Category: Jumbo Cryptic

Nothing particularly special in this, a steady solve. I don’t have a time recorded, but probably around 30 minutes. A couple of solutions (25A, 2D) took a bit of working out for the wordplay, but … Read more “Jumbo 953”

No meaningful time available; my submission threw up the dread Error 503 first time, and failed again when I tried later that day; third time lucky some time later, by which time I had forgotten … Read more “Times Jumbo 952”

…..not for the first time though! Enjoyable puzzle this one, with some great clues here and there. I thought 20D could have been great, but was simplified a smidge. A selection of good lift and … Read more “Jumbo 951 – An Irish nationalist and an Old Field Marshall walk into a crossword puzzle……”

Solving time: 65:33 – quite quick for me, and probably could have been under the hour if I hadn’t kept getting distracted by the TV for the first 30 minutes or so. Most of if … Read more “Times Jumbo 950 (5 Nov 2011)”

30:41, so round about my average for a Jumbo. A very fair and enjoyable puzzle. There were several unknown (to me) words or phrases but the setter used wordplay which meant that all the answers … Read more “Times Jumbo 949 – 29 October 2011”

As straightforward a Jumbo as I’ve blogged for ages i.e. a standard Times puzzle which didn’t require much knowledge that wouldn’t already be familiar to regular solvers; as I usually point out under such circumstances, … Read more “Times Jumbo 947”

A straightforward offering this time with no stinkers or difficult vocabulary. That which was lesser known was fairly easily clued. Big thumbs up to 55A for the “fighting weight” pairing, however again it was fairly … Read more “Jumbo 946 – No bones to pick here”

Time: None recorded as I left it at one point and forgot to pause, so when I came back the time was up to about 6 hours. I think it was probably somewhere in the … Read more “Times Jumbo 945 (1 Oct 2011)”

58 really easy clues, one book that gave me more trouble than it should have and one single clue so ludicrous it probably belongs in a barred puzzle (or preferably in a dustbin). 17 minutes for … Read more “Jumbo 944 – September 24 2011”

I found this mostly straightforward, just having to check the definition for 6D. I am not sure how overseas solvers might have got on with 8D. Probably the checking letters would give the answer, but … Read more “Jumbo 943”