I’m in a bit of rush tonight, so I wanted a quick solve. That didn’t quite work out, as I solved rapidly for a while and then got thoroughly stuck.
Author: vinyl1
Mephisto 3414 – Nous for youse
As often happens, a Paul McKenna puzzle which is not particularly difficult but provided several hours of pleasure. A relatively high percentage of the answer words are not obscure, which helps the solver get enough crossing letters to finish off the more difficult clues.
Times Cryptic 29455 – No pictures on scorecards!
Well, I did solve the puzzle, my solution is all correct, and I did have a pretty good time. The only problem is I didn’t understand several of the clues, and simply put in the most likely answer.
Mephisto 3412 – The Devil You Know
Robert Teuton has provided us with a middle level puzzle with a few clues requiring a bit of special knowledge, but nothing that is too hard to figure out.
From the Editor, Jason Crampton
Jason has been kind enough to post a reply to the complaints about extremely difficult puzzles on Friday.
Times 29443 – Monday – another tricky day?
I seem to have found this puzzle a lot harder than everyone else, but the leaderboard and the SNITCH seem to be surprisingly sparse.
Mephisto 3410 – Pi in the sky
The trend of easier Mephisto puzzles continues, but I’m sure the trend will reverse itself shortly. I solved this one in one session on a Saturday night while waiting for George’s blog. Nearly all the words, and many of the cryptic elements, are not in any way obscure, and most of the answers were short.
Times 29431 – Just right!
I would have to say that this puzzle is very, very good without being excessively tricky. Everything is completely fair, you just have to take what the setter says and run with it. I tried to speed up by putting in the easy answers and biffing the rest, but to no avail.
Quick Cryptic 3187 by Izetti – Ouch!
A fairly easy puzzle, but the blog was anything but easy. See within.
Mephisto 3408 – You’ve got me, Paul!
This was quite an easy one from Paul, except for one small point. The answers are mostly quite accessible, even if some of the wordplay is a bit convoluted.