Category: Daily Cryptic

After finishing last week’s puzzle in what turned out to be an impressive time, I really struggled with this week’s effort. There are a few words which I barely know and some I didn’t know … Read more “Times 23,610 – Not feeling bright-eyed and bushy-tailed!!”

Solving time: 10:10 There are two question marks in the clues, indicating outrageous indicators. Relatively mildly, 5D relies on Chicken Little’s autobiography being called “Little by Little”. Much more strangely, 16A relies on us treating … Read more “Times 23609 – at last”

I found this one quite easy. Solving time: 15 mins (very fast for me for the Times) * = anagramACROSS4 CUPID’S BOW As well as the bow of mythology, it describes curly lips.9 EX ONE … Read more “Times 23608 23 May 2007”

Solving time: 55’ The last 7 or 8 clues (2 in each quadrant basically) slowed me down considerably: in particular, RECLAME, POTTER (oddly enough), HIERATIC (quite hard), CASINO, DISMAY, AIT. I did spot a slight … Read more “Times 23607/wizardry”

Solving time: about an hour (average for me these days) I enjoyed this – nothing too tricky but lots of places to get side-tracked.NE corner held me up – came back to after a break … Read more “23,606 – good fun, average difficulty”

Solving time: 6:18 Oh dear, another Sunday shocker I’m afraid. I may be wrong, but I’m pretty sure 20dn has incorrect wordplay, while 10ac, 23ac and 28ac are all questionable. Clarifications or corrections welcome. * … Read more “ST 4224 (Sun 13 May) – Peaky”

I don’t have a lot to say about this puzzle. It was generally fair, had a good mix of clues and clean surfaces, a couple of words that were unfamiliar to me, but it wasn’t … Read more “23,604 – easy except for two”

Solving time: 11:15 No major hold-ups, but I found the long answers less tractable than the short ones, and that slowed up filling the grid. Strange to see pen meaning contain appearing in the clue … Read more “23603 – all very well off”

Solving time 12:25 Seems like quite a tricky puzzle judging from the number of clues I decided to write about, though two blind alleys followed at 14 and 17 made it slower than it should … Read more “23602 – we’re in the wordplay”

Solving time: 32’ Solved at a rather brisk pace – for me. I actually knew all the words in this puzzle or at least believed they meant what the clue implied. A nice thing about … Read more “Times 23601/not a dictionary word to be found”