Category: Quick Cryptic

At 7 minutes start to finish this puzzle was close to a personal best for me, and I really can’t get through them any quicker than that sort of time – I just can’t read … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1353 by Oink”

Introduction I nearly finished this puzzle in 16’30”, but it took me another three minutes to puzzle out and then Google my answer for 8 Down. In any case, my longish time made sense: the … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1352 by Des”

I found this pretty tough (especially the SW) but I was solving on paper, in lovely weather, sitting by a lake. I’ll be interested to see other comments as I suspect the setting/distraction added to … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1351 by Teazel”

Solving time: 11 minutes. I had some difficulty getting going with this one and several longer answers (such as 1ac) needed most of their checkers before I could bring them to mind. As usual definitions … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1350 by Mara”

It’s Friday and today we have a puzzle from Izetti. “Goody”, I thought when I saw the name at the top, anticipating we would get a nice end-of-the-week test, and I wasn’t disappointed. Unusually, I … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1349 by Izetti”

Perhaps a touch on the trickier side today, hard to say sometimes. At any rate, I did Tuesday’s just before this in a bit under 7 minutes and was correspondingly over the 10 minutes today, … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1348by Tracy”

A fairly straightforward solve, on the whole, but with some unfamiliar bits and bobs to keep me guessing (that meaning of pet, the paint, the king). Quite a few of the definitions are neatly disguised … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1347 by Joker”

I felt I was on for a quick time until a few gaps in the SW (notably 16ac and 12dn) ticked the time to just over 10 minutes. 16ac is not without interest so worth … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1346 by Rongo”

Many thanks to Hurley for this puzzle which was promising to be a personal best for me (allowing for the fact that I was doing it from a bed in a hotel near Terminal 5 … Read more “QC 1345 by Hurley”

I have not come across Alconiere before, but this was excellent. Engaging and elegant without being too difficult. 8 min for me. Across 1 Regret turning back on footwear vandal (8) SABOTEUR – Regret is … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1344 by Alconiere”