Oh dear! Another difficult one for me today and I suspect that Peter and some others may have finished before I had even put my first word in as that took me at least 5 minutes. Having … Read more “23813 Hammered again! (well not quite)”
Category: Daily Cryptic
Times 23812 – for want of a brass hat
Solving time : After 28 minutes, hit the net to get an answer to 23ac Another puzzle that took me a long time to get started on. Nothing jumped out at me in an initial … Read more “Times 23812 – for want of a brass hat”
23,811 – no 5A here
When I do my ‘how to solve’ course on Saturday, I’ll start at the beginning with “what’s a cryptic crossword?”, which rapidly becomes “what’s a cryptic clue?” – a nutshell description before we launch into … Read more “23,811 – no 5A here”
Times 23,810 I think it adze up
Solving time : 40 minutes I found the down clues easier than the across and the bottom half easier than the top. I guessed ADZE and PHONEME and verified afterwards.I’m still thinking about 1 across, … Read more “Times 23,810 I think it adze up”
23809 – Get Thy Bearings
Solving time: 25m40s A nice gentle start to the week after some of the monsters last week. Nothing particularly held me up – I checked WELT and ELIAN after solving, although I was reasonably sure … Read more “23809 – Get Thy Bearings”
ST 4258 (Sun 6 Jan) – Age concern
Solving time: Forgot to record; one mistake (12ac). This crossword doesn’t get any better. Today’s shocker is 6dn (AGE). * = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’. Across 1 BREECHES; BR + (CHEESE)* 6 AS … Read more “ST 4258 (Sun 6 Jan) – Age concern”
23807
Solving time – 7:23 Just a quick blog today as this was pretty straightforward, with not much that really needs explanation. That said, I’m not completely sure that I’ve nailed the wordplay in 13d, although … Read more “23807”
Times 23,806 – too good for me
Solving time: 25 minutes – with two errors Lots of tough clues, interestingly constructed clues, and simply brilliant clues. My favourites included 10 (AIR KISSES), 13 (KING JAMES BIBLE), 4 (ANAGRAM), 14 (NILE GREEN) and … Read more “Times 23,806 – too good for me”
23,805 – setter wins on 7D?
Solving time 15:40 A fairly sluggish time for this one as two crossing pairs of answers kept me thinking for quite a while at the end – 3/11 and then 12/7. Like jimbo, I found … Read more “23,805 – setter wins on 7D?”
Times 23804/moo cow
Sometimes jet-lag is a good thing — I was up at 3am solving this. And my mind was totally clear, so it went quite fast (modulo DEEMSTER) — the thing about jet-lag is that once … Read more “Times 23804/moo cow”