Category: Jumbo Cryptic

This blog has more verbose explanations of solutions than most of mine, as there were a couple of tortuous ones and I could not think of any more succinct way to explain them (1A, 22A, … Read more “Jumbo 1403”

I think this may be the hardest Jumbo we’ve had for a while – well I certainly found it testing, taking about twice my usual time of 45 minutes as I struggled with some of … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1402 – 21st September”

A perfectly fine cryptic jumbo this with a couple of bits of advanced vocab. at 45 minutes including parsing everything, on my scale that makes it just on the harder side of average. First in … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1401 – the fastest thing on two feet”

Hi all.  I had to fit this into a number of separate snatched moments, which is unfortunate because it makes it difficult to form any coherent overview of the puzzle.  Based on what I can … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1400 – 7th September. The uncertainty principle”

About as straightforward as Jumbos get, which was just as well when I hadn’t realised my weekend had come around again so soon. FOI 1ac, LOI 56ac as it took a while for me to … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1399: If Life Seems Jolly Rotten, There’s Something You’ve Forgotten!”

I don’t recall any problems with this apart from a quibble with 16A. The checking letters confirm what the answer is but I am still unsure about the clue. Across 1 GO THROUGH – GOTH … Read more “Jumbo 1398 (August Bank Holiday Monday)”

Hello to all you pachydermophiles. Compared to last week’s, this was a rather more straightforward Jumbo, with little to cause bemusement, taking me just over 36 minutes. There were, however, a few clues that induced … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1397 – 24th August”

What a lovely puzzle this was with plenty in the way of cleverness, wit and neat definitions, the mark of a pucker Times crossword puzzle.  Thank you setter. It took me about 50 minutes so … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1396 – What about Toto?”

Hello everyone, and happy weekend — it’s a nice long one here.  (Purr!) Thanks to the setter of this enjoyable puzzle which kept me out of mischief for around an hour.  It was a steady … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1395 – 10th August. Cards and charades”

This blog is late and I am unable to confirm or deny rumours that it’s because I’ve taken all this time trying to parse 24dn. But what a clue! One for the hall of fame, … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1394: Mental Callixenics”