Author: Verlaine

I have an enormous amount of time for this tough Friday puzzle – quite literally really, as it kept me sweating and cogitating for almost the full quarter hour pre-submission, and some time afterwards too … Read more “Times 26,345: If You Can’t Stand The Beat, Get Out Of The Kitchen”

Wow, was I ever not on the wavelength for this one, taking over 20 minutes to toil my way through out for the first time in what feels like a long time. It *had* been … Read more “Times 26,339: The Starlight Barking”

Didn’t last long once the mighty Magoo and Jason strolled onto the scene, of course, but at the time I submitted this crossword I was topping the TCC leaderboards for both the Concise and the … Read more “Times 26,333: Il faut imaginer solveurs heureux”

There really are an unusual number of references to drink and drunkenness in cryptic crosswords, aren’t there? It’s not just me and my confirmation bias? I can’t think what possible connection there could be between … Read more “Times 26,327: Booze Cruise”

If ever I sing the praises of a crossword too effusively, it normally gets slapped down with multiple mutterings of “huh, some good clues but it wasn’t all THAT”, so I’m going to do this … Read more “Times 26,321: Braine Box”

Another perforce abbreviated blog this morning, as it’s almost 11 and here I am at work, sorry all! My strategy this week of replacing hours of sleep on a one-for-one basis with free tequila and … Read more “Times 26,315: The Tequila Rebellion”

Better make this snappy, as due to being out at the Lumiere Light Festival till late last night and dealing with lugubrious juvenile nosebleeds this morning, I find myself writing this at work, where it … Read more “Times 26,309: Clue Rush Fever At The O.K. Tea Rooms”

I don’t know what the record is for number of question marks in the clues of a Times crossword, but double figures of them seemed quite a lot, and was probably a good sign that … Read more “Times 26,303: My Interrobang Won’t Come Back”

And a Happy New Year to you all. 2016 seems to have got off to a good start with this puzzle, which I really enjoyed despite doing it (somewhere inside a quarter of an hour) … Read more “Times 26,297: Wasn’t He In Take That?”

Being stricken with the seasonal lurgy and requiring nothing in my stocking besides Lemsip and echinacea this year, I took this congenial puzzle at a gentle pace and only just came in inside of the … Read more “Times 26,291: Come As You Are, As You Were, All Ye Faithful”