Category: Daily Cryptic

Solving time : Grrr – you know how it is, you get the crossword printed, you’re settled up nice and comfy on a cold wet night, you get about two thirds of the way through … Read more “Times 24399 – for relief”

Solving time: 45 minutes. Thankfully, for my first daily blog, there was nothing too tricky here, and no doubt there will be some fast times. I started quickly, but slowed down towards the end, finishing … Read more “Times 24398”

Solving time 30 minutes An entertaining puzzle that was a steady solve apart from the NW corner where I struggled a little for reasons I now can’t fathom. There are several homophones (including a truncated … Read more “Times 24,397 Exterminate! Exterminate!”

Solving time: 55 minutes Music: Dvorak, Cello Concerto, Starker/Susskind/Philharmonia Orchestra Most of this puzzle was easy. I had gotten all but five answers after 20 minutes, but the remaining five proved very elusive indeed. I … Read more “Times 24396”

Solving time: about 10-15 mins with distractions. A strange puzzle with some terrible clues (e.g. CHAPEL at 5ac) and some excellent ones, of which my favourite was (appropriately) the one to ROLE MODEL at 15dn. … Read more “ST 4356 (Sun 22 Nov) – Chapel of discord”

Solving time: 12.32. I found this a middling-difficulty puzzle, but on reflection I could have saved myself a few minutes right away by spotting the hidden word at 6D, which would have immediately given me … Read more “Times Crossword 24394”

Solving time: 9:03 As I’m filling in for a blogger who forgot it was their turn, I’ll take the chance to mark expected meanings again and compare the count with yesterday’s much easier puzzle. Written … Read more “23943”

Solving time 5:23 An easy solve for me – partly from one of the long answers being a name familiar to me. But I should have been quicker, as I missed a pretty easy 1A … Read more “Times 24392”

Time somewhere in the region of 25-30 minutes (forgot to stop timer), which makes it on the hard side for me, though one of those where, on analysis, I can’t really see why: I got … Read more “Times 24,391 –”

Solving time: 50mins It’s been a long time since I put so many answers in on trust; this crossword exposing numerous gaps in my knowledge. When solving there seemed to be a preponderance of anagrams … Read more “Times 24390 – What do you call a man …?”