A tough puzzle with a raft of hard double definitions: one of which, 8dn, held me up for a good extra chunk of time at the end as I persuaded myself it couldn’t be SILLY, … Read more “Times 27,173: Les Fleurs (et Oiseaux) du Mal”
Author: Verlaine
Times 27,167: Joculus Riffed
Something of a disaster last night as I clicked submit to post this blog and LiveJournal instantly ate it, beyond any of my attempts at recovery. I have to dash out to catch a train … Read more “Times 27,167: Joculus Riffed”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1344: No Time To Stay Outdoors And Spoon
I thought this was just a great jumbo, full of good words, smooth surfaces, concisely brilliant cryptic definitions and a general uneasy feeling that the setter might be a couple of steps ahead of me … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1344: No Time To Stay Outdoors And Spoon”
Times 27,161: By Hooke Or By Crook
I’d describe this one as a “hard easy puzzle” – looking down through the parsings everything seems rather straightforward, but as a result of this sancta simplicitas it wasn’t always easy for me to find … Read more “Times 27,161: By Hooke Or By Crook”
Monthly Club Special 20,216: Hoarse Beans and 20ac Bears
Another “let’s see how many truly ridiculous words we can pack into one grid” type puzzle, with the crossing pair at 26ac and 14dn giving me particular cause to chortle. FOI 10ac (once I decided … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,216: Hoarse Beans and 20ac Bears”
Times 27,155: The Full Nelson
Not as tough as yesterday’s, with many fairly gentle clues to get a foothold, but a fair few chewier offerings that pushed my own time over the 10 minute mark, when I failed to think … Read more “Times 27,155: The Full Nelson”
Times 27,149: Dog Soldiers
A not *too* challenging Friday puzzle to round off what has felt like a fairly gentle week, but the sort of gridfill that I very much appreciate: a whirlwind tour of general knowledge taking in … Read more “Times 27,149: Dog Soldiers”
Times 27,143: The End of the Beginning
I wasn’t on the wavelength for this one – or maybe just shagged out after another long week – taking a little over 10 minutes to finish on paper. And very glad I was to … Read more “Times 27,143: The End of the Beginning”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1339: Cracking Toast
One of the best Jumbos I can remember blogging, this – quite often there’s the feeling that a Jumbo setter might have (completely understandably, really!) gone into churn mode to get the job done, but … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1339: Cracking Toast”
Times 27,137: Born Under One-Inch Punches
I had a whale of a time with this “proper Friday puzzle”, which took me 9 minutes on paper to negotiate its full gamut of cryptic tricks. Loads of treasurable surfaces, and it’s always a … Read more “Times 27,137: Born Under One-Inch Punches”