Author: Verlaine

It might have had its thunder stolen somewhat by yesterday’s fabulous (and fabulously hard) puzzle, but I thought this was a really good crossword with some very ingenious cluing. I only managed a par time … Read more “Times 26,405: A Word In Your Cochlea”

I will keep it brief for once as between covering for Pip this week and doing a TLS blog next week, in addition to my regular Fridays, you’ll get sick of me otherwise. A mostly … Read more “Times 26,403: Going To Hull In A Handbasket, Or Thereabouts”

I thought this was going to be very easy indeed by Friday standards, as a bunch of answers flew straight in on the first pass, but I ended up getting bogged down in the SW … Read more “Times 26,393: Snowdonder”

I’m not sure if it’s just because I’ve been doing the 5:2 “intermittent fasting” diet with my wife for the last couple of weeks (don’t know why really, I’m already quite thin, but then I … Read more “Times 26,387: A Veritable Smorgasbord”

What I’m sure should have been a pleasant, not too difficult (for a Friday) solve was slightly marred by some bad enumerations in the SW. Fortunately I wasn’t stymied for too long by ORNA-MENT, but … Read more “Times 26,381: There’s No Crying In Baseball”

An excellent and chewy puzzle to ring in a new month with, I thought. My aged mum is staying with us for the Easter hols to perform important kid-wrangling duties, so the Blogging Room was … Read more “Times 26,375: Blessed Are The Cheesemakers”

Happy Easter! Due to the rare privilege of not having to go to work on a Friday, I tackled this puzzle not with the chimes of midnight, but immediately upon getting up in the morning, … Read more “Times 26,369: Taking A Bath”

Your Honour, the case for the prosecution has certainly been an impassioned one. If we were to believe everything they tell us, my client M. Verlaine would be an unprincipled, destructive monster who should not … Read more “Times 26,363: Beware Greeks Bearing Fire”

It seems like an age since I’ve solved the Friday puzzle in the manner that God intended for me, that is, rolling home around midnight after a heavy alcohol-fuelled night at one of London’s premier … Read more “Times 26,357: A Watched Odyssey Never Boils”

I personally didn’t find this particularly operose for a Friday, clocking out on a nice tidy 399 seconds. Quick FOIs 11ac and 19ac, and finally coming to a rest in the SW with 21n and … Read more “Times 26,351: You And Whose Army?”