Author: william_j_s

A mixed bag of gimmies and more challenging clues/parts; 17ac and 15dn, for example, went in without muchof an attempt to parse. There are certainly no unusual devices or devilishly obscure words, but I think … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 254 by Flamande”

Nothing to trouble seasoned quickie solvers here, and a couple of cryptic definitions to get us novices thinking laterally. I thought many of the definition parts of clues were neat and well disguised, especially 16ac, … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 234 by Orpheus”

Sorry for the delay in posting – I completely forgot to blog this last night and have had a heck of a morning. Roll on the weekend. This was a pleasant and straightforward puzzle with … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 224 by Mara”

I really enjoyed this puzzle, which I found to be slightly more difficult than average. It just seems polished and neat, with many words used in unfamiliar and interesting ways. The material (that’s appeared here … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 214 by Izetti”

Nothing too unusual or obscure here. Even if the geography or mythology are unfamiliar, the wordplay leaves very little room for error. I thought many of the down clues were elegant and witty, 3, 5, … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 205 by Mara”

I’m back on the blog after a bit of a hiatus; thanks to Mohn for giving me a holiday two weeks ago. I found this a tricky puzzle to get into, with particular difficulty in … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 195 by Teazel”

I’m standing in for mohn today. A mixed bag of predominantly straightforward clues, which required the dredging-up of one or two half-forgotten bits of vocabulary. Lots of nice surfaces to throw you off the scent, … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 176 by Tracy”

A puzzle of intermediate difficulty, which has plenty of inventive crypticness and tongue-in-cheek definitions. There’s nothing unfair about any of these clues, but a decent amount of lateral thinking is required for some! I was … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 175 by Teazel”

This is quite a tricky puzzle, in my opinion, which makes use of some archaic and unusual words. I got almost all the way there before having to resort to the internet for 18dn. It’s … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 165 by Izetti”

A teasing crossword to round off an excellent week of quickies. For me, the recent level of difficulty has been just right – some new vocabulary fairly clued and some chewy wordplay for more obvious … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 155 by Dazzler”