Author: william_j_s

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”

Many of these words were unfamiliar to me, but I only realised just how many when writing the blog; a testament to the fairness of the clueing. I’m definitely more of a fan of double … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 607 by Izetti”

I’m standing in for Nick today, with this relatively easy puzzle, especially compared to yesterday. I was slow on the uptake at 1ac (clunky definition?), and the excellent 10ac was my LOI, which meant that … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 592 by Tracy”

Some great anagrams, devilish hidden words, and several less common abbreviations all make for a Goldilocks-difficulty QC. I got 1ac from the wordplay alone, which is always nice, but enjoyed 20ac and 12dn even more. … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 587 by Hurley”

I made a slow start to this, not seeming to get a hold anywhere despite one or two easy starters. Came to a grinding halt in the SE corner and took longer than usual to … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 577 by Izetti”

A cracking little puzzle from Felix, just the trickier side of medium in difficulty for me. From a list of smile-inducing clues, I will pick 11dn as my favourite – it made me laugh again … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 567 by Felix”

Another elegant and interesting quickie from Izetti, by my reckoning slightly easier than his recent puzzles. Of course, there were a few testers – the hardest of the lot for me we’re down to my … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 577 by Izetti”