Author: william_j_s

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”

I found this a bit of a work-out, slowing down with half of the clues yet to solve. One or two tricky parsings that required more than one operation to be performed on a part … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 547 by Tracy”

The hardest for a while in my book. Although the first few went in quickly, the majority required concentrated effort, and I was finally held up for several minutes by Bible Corner (16dn, 19dn, 22ac), … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 537 by Izetti”

A slightly difficult puzzle of the type we’ve come to expect (and, I hope, enjoy) from Izetti. Very precise and misleading, with one or two answers that require complete confidence in having untangled the wordplay … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 527 by Izetti”

Continuing the run of not-too-tricky quickies today, my only real hold up was 1ac (causing a bit of a groan when the penny dropped). Plenty of clearly signposted anagrams, nice surface readings, etc. Thanks setter. … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 517 by Felix”

I found this very tricky, with some grown-up clueing leading me to unusual or unknown vocabulary. Amongst my list of (at best half-) guesses, were the ghost, plant, actress/material, and location in Sri Lanka. Bit … Read more “Quick cryptic Number 507 by Izetti”

Nice and straightforward again this morning, with a number of addition or charade type clues. Only hold ups for me were failing to spot the indicator at 5dn (very easy to read over it), and … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 497 by Grumpy”