Category: Quick Cryptic

Well this proved to be a quickie for me from Orpheus, completed and parsed pretty much from top to bottom inside 8 minutes, which is close to a PB.  My COD is 21a for its … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1323 by Orpheus”

A coincidence at 10 Across? In any case, Tracy has my number. Or perhaps a nod to Ximenes and his immaculate “I have most of the time to sew, then I iron (9)”? Taking 9 … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1322 by Tracy”

Lots to enjoy here – and I took my time doing so – 13 minutes making sure I’d fully understood each clue. Some really do repay the effort – I particularly liked the brief but … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1321 by Teazel”

Solving time: 8 minutes. I hesitate to say this was easy but my timing indicates that I found it so. I think the clue construction is mostly straighforward but there could be a few pieces … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1320 by Breadman”

A neat, witty and, dare I say, not too tricky puzzle (judging by my F1set solving time of sub-4 minutes) from Felix, (our crossword editor) today. Leading by example, perhaps? The enjoyment started with the … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1319 by Felix”

Average difficulty puzzle from Hurley today, which isn’t to say that I managed to finish it: I had all bar 15d done by the 10 minute mark, and then spent two minutes on a less-than-algorithmic … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1318 by Hurley”

A lovely little crossword from Mara, with just the right amount of whimsy, general knowledge, crosswordese, chemistry, cricket, and the rest. I had one clue to fathom after solving (7dn) as I couldn’t decide which … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1317 by Mara”

A good QC from Orpheus. I’d have been quicker than 10 mins if I hadn’t continued my spell of messing up on a particular clue (this time LOI 8ac). Hopefully you’ll all be OK – … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1316 by Orpheus”

A great collection of anagrams here. I think that six clues were straight anagrams (including all four of the long 13-letter clues) and another two involved them. There were also I think three double definitions … Read more “QC 1315 by Izetti – The Party’s Over For The Rogues’ Gallery”

This was more of a challenge than I have had in recent blogs, mainly because of defective general knowledge on may part. There is a good range of clues, though. A couple of very old … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1314 by Teazel”