Category: Daily Cryptic

Solving time 25:08 Really struggled with this one, though partly through my own stupidity. Slowest were parts of the SW and NE corners. SW fell first – order roughly 27, 25, 12, 17, 18, 22. … Read more “Times cryptic 24134”

Solving time : 25 minutes The new website proved to be something of an anticlimax. With the local police, army, coastguard and anybody else I could think of on alert to get me the paper … Read more “Times 24,133 Thomas the Chough Chough”

Time: 26 minutes.I found this easier than others over the past week. I got annoyed by 9A, not wanting to believe that expresso was a word!There are some really good ideas throughout the puzzle, but … Read more “The Times Cryptic Crossword Number: 24132”

Solving time: Gave up after 20 mins with 5ac (MANTLE), 21ac (PALMARY) and 11dn (COXCOMB) all missing. I got horribly stuck on three clues at the end of this. Lack of knowledge hampered me at … Read more “ST 4312 (Sun 18 Jan) – Rubic? Er, no”

Solving time: 10.25. I thought this was a fairly average puzzle, with tricky wordplay in quite a few places that I had to go back and figure out later. I haven’t been posting many times … Read more “Times Crossword 24130”

Solving time: 15:56 I seemed to be making heavy weather of this, but it was just general toughness rather than any major hold-up on an individual clue. It would have been better if I had … Read more “Times 24,129”

Solving time 13:38, Q-1 E-7 D-7 This seems a good example of a puzzle on the hard side of average, with hardly anything needed in the general knowledge line. One very fussy quibble point for … Read more “Times 24128 – Jimbo might be 9A …”

One of those where I felt myself on the right wavelength from the off. Several classical references, which always helps me, but which might hold up those who, like Peter Cook, never had the Latin; … Read more “Times 24,127 – We’ve had a letter from a Mrs Trellis of North Wales…”

Solving time: about 36 minutes The hotel I’m in has ‘High Speed Internet Access’ but the crossword took about four minutes to load – a similar time elapsed when trying to search to check word … Read more “The Times Cryptic Crossword Number: 24126”

I will be unable to post on last Sunday’s Sunday Times puzzle 4311 until late this coming Sunday night. If anyone would like to blog it instead, please feel free, otherwise I’ll post as soon … Read more “ST 4311 (Sun 11 Jan)”