Author: william_j_s

A new setter, and some new vocabulary for me at 16dn. I found the bottom half harder than the top, and had to think a bit to untangle some of the wordplay, but still managed … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1297 by Aureliano”

I was a bit worried that I was in for a slog today, with none of 1ac, 1dn or 6dn jumping out at me, but things soon sped up. In the end, it would probably … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1287 by Pedro”

There’s a tongue-in-cheek tone to these clues that I enjoyed a lot while solving. The surfaces readings are witty and sensible at the same time, which is the highest acheivement for a setter in my … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1277 by Marty”

I stared for an age at my LOI 22ac, as I was playing around with ‘c’ (start of concert), ‘r’ (right) and some sort of word reversal (back). And I had a mistake at 17ac … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1267 by Orpheus”

Previous puzzles by Wurm have averaged on the trickier side in my book, but this one posed no problems. There are plenty of anagrams and hiddens to help us on our way. COD to 2dn … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1257 by Wurm”

Plenty of clearly signposted anagrams and double definitions make this a highly accessible quickie. Provided you didn’t have to struggle with the (fairly mild) bit of Far Eastern geography and cricketing terminology, I suspect that 14dn may be the … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1247 by Mara”

All quite straightforward, and non less enjoyable for it. My only biff was 21dn, which seemed a reasonable word, and was clued generously. I had made a note to revisit the (on first thought, questionable) … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1237 by Mara”

One in which to savour the surface readings (at least on reflection). Somewhere inbetween Monday’s and Tuesday’s in difficulty, so fairly straightforward, I had only to learn the hat at 12dn and RI (rather than a more … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1227 by Hurley”

I suspect this will be another puzzle rated too hard by many. I thought I’d got lucky with some half-remembered vocabulary, along with trusting the wordplay where my ignorance was exposed, but ended up with … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1217 by Orpheus”

I’m standing in for Jeremy, who’s back for a double starting next week. A nice mixture of difficulty in the clues, I thought. The first few across and down clues went in straight away, normal service then … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1202 by Flamande”