I found this a relatively approachable Mephisto, and finished it in one sitting.
Author: vinyl1
Times 28807 – On to Constance…..
This should have been a very easy puzzle, and I did race through most of it. Most of the across clues went in on the first go-round, and I had plenty of crossing letters for the downs.
In Memoriam Jeff Marshall, TheRotter, 1951-2023
I am very sad to have to announce that Jeff Marshall, who blogged on TfTT as TheRotter, passed away suddenly on December 13, 2023.
Year in Review News Cryptic 2023
Sometimes themed puzzles are more difficult because of the problem of getting the theme words in. However, in the case of this puzzle, most of the theme was in the clues, not the answers. In fact, it would have been entirely possible to clue this puzzle without any reference to current events.
Mephisto 3304 – Shift logical right – don’t fall into the bit bucket!
This was a moderate Mephisto, and I mostly did pretty well with it, but I ended up struggling in the NE. It’s pretty easy to get stuck when you know how a clue must work, but can’t manage to get all the right pieces in the right place.
Times 28795 – Passencore rearrived from North Armorica
This was a relatively mild crossword for skilled solvers, but there were a few I had to think about. Fortunately, I have the skill to handle words I never heard of, whether in the definition, the cryptic, or the answer.
Times Quick Cryptic 2553 by Teazel
This puzzle struck me as quite difficult, but as I write the blog it doesn’t seem that tough. The QUITCH is over 100, but not particularly high. However, I often have difficulties with Teazel’s puzzles.
Mephisto 3302 – Thanks, Paul, I needed that!
Yes, for the first time ever, I used one of Paul’s awful puns to complete the puzzle. I was really stuck in the upper right, and needed something to get me searching my Chambers. After checking a couple of possibilities, I saw what was going on.
Times 28783 – “To statesmen would you give a wipe….”
This was not a terribly difficult puzzle, although some of the cryptics were obscure. Since I had decided to solve the puzzle as fast as possible, and then blog it as fast as possible, I pushed ahead. Obvious answers were entered without parsing, so I had quite a few biffs by the end of my solve – these are noted in italic type.
Mephisto 3300 – Four horsemen and it’s going to be us!
This one wasn’t too bad, but there was a burst of obscurity in the NE. I did about 2/3 of it on Saturday night, and finished most of it up on Sunday morning.