Author: vinyl1

Time: 37 minutesMusic: Mozart, Piano Sonatas, Christopher Eschenbach Good evening, fellow solvers.   The blog is a bit late tonight, as I was involved in watching the final major of the year on TV, which is … Read more “Times 27115 – “Fifteen minutes can save you….”

Time: 50 minutesMusic: Shostakovich Symphony 10, Karajan/BPO I was definitely not on the wavelength and really struggled.  While the Snitch seems to indicate that this puzzle was somewhat harder than average, it should not have … Read more “Times 27103 – From chemistry to drama?”

Time: 29 minutesMusic: Schubert, Symphony #9, Krips/LSO Not too hard a puzzle, but not for beginners.    Experienced solvers will be well aware of words such as ‘palimpsest’ and ‘thimblerig’ from past experience, and I … Read more “Times 27091 – “All your cares, Now they seem, Oh so far away….””

Time: 29 minutesMusic: Mendelssohn, Midsummer Night’s Dream Music, Previn/LSO I vaguely felt that this was a little more difficult than usual for a Monday, without being able to point to anything particularly obscure.  The Snitch … Read more “Times 27079 – No politics please, we’re British!”

Time: 39 MinutesMusic: Fleetwood Mac, Then Play On I found this puzzle a bit more difficult than one might expect, but maybe that’s just me.   I had particular trouble with ‘to the life’, which doesn’t … Read more “Times 27067 – The avenue of penitence..67”

Time: 18 minutesMusic: Stan Getz, Another World I think it is fair to say that easy Monday is back, although for how long, who knows?   I am glad I caught it, as I had a … Read more “Times 27055 – Songs of shady sisters”

Time: 22 minutesMusic: Chopin, Polonaises, Pollini This was a relatively straightforward Monday puzzle that should not present much difficulty, with a number of chestnuts and clues suitable for the Quickie.   Some may have to retrieve … Read more “Times 27043 – “On my foot!””

Time: 45 minutesMusic: O melhor de João Gilberto I would call this a moderate puzzle for a Monday, but it seems like I was a little slow on some of the clues.   I wasn’t really in … Read more “Times 27031”

Time: 24 minutesMusic: Coltrane, Giant Steps After failing to complete either the Saturday, or the Sunday, or the Guardian Prize, I thought that I was either slipping, or these puzzles were damned hard.   But when … Read more “Times 27019 – The rhythm of fate, or the helpless lion”

Time: 35 minutesMusic: Brahms, Violin Concerto, Kogan/Kondrashin Despite my reasonable time, I suspect this was a difficult puzzle.   There were many obscurities you need to know, especially in the clues where both the literals and … Read more “Times 27007”