Author: william_j_s

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”

Our good timelord notified me that we have a new setter today, who has offered up this pleasing and gentle puzzle. Perhaps a sign that those who prefer a milder challenge are being heeded? Or … Read more “Quick Cryptic 857 by Wurm”

Solved in spare moments and blogged in a hurry, hence the later-than-usual post, so it’s even more difficult for me to judge its difficulty. I thought I was getting bored of all the anagram practice, … Read more “Quick Cryptic 847 by Pedro”

Some unusual vocabulary and phrases gave me a bit to think about here, but balanced with the clearly signposted anagrams and a couple of write-ins, culminated in an average time for me. COD to 12ac … Read more “Quick Cryptic 837 by Orpheus”

Middle of the road, difficulty wise. I enjoyed the humour in 20ac and 8dn, amongst others. I have no idea why Henry = H. Can anyone explain? Definitions underlined. Across 1 Cask she’d toppled — … Read more “Quick Cryptic 827 by Hurley”

Apologies for the sparse blog. I find myself without a computer this week, posting on an iPad and in plain text. Plenty of easy starters in all corners make the longer answers solvable; a great … Read more “Quick Cryptic 817 by Orpheus”

I was very quick out of the blocks with this one, but soon found the more difficult clues and ended up with an average time. Nothing too convoluted, although I’m curious to see how many … Read more “Quick Cryptic 807 by Pedro”

Thankfully the bottom half was straightforward, as the top (and particularly the NW corner) caused a bit more head scratching. My FOI was 15ac, which conveniently alerted me to the possibility of a pangram, borne … Read more “Quick Cryptic 797 by Tracy”

Just the harder side of average, for me, with a couple of nudges that I now regard as chestnuts (it certainly does get easier!). I refer to ‘I = one’, ‘C = cold’, and ‘mostly … Read more “Quick Cryptic 787 by Joker”