Category: Daily Cryptic

Solving time 6:19 One or two North country words, so I idly wonder whether this is from a “north of Watford Gap” setter. And some well-disguised clues such as 17A for constructions I must have … Read more “23,494 – from the North or the classical Med?”

Solving time: About 8 minutes with a 45 minute power nap half way through (it’s been one of those days…). Most of this was fairly straightforward but 22ac and 12dn stumped me at first. * … Read more “23,493 – Fine until the 22dn”

Solving time: 56 minutesI went through this at a steady pace.There were a good variety of clues, with quite a few straightforward ones for us beginners to get cracking with. I found 13D difficult but … Read more “23,492 – still trying, still learning”

Solving time 19:28 I seem to remember being stuck for a while in the top right-hand corner, mainly through having CONTRAST for 11ac (C,O,N,START* seemed obvious, although it doesn’t hang together). ACROSS 1 BAN(IS)TER 9 … Read more “23485/Sat 30th Dec”

Solving time: 11:48 I didn’t find this easy, partly because there were a few words or references that I didn’t know, partly because some of the clues were beautifully misleading, but I’m not sure which … Read more “23,490 – Ee bah gum”

Solving time : 8:27 As usual, I entered quite a few words (including 10, 14 and 24 across and 3 and 13 down) quickly without having worked out the wordplay. (One of the good things … Read more “23489 – guesswork”

Solving time 13:33 I found this an entertaining but quite difficult puzzle, with some of that “tough puzzle makes easy clues harder than they should be” effect that one or two others have mentioned. I … Read more “23488 – not a 12 in the park”

Solving time: 5:35 This might have been trickier for overseas solvers, with references including Lewis Carroll [sort of!], Gilbert & Sullivan and (naturally) cricket. Beginners’ tips of the day – ‘garland’ = LEI, ‘stolen’ = … Read more “23,487 – A very English crossword”

Solving time : 1h 12mNot a bad start to the year. I spent an hour on this and had completed most but the SW corner. Came back after a short break and it all fell … Read more “23,486 – and a Happy New Year to all”

Solving time: 8mins approx Some excellent clues here, others I found quite strained, and two (13ac/5dn) that I still don’t fully comprehend. Across 4 E(D/M/ON)TON 9 S/IGNORA(N.T.) 11 KID/NAP/S 12 HORUS, ref HOU/R/S 13 C/LEVEL/AND … Read more “23,484 – Curate’s egg”