Author: Verlaine

This crossword, unless I’ve seriously dropped the ball, is a NONGRAM, but that didn’t stop it from being brilliant, with it being quite hard to discern the location of the definition part in a vast … Read more “Times 27,215: No W, Jose”

An excellent crossword with a real sense of cleverness about the cluing, and some excitingly unusual vocabulary to grapple with: a great combo. I was a little bit out of my depth (final time north … Read more “Times 27,209: The Sporting Life”

A very nice Friday puzzle I thought, not overly complex in terms of the wordplay but given much extra chewiness by tough vocabulary and a very nice line in obscuring the definition part. FOIs 15ac … Read more “Times 27,203: View Halloo”

Another straightforward puzzle by Friday standards, with nothing much to scare the horses, though I hadn’t heard of a finger stall. First one in 1ac, LOI 22ac after 17dn gave the crossing I. Clue of … Read more “Times 27,197: Monotreme Sports”

An interesting Friday offering, with an unfussy approach that on occasions seemed only a hair above the difficulty level of the Quick Cryptic, but managed nevertheless to confound and deceive with little clever touches throughout. … Read more “Times 27,191: Mesopotamia”

A fine-fettled Friday the puzzle, the intricacies of whose right-hand side pushed my final time well over the 10 minute mark, in a manner disappointing on the eve of the Times Championships. I hope to … Read more “Times 27,185: Anatomy of a Crossword”

Some toughish vocabulary here but the wordplay was on the easier side for a Friday I thought – 1ac and 5ac went in very quickly here and I had the whole thing done and dusted … Read more “Times 27,179: Gee Officer Cryptic”