Category: Jumbo Cryptic

Very straightforward this one, with nothing to complain about from my point of view. I would probably pick 17A as my favourite clue. Across 1 AWFUL – (l)AWFUL = sanctioned 4 EXCITEMENT – EXIT = … Read more “Jumbo 1363”

I ground to a halt about 2 thirds of the way through this with the LHS proving somewhat recalcitrant. In the end, though, I finished in under an hour, so on the whole it’s not … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1362 – 12th January”

Happy New Year all. On my barometer I’d say this was of average difficulty although there was one phrase I was totally unfamiliar with and I had to look it up to get it. I … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1361”

Hope everyone made it through the holiday season and safely arrived, bursting with rude health, into 2019. I was given an interesting present – a poster containing the entirety of Hamlet. Granted, the font size … Read more “Jumbo 1360 (New Year’s Day)”

Alright, so this was a really good specimen of a Times Jumbo, with wit aplenty and some genuine laugh-out-loud moments. I know some martinets disapprove of drug references in their crosswords, but I was very … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1359 – Never Hold Discussions With The Monkey”

Happy New Year to all my readers! I am not sure whether it was Christmas overindulgence or not being on the setter’s wavelength but this one took me longer than it should have done. I … Read more “Jumbo 1358”

I found this a very enjoyable Jumbo with lots of entertaining clues and clever surfaces; rather better than 28A and not a 22D. For once, there were no words I didn’t know, although there is … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1357 – 22nd December”

I have been the host and organizer of Times for the Times for about a year now, and it is really quite an easy job.   The bloggers do their thing, and the blogs appear every … Read more “Times Jumbo Cryptic 1354 – The Missing Blog appears!”

An enjoyable puzzle on the gentle side difficulty-wise I’d say in respect of 1356.  45 minutes all done, dusted and understood. First in was RELOCATES and last was TESSELLATE, due to it looking like it … Read more “Times Cryptic Jumbo 1356”

This was a puzzle of about average difficulty, I thought, with a couple of unknowns and partially-knowns to spice things up. FOI 7A, LOI 52A, twin CODs to 28A and 24D for the surfaces. Compliments … Read more “Jumbo 1355”