Author: william_j_s

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”

Continuing the high standard of recent Quickies, this was tricky in places. I found enough starting points to gradually fill the grid in no particular order, with LOI 5dn. Had to look up the (vaguely … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1197 by Joker”

I found this a real slog, taking over twice as long as normal to complete it, and still having to look up some of the vocabulary before blogging. On top of this ignorance (4ac, 9ac), … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1187 by Orpheus”

This one certainly fits the bill of quick cryptic. Plenty to enjoy along the way too; I would pick out the two clever anagrams at 3dn and 8dn in particular. Good to see multiple uses … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1177 by Joker”

A striaghtforward puzzle with only 13ac (LOI) holding things up for me. I was trying to make an anagram of ‘complex Briton’ to no avail. I had to go back and check what was going on at … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1167 by Mara”

Highly enjoyable. I was quick off the mark but soon came across those clues that were not so generous in the wordplay, and one unknown word at 11dn. Also found that 1ac, 18ac and 3dn (my … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1157 by Hawthorn”

Exactly what you’d expect from the Don. Slightly trickier vocabulary, but very clear and fair wordplay. There are a number of common crossword abbreviations and conventions, but solving it did not feel stuffy as the … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1147 by Izetti”

Fairly straightforward fare today. I had to come back for 2dn and 9ac, otherwise it all flowed nicely in order. The highlight for me was the little run of 7, 10, and 11dn which made … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1137 by Flamande”

The second from Hurley in a row for my blogging day, and another well-pitched crossword – streching but not demoralising (I’m keeping my finger’s crossed you agree!). Plenty of anagrams and biffables to get some … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1127 by Hurley”