Category: Daily Cryptic

Solving time : 50 minsI think overall this was pretty straightforward – nothing really held me up. Just had to check a few things – PORTED was a new word to me, as were STEERAGE … Read more “23,624 – too much French?”

This puzzle should have taken a few minutes – it wasn’t particularly difficult, but I was still in holiday mood after returning last night from Vienna. Maybe it was a few days when German was … Read more “Times 23,622 – still getting over my holiday!”

Solving time: 25:53 with one wrong A slow time for me. In part, I was not thinking very fast this morning – I was also slow on the Times2 puzzle. But I think this was … Read more “Times 23621 – with little time at the beginning should”

I found this reasonably easySolving time: 21 mins (quite good for me for the Times) * = anagramACROSS1 SEWER Double definition, the second a little cryptic – crossword convention allows the “false” capital in One … Read more “Times 23,620”

Solving time: 25’ but… Pretty fast for me but… I cheated a bit with online references: e.g. OPUNTIA. I found this a rather prickly puzzle since some of the wordplay was subtle and some of … Read more “Times 23619/prickly”

Solving time : 1h 20I did just over half of it on a 45 min train journey, finished off at lunch and checked the ‘guesses’ as I wrote this. I’d say this was harder than … Read more “23,618 – pretty tough overall”

Solving time: 8:10 No real hold-ups at the end on this one, but overall I thought this was harder than usual. * = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’. Across 1 OLIVER TWIST; (OR VILE)* … Read more “ST 4226 (Sun 27 May) – Artful dodgery”

This felt more like a test of general knowledge than of wordmanship, but I didn’t find it terribly difficult. There were a couple of more obscure answers, but the wordplay was generally straightforward enough to … Read more “Times 23,616 – one for the polymath”

Solving time: 11:02 Good puzzle. Interesting but not too obscure answers, and some enterprising approaches to cluing. And economical clues, with very few linking words. Quite a few literary references, in surfaces or answers. And … Read more “Times 23615 – Wilt thou, Angus, …”

Some tricky words at the end, but not too difficult overall. Enjoyed it. Solving time: 25 mins (about average for me for the Times) * = anagramACROSS1 HADES cf shades Both meaning the underworld (hell)4 … Read more “Times 23,614 – Not too hellish”