Category: Daily Cryptic

Solving time: 4:26, one mistake (‘lannata’ for LANTANA at 20dn) A typical Sunday Times puzzle: mostly straightforward, a couple of difficult words, some very good clues and a couple of pretty bad ones. * = … Read more “ST 4304 (Sun 23 Nov) – Ooh, ah, lantana”

Solving time: 15.24, with one mistake. I wrote in TAXES at the very end at 9ac, and stopped the clock – I didn’t really understand how it worked, but then I rarely do understand anything … Read more “Times Crossword 24083”

Solving time: 10:13 As often happens, I was mainly held up by trying to break down clues that turned out to be cryptic definitions. At 12A, I ended up putting in BABY BOOM without realising … Read more “Times 24,082”

25:50 for me. A week of challenging puzzles goes on as mischief and cunning abound in another really inventive crossword. I found it very hard to get started on this, finally making inroads with MONOTONIC, … Read more “Times 24,081 – Mindb”

A straightforward puzzle, albeit one that gave me a perfect demonstration of how putting in just one wrong solution without thinking can bring an entire corner (in this case the Geordie one) to a complete … Read more “Times 24,080 – Pulp Fiction”

Hello – that was quite a struggle. Only managed about half of it on my first 45 train journey. Didn’t even complete it on my way back. So that’s about 90 minutes right there. I … Read more “The Times Cryptic Crossword Number: 24079 – No, No, No”

Solving time: 4:05 This might have been a PB but for 19dn (DONE IN), where I couldn’t think of the right sense of ‘wasted’, and 20ac (POMANDER), a word I didn’t really know. The clues … Read more “ST 4303 (Sun 16 Nov) – Wasted chance”

Rather surprisingly I took 45 minutes over this one which had started so well. It seemed to be a mixture of incredibly easy clues, one or two of them even a bit feeble, and others … Read more “24077 At Sixes but not Sevens”

Solving time : 17 minutes, so far my longest struggle for the week, but it was complicated by inventing the new fruit FIGRAIN at 20, eventually saw the light when working through the possibilities for … Read more “Times 24076 – you winsome, you losesome”

I found this a very easy puzzle, solving time 13 mins, extremely fast for me. Very good surface readings. Enjoyed it. * = anagram < = reversedACROSS1 M ISLAY4 F LAGS HIP (one of two … Read more “Times 24,075”