Category: Jumbo Cryptic

Solving all the clues and parsing everything pushed me over the hour for this one putting it in the harder category on my personal scale.  There were a number of very pleasing clues.

Hi everyone. Despite the title of this blog this was not a picnic for me. Thanks setter!

I worked my way through this in 2 sessions but that was down to other commitments rather than difficulty.

Hello again. This Jumbo I rather took against. I thought the clues were not very concise, rather mechanical, and some of the surface readings very strange, eg 30, 32, 52 ac, 4, 6, 28, 34, … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1668 – 13 April 2024”

I found this Jumbo Cryptic on the easier side. As usual there were a couple of (to me) unknowns, but nothing unfair.

My overall time of 50 minutes suggests that this was a little harder than average, if there is such a thing.

Hello all.  This took me almost exactly an hour.  Although I’ve taken longer, seldom have I been so surprised to complete with no errors: this was sprinkled with entries for which I’d had to rely on the wordplay or (less of an issue) with unfamiliar wordplay components.

I completed this in two sessions. It wasn’t the easiest of Jumbos an da few of the clues were very hard indeed.

Hello again. This Jumbo I thought was somewhat harder than average, but none the worse for that with some very neat clues. What did you think? Please, do feel free to ask questions or comment … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1663 – 16 March 2024”

Quite a challenging Jumbo with lots of clever clues and inventive wordplay. The most fun I’ve had with a Jumbo for ages.