Category: Quick Cryptic

Introduction 6:07. Nothing too wild. EDIT: I realized while writing the blog that many of the answers I put in from the definition had quite complicated wordplay! I’m interested to know if people got tangled … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1822 by Pedro”

A pangram and a tricky grid layout (not many crossers for first letters) from Breadman today. It felt like hard work at the time but the pace kept up, so the cluing must have been … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1821 by Breadman”

Solving time: 7 minutes. This seems mostly straightforward with no obscure words and only a couple of slightly unfamiliar meanings. As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1820 by Trelawney”

An enjoyable but tricky test from Mara today to end the week. Some lovely clues with no less than 6 ticks in my copy. Not easy in parts, though, and I suspect some less-experienced solvers … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1819 by Mara”

I found this rather tricky, and at three-or-so minutes over target took fully twice as long as yesterday’s done just beforehand. No particular hold-ups, but I only got five of the acrosses on a first … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1818 by Teazel”

I was pleased to end up with a pretty quick time in the end, worrying as I solved that I might need a lot more general knowledge than I have. Luckily, though, most of it … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1817 by Felix”

You wait for a solve exactly 9 seconds over taget and two come along in a few weeks. Some of this was spent mulling over 12ac  – let me know if I’m missing something here. … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1816 by Joker”

A crossword that is notable for the near-absence of one of the staple clue types of the Quickie: as far as I can see there is only one anagram (including clue elements as well as … Read more “QC 1815 by Orpheus”

This was very pleasant, and not too difficult for the most part. I seemed to biff my way through it fairly rapidly, getting held up only on 15ac and 16dn. 8 minutes. Across 1 Turned up … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1814 by Pedro”

Well, this puzzle from Izetti was quick enough, but not particularly simple.  It took me 13 minutes to complete (firmly in my place in the Middle Class, and not threatening the Top Form), but a … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1813 by Izetti”