I’ve been a bit distracted from the 15x15s by my duties as a team captain in the Quiz League of London of late, but fortunately for me there was a definite sense of the puzzles … Read more “Times 27,089: The Wizard of Speed and Time”
Author: Verlaine
Times Cryptic 27,083: Larks Ascending
Not very Fridayish, completed by me on paper in 6 minutes even – today’s QC gave me considerably more trouble! But enjoyable enough box-ticking stuff. FOI 10ac; LOI 28dn; minor eyebrow raise of the day … Read more “Times Cryptic 27,083: Larks Ascending”
Monthly Club Special 20,213: Around The World In 29 Clues
A real vocab-fest this month, taking in Antipodean and American slang, Indonesian medicine, a heated Chinese sleeping platform, a Japanese hostelry, an Indian water porter, an African mountain and that glorious German mouthful, a synonym … Read more “Monthly Club Special 20,213: Around The World In 29 Clues”
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1329: B for Mutton
A straightforward enough Jumbo with some nicely concise cluing, and which touched on some interesting areas of general knowledge in the across clues. Did I blog this one on the actual correct day for the … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1329: B for Mutton”
Times 27,077: Ignorance, Madam, Pure Ignorance
This was gentlish fare for a Friday, taking me no more than about 7 minutes on paper, but there was a light touch to the cluing and I chuckled and groaned in all the right … Read more “Times 27,077: Ignorance, Madam, Pure Ignorance”
Times 27,071: The True North Strong And Free!
An excellent crossword, I thought, which packed a lot of brilliance into some very concise clues, and also seemed in places to be celebrating a large country I’m quite fond of, perhaps a week or … Read more “Times 27,071: The True North Strong And Free!”
Times Cryptic No 27,065: Beware the Ides of Off
A very good workout for a Friday with a lot of non-obvious definitions to compliment some cunning wordplay. I did this while on the move, and don’t have a time, but I’m confident I soared … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27,065: Beware the Ides of Off”
Times 27,059: Ocean’s 15×15
I did this on paper and with interruptions so have no time to offer you, but I seem to remember getting off to a slow start, though things picked up later; I’ve just checked the … Read more “Times 27,059: Ocean’s 15×15”
Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1324 (19/5/2018): They Also Solve Who Only Stand And Wait
I’m very sorry that this has been so long denied – in only partial mitigation I was quite ill over last weekend, but I have also only recently worked out the numerological secret of Jumbos … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1324 (19/5/2018): They Also Solve Who Only Stand And Wait”
Times 27,053: The Thriller in Vanilla
A very competent and concisely clued crossword, but almost unnecessarily straightforward for a Friday – oh well, if you find yourself craving convolution there’s always my Club Monthly blog, also live today. I quite liked … Read more “Times 27,053: The Thriller in Vanilla”