Category: Jumbo Cryptic

I recently got out of the habit of doing the Times Jumbo, and have never timed myself, but I’d be really surprised if I’ve ever done one as quickly as this – I don’t generally … Read more “Bank Holiday Jumbo 692 – Blowing my trumpet”

Solving time 20:18 I hadn’t noticed, when calling a previous Jumbo post “African Elephant”, that the other kind appears at 30D in this puzzle. A few tricky corners here – my copy has some crossing … Read more “Times Jumbo 691 – Asian elephant”

Solving time 19:05 Just under the 20 minute that seems to be my Jumbo par at the moment. Some clever stuff in here – long hidden words, and repeated words used for both anagram fodder … Read more “Jumbo 690 – African elephant?”

Solving time 19:59 Another late posting. Just scraped inside 20 minutes, so not a giveaway jumbo. Clues picked out are rather good as well as possibly tricky. Across 5 S(A MARK)AND – “a mark in … Read more “Jumbo 686”

Solving time: 16:38, one idiotic mistake This was probably the easiest Jumbo for some time (though I have missed a few recently); I raced through most of it before being held up by a few … Read more “Jumbo #681/27 Jan – Fluky”

Solving time: 42:38 Apologies for the second consecutive late Jumbo posting.  As you know the idea had been mooted to scrap them, but the consensus emerged to keep them going in a reduced format.  Consequently, … Read more “Jumbo 679/Jan 13th – the first “compact” Jumbo”

As there have been very few comments about these puzzles, I’ve decided that the (sometimes considerable) effort of writing blog entries about them isn’t really justified, and that we’ll stop writing about them. If there … Read more “Times Jumbo puzzles”

Solving time: 17:01 I think my best time for the Jumbo is somewhere in the region 15-17 mins, so this was a pretty quick one. Enough slowness on my part that I’m a bit disappointed … Read more “Jumbo 678/Jan 6 – Black and white”

Solving time: 46:36 Since joining the blogging team, my Jumbo times have been consistently in the range of about 17 to 30 mins, so I found this significantly harder than normal. Nor was it just … Read more “Jumbo #674/23 Dec – Waxing lyrical”

Solving time – 32:39 Another Times Jumbo with no answers longer than 14 letters. As PB often says, why make a 23×23 grid if you’re not going to use the extra size? ACROSS 9 CAS(h),HEW, … Read more “Jumbo 672 – run out of long phrases?”