Author: vinyl1

Solving time: 39 minutes Music: Strauss, Don Quixote, Karajan/Fournier/BPO I was a bit worried about this one for a while. The bottom was not too difficult, but the top offered a lot of resistance. I … Read more “Times 24479 – Gotcha!”

Solving time: 44 minutes Music: John Field, Noctures/Piano Concerto #2 Parts of this one seemed fairly difficult to me. There are a few clues where the literal is quite subtle – or wildly unfair, if … Read more “Times 24467 – Not in my back yard!”

Solving time: 38 minutes Music: Mahler, Symphony #9, Klemperer/New Philharmonia I felt confident after solving the first few I looked at, only to get a bit bogged down. The top right went in quickly enough, … Read more “Times 24455 – Why was The Citizen angry at Bloom?”

Solving time: 38 minutes Music: Schubert, Wanderer Fantasy, Richter I thought my time was a bit slow for this puzzle, which is only of medium difficulty. Some of the vocabulary repeats recent puzzles, and some … Read more “Times 24443, The secrets of the hoary deep……”

Solving time: 45 minutes Music: No music today, watching golf on TV I thought this was going to be a really easy one as I whipped through the top and right side in a few … Read more “Times 24431 – Send in your top 10!”

Solving time: 37 minutes Music: Brahms, Cello Sonatas, Starker/Sybok I felt kind of dull as I did this – couldn’t invoke the solver’s spark. After 22 minutes, I had only about a third done. Then … Read more “Times 24419 – Reckless driver placed in isolation cell!”

Solving time: 35 minutes Music: Beethoven, Piano Sonatas, Kempff I admit, I was in a bit of a panic when I couldn’t get anything on my first runthrough. However, that turned out to be because … Read more “Times 24408 – Immediate good fortune for beginners?”

Solving time: 55 minutes Music: Dvorak, Cello Concerto, Starker/Susskind/Philharmonia Orchestra Most of this puzzle was easy. I had gotten all but five answers after 20 minutes, but the remaining five proved very elusive indeed. I … Read more “Times 24396”

Solving time: 24 minutes Music: Sibelius, Symphony #2, SchIppers/NYP This easy puzzle threatened to turn into the blogger’s nightmare, where you simply don’t know the last answers, and the cryptics are not particularly helpful. I … Read more “Times 24384 – How does your garden grow?”

Solving time: 31 minutes Music: Vaughn Williams, Symphony #6, Boult/LPO. When I first looked at this one, I was afraid I was in for a long night, reading through the clues for 10 minutes before … Read more “Times 24372 – The airhead and the Dalmatian”