but not particularly Fridayish puzzle, hitting the submit button a shade after the 5 minute mark as the answer to 5ac finally swam into … Read more “Times 27,299: Got A Gridful Of Clues, It’s Dark And We’re Wearing Sunglasses. Hit It!”
Times 27,293: Eggs Over Easy
This was a really good puzzle, tricksy in the wordplay department without being obscure, impeccably surfaced, and having a pleasantly Timesy old-worldliness to its vocabulary. I adored the thwarted soldiers at 9ac and the clever … Read more “Times 27,293: Eggs Over Easy”
Monthly Club Special 20,221: The Pillars of (Crossword) Creation
I thought this was a super MCS with two wonderful 15-letter highlights at 2dn and 7dn propping up the whole puzzle. 2dn in particular is almost certainly the most perfect clue I’ve seen this year … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,221: The Pillars of (Crossword) Creation”
Times 27,287: Mightier Than The Sorb
A devious puzzle, riddled with cunning definitions, that I counted myself lucky to finish in ~10 minutes, post boozy pub quiz (we won! yay). Some obscure vocab should have slowed most solvers down – if … Read more “Times 27,287: Mightier Than The Sorb”
Times 27,281: More Than Parts Of Which Are Excellent
The kind of puzzle that makes setting look effortlessly easy when of course know it’s very hard indeed; pretty much every clue here combines perfect marriages of wordplay and surface with a magician’s talent for … Read more “Times 27,281: More Than Parts Of Which Are Excellent”
Times 27,275: “Transuranic Heavy Elements May Not Be Used Where There Is Life”
A complex puzzle very worthy of its Friday slot, I thought: the top half in particular held me up for a long time, until I finally clocked the hard double definition at 1ac and managed … Read more “Times 27,275: “Transuranic Heavy Elements May Not Be Used Where There Is Life””
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1364: Hiroshima A Rebours
A Jumbo that was straight as a die but at least the STAB in 13dn was nothing to do with pinks or punts this time. I seem to remember being held up at the end … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1364: Hiroshima A Rebours”
Times 27,269: The Punt Is To Change It
There are a lot of witty things in this puzzle, a *lot*, but the whole experience was sadly soured for me, and to judge by the state of the leaderboard at least a few others, … Read more “Times 27,269: The Punt Is To Change It”
Monthly Club Special No 20,220: Right on the Left Staircase
An uncommonly gentle MCS in parts, with a run of clues towards the end that made me think that I was doing a “straight” puzzle, and quite a few others that had generous pointers in … Read more “Monthly Club Special No 20,220: Right on the Left Staircase”