Author: vinyl1

Solving time: 22 minutes Music: Dvorak, New World Symphony, Horenstein/RPO A rather simple puzzle that should result in some fast times among our crew. There is virtually no attempt to conceal the literals, making it … Read more “Times 25030 – Up in Xanadu, diamonds fell like rain…..”

Solving time:42 minutes Music: Tchaikovsky, Violin Concerto, Ferras/Karajan/BPO A rather strange challenge. For the first twenty minutes I had nearly nothing, and was thinking what had I got myself into, an American pretending that I … Read more “Times 25018 – Pleased to meet you, Mr Rubble……BAM!”

Solving time:38 minutes Music: Rimsky-Korsakov, Scheherezade, Kondrashin/Concertgebouw This puzzle might have been quite easy for some, but for me it involved deducing a complicated compound word I had never heard of before from the cryptic. … Read more “Times 25006 – Namby-pamby? Lickity-split!”

Solving time:35 minutes Music: Mahler, Symphony #2, Klemperer, Philharmonia I was quite tired, and wanted to solve and blog this one quickly, but when I went to the Crossword Club I found only yesterday’s. Then … Read more “Times 24994 – Where the heck is the puzzle?”

Solving time: 29 minutes Music: Sibelius, Symphony #2, Schippers/NYP Another Monday walk in the park for the experienced solvers, but a good chance for beginners to finish one. Neither the cluing nor the vocabulary is … Read more “Times 24982 – The Fate of….er, a football team?”

Solving time: 29 minutes Music: Stravinsky, Petrushka, Monteux/BSO This seemed like it would be quite easy, but an early wrong answer ended up causing considerable difficulty. Furthermore, I did not fully understand the substitute that … Read more “Times 24970 – The blogger’s albatross”

Solving time: 65 minutes Music: Boccherini, Cello Concertos, Bylsmer/Concerto Amsterdam I solved all save four in 25 minutes, but the last ones were very elusive, as is often the case. One had to be gotten … Read more “Times 24958 – How far off the deep end?”

Solving time: 95 minutes Music: Schubert, Lieder, Judith Nelson/Jorg Demus If you are startled by the time, I completed all but two clues in 25 minutes. I did find the last two rather tough, and … Read more “Times 24952 – Er, I didn’t recognize you, Ed…..”

Solving time: 31 minutes Music: Chopin, Sonatas, Perahia I thought this was going to be a doodle, starting with the easy clues in the NW corner, but it turned out to have a few tricky … Read more “Times 24934 – Jumping Jack Flash!”

Solving time: 90 minutes Music: Niamh Parsons, In My Prime The blogger’s nightmare times two – the expression you have never heard of, and four words that seem to fit the literal equally well but … Read more “Times 24922 – This scepter’d Isle…..”