Category: Daily Cryptic

Solving time: 18:45 The bottom right corner here took me as long as the rest of the puzzle. I’m afraid I thought lots of clues in this were very poor. * = anagram. Across 9 … Read more “ST 4248 (Sun 28 Oct) – Malorodous”

This was not my favourite Times puzzle ever, although it did have some very clever clues. At first, I thought that my lack of enthusiasm for it was due to it taking me a long … Read more “23,748 – Charming or Offensive?”

Solving time: 8:40 I had noticed CODSWALLOP and BALDERDASH as I worked down the crossword (though I didn’t spot TOMMYROT as part of the set), and so I was pleased to find the cross-reference in … Read more “23,747 – poppycock”

Solving time: say 11 minutes I have a time of 9:25 written next to the grid from solving this shortly after the champs, but I’d heard one or two answers already and even had a … Read more “23746 – Championship Prelim 2, Puzzle 3”

Some very clever wordplay (and unlike today’s Guardian no errors!). I especially liked 1D because the definition was so well-hidden in a convincing apposite surface. Across 6 A,T IT – the kind that sings. 9 … Read more “Times 23745 – I need the loo”

Solving time: 41 mins It felt pretty quick this morning. I got the two long ones straight away – it helps when that happens. There were a couple of bits I needed to look up … Read more “23744 – cold and hot”

Solving time: 3:58 Quite a few old chestnuts today (e.g. 10ac, 11ac, 7dn). One word I didn’t know but probably should have (2dn). Music of the day, courtesy of 26ac: All Together Now by The … Read more “ST 4247 (Sun 21 Oct) – Well well”

Good, fair puzzle today with some excellent surfaces, I thought. Took me a while to get started, but the whole thing was complete in less than 11 minutes, OSAGE being the last light to go … Read more “23,742 – slow starter”

Solving time: 13:34 Although there are some very clever and tricky constructions here, most of the clues are very economical with few padding or link words, meaning that the structure tends to be easy to … Read more “23,741 – lean and fit”

Solving time: 7-9 mins on the day There’s just a hint of a theme here – two symmetrically placed nervy answers at 11 and 21. There are a few snippets of literature and music, but … Read more “23,740 – Championship Prelim 1, Puzzle 3”