Category: Jumbo Cryptic

Anyone still remember this one? Only 2 weeks ago but we’ve had four more Jumbos since then. Just a brief entry for this then, although if you need explanations for any I miss, leave a … Read more “Times Jumbo 732 (Dec 22)”

Solving time: 20 mins, one mistake (30ac) A bit of a Christmas theme running through this puzzle (available here), but the grid is horrible, with (e.g.) several six-letter words with just two checked letters. There … Read more “ST Jumbo 4256 (Sun 23 Dec) – Wild goose chase”

Solving time: 34 mins, one mistake (51dn) This was a brilliant puzzle with some fantastic clues and brilliantly-worded definitions. It took me about twice as long as an ‘average’ Jumbo, but I thought I’d got … Read more “Jumbo 731 (Sat Dec 15) – Neva mind”

Solving time: 27:22                                   This was a quick time for me for a Jumbo.  Fairly straightforward puzzle with a some pretty good clues and very little to complain about. Across 1 TAPSTER (Plonk in TASTER??) – I presume this … Read more “Times Jumbo 729”

Solving time approx. 45 mins spread over several sessions. I found it hard to get into this one at first, and kept getting distracted (mainly by other puzzles – all the weekend advanced cryptics, then … Read more “Times Jumbo 728 (24 Nov)”

Solving time: 24:25, one wrong answer A fairly challenging puzzle, which stumped me at the end with one of those toss-up anagrams for a word I didn’t know. It’s another appearance for one of those … Read more “Jumbo 726 – unknown element trouble”

Solving time: 33:37                                   Nice puzzle.  Excellent surface readings in a number of clues, some convoluted wordplay, and a couple of tricky clues to fathom out at the end.  I enjoyed this one. Across 1 TIMES … Read more “Jumbo 725 – Quite a treat”

Just a quick report on what I consider to be the more difficult clues. I didn’t make a note of my time for this, but my average for Jumbos is around 30-40 minutes. Across 13 … Read more “Times Jumbo 724 (27 Oct)”

Solving time: About 50 mins in two sessions; four missing (asterisked below). I found this very tough, mostly because I didn’t know some of the harder words / phrases; anyone who did would probably say … Read more “Jumbo 723 (Sat 20 Oct) – Return of the Space Capsule”

Solving time (estimate): about 30 mins Failed to keep my original copy of this so I’ve just done a re-solve, which suggests that the first go must have taken a fair while, and that quite … Read more “Jumbo 722 – fairly tricky”