Category: Daily Cryptic

Solving time : 17 minutes, so no major hold-ups in another moderate Tuesday puzzle. Very even and perfectly pleasant solve for me, with some nicely disguised definitions. One archaic word, acknowledged as such in the … Read more “Times 24,032 – a diamond in the rough”

Solving time : 15 minutesI think this is the quickest ever solve for me. I am posting later than I intended to and don’t have much to add to the many comments already posted. I … Read more “Times 24031”

Solving time: 4:59, one mistake (9dn) A fairly straightforward puzzle with some very good anagrams, especially the &lit at 6dn. I spent a while at the end looking for possible alternatives to ‘shooting’ at 20ac, … Read more “ST 4295 (Sun 21 Sep) – Trouble shooting”

Time taken to solve: 50 minutes. I was disappointed about this because I started very confidently, filling in most of the NW corner on first reading, and the NE came together quickly too. But I became … Read more “24029 – Should have done better”

Solving time : 14 minutes – on the fast side for me, so I suspect there will be some very slick times out there. I was held up in the hippy corner by two unfamiliar … Read more “Times 24028 – eat up or take away?”

A puzzle of “average plus” difficulty I think – though I can see a couple of answers that I might possibly have got sooner. Last few solved were 28, 24 (writing in the answer I’d … Read more “24027 – bra and pants”

Solving time : 20 minutes A very easy puzzle with lots of chopping off of bits of words, rearranging letters within words and extensive use of slang. Quite a range of historical figures from Alban … Read more “Times 24,026 An Eiffel Bloomer”

Solving time: 39 minutes After some pain at the end of last week, this seems ok. I thought there were some really fun clues and interesting wordplay. 1A and 5A were first in; 10A and … Read more “Times 24025”

Solving time: 8:00 Some good stuff this week, with the definition in 4dn the highlight for me, but also several quibbles. This didn’t feel a very fast solve, which would be in keeping with the … Read more “ST 4294 (Sun 14 Sep) – Boxing clever”

Solving time: 26.12. Found this really hard going – almost every clue seemed to present a problem. I actually had everything filled in after 18 minutes or so, but after my mistakes earlier in the … Read more “Times Crossword 24023”