Category: Quick Cryptic

I got off to a flying start with this, with the first 3 across clues, but then I discovered it was no picnic. I was pleased to get 3 of the 4 words around the … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1559 by Des – Ménage à trois?”

On the gentle side from Joker, giving my first sub-6 minute blog in… quite some time. All but three of the acrosses went in on a first read through (1, 22 and 23 being the … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1558 by Joker”

A couple of unknown meanings for me at 1ac, 14dn and 18dn meant I had to wait for a few checkers there, but otherwise a nice, workaday puzzle. Definiitons underlined. Across 1 Former pupil, retainer, … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1557 by Hurley”

Not my best form, judging by the ‘doh’ count – not least LOI 9ac which I realised I’d known all along. So a longish 13 minutes with lots to enjoy, including COD 13ac but also … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1556 by Orpheus”

A very interesting puzzle today from Teazel. It had very few of those usual staples of a QC, anagrams and hidden words. I could see only two full anagrams (plus one where an anagram was … Read more “QC 1555 by Teazel”

So 8 minutes for me. Compound anagrams are the theme of the day, plus some well-disguised hidden words. LOI 11 ac, which I spent an age staring at for no good reason. Overthinking it again, … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1554 by Breadman”

I wouldn’t call this easy – there are some chewy bits of parsing and a modicum of General Knowledge required, and some of the clues are deliberately misleading.  However, I finished it in 11 minutes, … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1553 by Mara”

Introduction A nice puzzle, finished in around 11 minutes. I raced through most of the puzzle, but ground to a bit of a halt with 2 or 3 clues left. Took my time, and finished … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1552 by Tracy”

Some class stuff in here which I found really entertaining. Maybe a stretch for newer solvers (it was for me!).Solving crosswords is often down to your general knowledge and whether yours is lucky enough to … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1551 by Izetti – he’s back!”

Solving time: 9 minutes . Quite straightforward I think, but we shall see what others made of it… As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1550 by Oink”