Category: Quick Cryptic

Thanks Pedro for a nicely balanced puzzle, which took me one minute over my target time of 15 minutes.  Some of the clues and answers reminded me of humorous anecdotes, some of which I have … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1313 by Pedro”

A strange, strange solve. I finished just over 15 minutes, yet I had most of the grid filled in within 5! I filled in 1 Across and 1 Down without even reading the full clue, … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1312 by Orpheus”

Having gone wrong at 7dn I deservedly enter the hallowed halls of the SCC today. When I finally realised what had happened, the rest, with some relief, fell into place with the clock on 17 … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1311 by Tracy”

I needed 9 minutes for this and having written the blog it all seemed pretty straightforward but others may disagree and all opinions are welcome. As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1310 by Joker”

A typically neat and entertaining puzzle from Mara today. Nothiing too difficult, I think, but I’m sure you will correct me if you found it otherwise; some may find 22A and 3D a bit of … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1309 by Mara”

Gentle enough from Rongo today. I did Tuesday’s not-too-tricky QC just beforehand, took about 14 minutes, and did this in a bit under half that. Missed three of the acrosses on the first read through: … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 1308 by Rongo”

Anagrams abound, which makes for an accessible grid. And nothing really obscure either (except possibly 8ac and 4dn), so I hope to see some satisfied customers today. There are some nice, cryptic-y, sideways definitions to … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1307 by Hurley”

I struggled in the top half, so quite quickly dropped down to the bottom where progress was easier. Having built up the base, the two long down clues (3 and 8) then helped with checkers … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 1306 by Teazel”

I believe this is the first time I have blogged an Oink puzzle. Pleased to meet you, Sir or Madam, and I enjoyed your puzzle very much. I think because the ‘handwriting’ was unfamiliar I … Read more “QC 1305 by Oink”

So I’m in another French alpine hotel with sub-dialup WiFi speed, and because the Times page took so long to refresh I almost ended up blogging yesterday’s, which would have been interesting. Another straightforward one, … Read more “Quick Cryptic 1304 by Joker”