I thought this was going to be difficult, as I only got four or five across answers on my first run-through, but the downs proved much easier, and I found a lot of gimmes.
Author: vinyl1
Mephisto 3294 – The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, etc, etc.
This was a rather moderate Mephisto from Paul McKenna, with very little in the way of esoteric vocabulary.
Times 28735 – Fearful symmetry?
Well, easy Monday is back, and I don’t have much to say. If you are an experienced solver, you won’t find much to delay you here, and even novices may do well.
Mephisto 3292 – Innocent? He’s a rebel!
I didn’t find this John Grimshaw production too difficult, although he has certainly found out some interesting words. I was able to get some of the longer ones early on, which made my solve a little easier.
Times 28723 – Melts into the sea…..eventually!
I was going quickly in this one, and had about 2/3 of it complete in 15 minutes. Then, as sometimes happens, I came to a complete halt and could not solve another clue for the next 15 minutes.
Mephisto 3190 – “But my eyes still see….
This was fairly straightforward for a Mephisto, with very little ultra-obscure vocabulary. I finished in one sitting on a Saturday night.
Times 28711 – Capital Zzzz?
This was probably a pretty easy puzzle, but since I could barely stay awake while solving, my brain had trouble making the necessary jumps to get to the answers.
Mephisto 3288 – Back to normal – phew!
Well, the all-clear has sounded, and I breezed through this one. The parsing was not difficult if you are willing to check a few things in Chambers.
Times 28699 – Singing of Mount Abora
I found this a typical Monday, and while I had trouble getting started, I was able to find a foothold in the bottom half and make rapid progress. I was also helped by a certain Quickie from last week, and broke out into the top half.
Mephisto 3286 – Shopping for some hardware, say?
This one was a little tricky, and my solve stretch into a following day. The bottom was easy enough, but the top was a bit difficult. As usual, I missed a few that should have been obvious, only to kick myself later.