A very solid and entertaining puzzle I thought, with a heightened quality of vocabulary and reference further enlivened by some elegant cryptic phrasings. We also really liked the cavalcade of excellent animals, deers, horses, moles, … Read more “Times 27,263: Hypocritical Hypothetical”
Author: Verlaine
Times 27,257: Burns Notice
I couldn’t get anything right in the puzzles earlier this evening, managing to submit a very careless TOTAL ECLIPSE in the QC and a mystifying DEBOUCHER here, even after thinking through how “ban” was a … Read more “Times 27,257: Burns Notice”
Times 27,251: 28ac was a write-in!
An agreeable middle-of-the-road solve, with a few odd elements that resulted in Minor Eyebrow Raise, but mostly entirely enjoyable. 28ac would have been a rather cryptically labour-intensive clue were it not for the fact that … Read more “Times 27,251: 28ac was a write-in!”
Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1359 – Never Hold Discussions With The Monkey
Alright, so this was a really good specimen of a Times Jumbo, with wit aplenty and some genuine laugh-out-loud moments. I know some martinets disapprove of drug references in their crosswords, but I was very … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1359 – Never Hold Discussions With The Monkey”
Times 27,245: Cigarettes & Alcohol
A very nice little Friday puzzle with a combination of above averagely devious wordplay and unwieldy vocab (I’m looking at you, PROGNOSTIC and PERSECUTEE) to keep the solver sweating. I took a little less than … Read more “Times 27,245: Cigarettes & Alcohol”
Times 27,239: Cutting A Dash
I would describe this crossword as being fairly simply clued, but not in a bad way – there are some belters in the mix today, top of the heap in my opinion being 14ac for … Read more “Times 27,239: Cutting A Dash”
Monthly Club Special No 20,219: Terracottamasalata
The usual masterclass in clues which most mortals will have no chance whatsoever of Bunging In From Definition, needing to tease almost every one out painstakingly from the wordplay. Can JIRD and CIGUATOXIC *really* be … Read more “Monthly Club Special No 20,219: Terracottamasalata”
Times 27,233: Botany Bay
Greetings from Berkeley, California, to where I am moving, should I be able to find a job here anyway: anyone got any good contacts in the Bay Area? Do they even do (real) crossword puzzles … Read more “Times 27,233: Botany Bay”
Times 27,227: Should Overwordiness Be Forgot And Never Brought To Mind?
A verbose crossword with some quite obscure vocabulary in it (ARTICLING and especially SOCLE leap to mind), I suppose I must deem this suitably Fridayish in that it took me well over twice as long … Read more “Times 27,227: Should Overwordiness Be Forgot And Never Brought To Mind?”
Times 27,221: He Who Laughs Last
Apologies for the delay – I found myself locked out of my account for the first hour of my workday and have finally got in just now. Without further ado: This was a pleasantly unfussy … Read more “Times 27,221: He Who Laughs Last”