Author: Verlaine

Happy New Year! I’m hoping the Friday puzzle’s new year’s resolution may have been to be as consistently dastardly as it was in the good old days, before Tuesday and Wednesday started jostling for its … Read more “Times 26,927: Physical Exertion”

I thought this was about as straightforward as it is permissible to get on a Friday (at least while I’m on watch), which was quite a relief given that I’d slept in and had to … Read more “Times 26,921: Down At Heel But Shabby-Genteel”

No impressive time to report from me on this puzzle, as I was still badly hungover from my work Christmas party when I tackled it (almost 24 hours later, oops), but I will say that … Read more “Times 26,915: It’s Beginning To Feel A Lot Like Cryptics”

I took 10 minutes on the dot for this cryptically rather straightforward puzzle. I didn’t find its style to be on my own slightly baroque wavelength – although some of the slightly more ornate vocabulary … Read more “TImes 26,909: Blue Bayeux”

I found this not the hardest of Friday puzzles – done on the move so I don’t have an exact time, but in the region of 7, 8 minutes? – but a very likeable one, … Read more “Times 26,903: Fighting Words”

I don’t know if I’d call this puzzle fully Fridayish (pace 8dn), but it was at the very least Tuesdayish, slowing me up with some trickier clues towards the end to a final tune of … Read more “Times 26,897: Divided By A Common Language”

Friends, I must ask for your your latitude this morning as the kids need to be got to school at 8.30 and I only started the crosswords at 8am… so I’ll be giving proper attention … Read more “Times 26,891 – Better 9ac Than Never”

I’m going to play the sleep deprivation “get out of jail free” card that I didn’t play yesterday on this one to explain my unprepossessing time on a puzzle that should have been right up … Read more “Times 26,885: Popular Beat Combo in Purpler Blog Combat”

In an effort to “show, not tell” what happened to me at the championships last weekend, I went down by one measly clue in this puzzle, pondering long and hard over 21dn before unerringly changing … Read more “Times 26,879: One 20ac Blogged By Another”