Category: Daily Cryptic

Solving time : 5:41 This may not be the fastest time in which I have ever completed a Times Crossword, but it is certainly the fastest I have ever timed accurately. With the single exception … Read more “23448 – easy for a Thursday (or any day)”

Solving time 12:28 + a tad for previous knowledge This was the first puzzle in preliminary session B of the championship, and it was solved by 53 per cent of the competitors. After some daft … Read more “23,447 – Not a giveaway / Shameless advertising”

Solving time : 28:50, of which about 20 mins on the six starred clues; one mistake (13dn) Had a bad start, eventually getting going with 12ac, but thought I was going to get away with … Read more “23,446 – Slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”

Solving time : 48mThat’s a pretty fast time for me. I got the four long answers quickly and that gave me lots of letters to play with. There also seemed to be more anagrams than … Read more “23,445 – the long ones got me going / Farewell to the TES Crossword”

Solving time : 6m45s – Seemed a little hard to get started, and then I had one of those experiences where partial answers and clues that wouldn’t yield meant a corner (NE) was filled with … Read more “23,443 – Played IT by ear”

Solving time : 14:50 Good start, with 1A, 1D and the two long ones across the centre filled in straight away. But then trouble in the corners, and five full minutes at the end to … Read more “23,442 – trouble in the North-West”

Solving time 10:12 – but add a few minutes to account for knowing 17A in advance. This was the third puzzle in preliminary session B of the championship, and it was solved by 54 per … Read more “23,441 – Harder than I thought”

Solving time: 5:06 Tuesdays have been tricky recently, but fortunately this run has seemingly come to an end for my first posting. Particularly helpful were the four long answers, three consisting of multiple or hyphenated … Read more “23,440 – Beginner’s luck”

Solving time : 1h 46m Ports would have to be my weakest area of general knowledge and I get two of them in my inaugural review; I knew Rotterdam, but Oran was a new one … Read more “23,439 – Two ports today”

Solving time :13m 05s I found this one very hard going. No more than two answers entered in the first two minutes, and both of those only thanks to previous experience of very similar devices. … Read more “23,437 – Aphrodisiacs, slapper and suspender all combining to make this one hard”