Author: william_j_s

Two early unknowns (1ac and 2dn (I was sure it would be Qatar) put me off to begin with, but the rest was straightforward and fair. I liked 6dn for the unlikelihood of medium-sized reversals … Read more “Quick Cryptic 957 by Flamande”

Of course, part of me hopes that you all sailed through this without a second thought, but the other part hopes I’m not faced with the humiliation of across-the-board sub-10 minute solves this morning, because … Read more “Quick Cryptic 947 by Orpheus”

If, like me, you learnt something new (20ac), had to scratch your head a bit (15ac), and marvelled at the craft (12ac and 3dn, my COD) you’ll have enjoyed this well enough. Or perhaps the … Read more “Quick Cryptic 932 by Hawthorn”

Not as difficult as yesterday’s, but I think this is just on the trickier side of things. I can’t blame any unusual vocabulary or general knowledge required (of which there is little), so I’m left … Read more “Quick Cryptic 927 by Howzat”

I had most of this done very quickly and on first pass, but couldn’t see the wood for the trees at 15dn and a handful of other clues. Eventually reflecting on an average time, I … Read more “Quick Cryptic 917 by Pedro”

A tricky quickie, with many unusual synonyms playing a role in both cryptic and definition parts of the clue. I was very slow to fill in the right hand side, and discovered two errors (!) … Read more “Quick Cryptic 907 by Teazel”

Happily completed this one with my other half. Despite not being a regular solver, she completed much of it without hesitation or complaint, and only needed my (doubtful) help to crack the SE corner. COD … Read more “Quick Cryptic 897 by Flamande”

A satisfying and entertaining solve! I was immediately stumped by 1dn, having never heard of the (dictionary says “dated”) synonym for boycott, and was helped at 5dn by the very generous definition and wordplay. Final … Read more “Quick Cryptic 887 by Joker”

Mostly smooth sailing, but I suspect one’s general interests / willingness to trust the wordplay, will play a large part in the ease of solving. Embarrassingly (for someone keen on biology), it was the butterfly, … Read more “Quick Cryptic 877 by Orpheus”

I thought this was going to be a much more light and breezy puzzle than it turned out to be. The first few clues in the NW gave the impression of a break from the … Read more “Quick Cryptic 867 by Hurley”