Category: Daily Cryptic

Solving time : abandoned after 20 minutes with one missing The puzzle seemed fairly tough. I completed all except 1A in 10:15, and then I came to a halt. I tried all letters of the … Read more “23454 – Strong winds spoil solving time”

Solving time 11:13 In some haste as doing the other blog today too … This was a tie-breaker puzzle held in readiness at the Times Championship in case two people’s (all-correct) hands went up simultaneously … Read more “23,453 – Six games all …”

Solving time: 12:37 Eight multi-word answers today, but frustratingly I managed just two of these on first look (12ac and 15dn) which made this feel slow. Only after finishing did I notice the large number … Read more “23,452 – Special K, hiding Sikh”

Solving time : 1h25 Off to a cracking start – I did most of the RHS fairly quickly then the rest in fits and spurts. Looking back, though, there weren’t too many tricky clues so … Read more “23,451 – Obviously you’re not a golfer”

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”