Author: william_j_s

A straightforward puzzle. I was not entirely familiar with 9ac or 20ac, but both came into consciousness readily enough. Very neat clue at 4dn, which raised a smile. Thanks Hurley (and our resident Time Lord). … Read more “Quick Cryptic 717 by Hurley”

A grid full of perfectly everyday words, hidden behind Izetti’s trademark smooth clueing. Whether owing to mood or wavelength, I did not find it dropping into place fluently, though, and I still have one answer … Read more “Quick Cryptic 707 by Izetti”

I had to put this down and come back to it a couple of times before I started getting anywhere with it. The NW was the last corner to yield; all but 3dn, anyway, which … Read more “Quick Cryptic 697 by Mara”

A real mixture of difficulties here; plenty went in without a scratch of the head, whilst others required significantly more thought (at least in parsing). For me, examples of the latter include 4ac, 9ac, 22ac, … Read more “Quick Cryptic 687 by Marty”

I’m attempting to fill Nick’s spacious shoes today, so hope there’s nothing glaringly wrong with my interpretations. This was a bottom to top effort for me, with the NE corner taking the longest to disentangle. … Read more “Quick Cryptic 672 by Teazel”

Having drafted this blog neatly, I forgot to post it before leaving for work! Apologies for the rushed nature of the subsequent post – I will replace it with the full version this evening. I … Read more “Quick Cryptic 657 by Hurley”

A nice confidence-boosting crossword today, helped along by several anagrams and a string of double definitions. If you’re a complete beginner and have one or two unsolved clues, I strongly advise you go back to … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 647 by Mara”

After getting off to a flying start at the top of the grid, I ended up thinking this was quite a difficult quickie. There’s certainly some reference to general knowledge that one might not need … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 637 by Hurley”

A great little crossword, only the second from this setter, I think. Just enough uncommon vocabulary to encourage confidence in unscrambling the wordplay, and many devices that could be taken at least two different ways. … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 627 by Breadman”

I’m away early tomorrow so it’s an early post. The most difficult crossword I’ve had to blog for a while, and very entertaining too. I couldn’t find a hold anywhere, so flitted around the grid, … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 617 by Tracy”