Category: Quick Cryptic

Today we a treated to a Quick Crossword by Izetti. It’s a little out of the ordinary… see the explanation at the end of the blog for how and why. On the tricky side, I think, including both a word and a couple of meanings that were new to me and some clever wordplay. It took me 7:40. All perfectly fair, though, and entertaining as ever. Thank-you Izetti, and congratulations! How did you all get on?

Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is Phil’s turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find his crossword here. Enjoy! If anyone is interested in our previous offerings you can find an index to all 54 here.

Tricky enough today from Wurm that took me a couple of minutes over target. Lots of very effective misdirection sent me completely the wrong way on quite a number of clues.

Finished in a pretty average time for me, only held up by 1ac at the beginning and 20ac at the end.

Despite not getting 1ac on first pass, I zoomed clockwise round the grid from the NE finishing back with LOI 1ac in 6:29. A pretty fast time for me – anyone breaking PB’s today?

Hi all. I liked this offering from Hurley. There’s nothing wrong with the across clues (unless you wish to throw your dictionary at 11a in protest) but my picks today are all in the downs. The breakdown of 2d may be common enough but I thought the execution, with the twist in the tail, was deftly done. I almost always lap up a reverse clue, so 3d made me happy, and I also appreciated the Uxbridge English Dictionary nature of 12d. Thanks Hurley!

Medium difficulty I would say, with some write-ins as well as chewier ones.

Another great puzzle from Teazel which took me 11 minutes to crack, a reasonably good time for me.

I found this a very enjoyable QC taking 8:10. All very gettable, I thought, but interesting enough to have me referencing the dictionary for some fine definitions and the unknown instrument at 3dn. It’s worth taking a post-solve read through the surfaces – excellent stuff – thanks Breadman.

Solving time: 11 minutes. Much of this was straightforward but I still managed to miss my target time by a minute.

This was my first Rongo Quick Cryptic to blog since December 2019. Nothing too difficult, I think, although one definition is a bit tricky, and I finished in a below average time of just under 5 minutes. I liked the underground prison best. Thank-you Rongo! How did you all get on?

Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is my turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find the latest crossword, which is, in celebration of the 30th East Anglian Beer Festival this week, entitled “More beer, please” here. Enjoy!