Category: Quick Cryptic

Six and a half minutes for a fairly straightforward one. The answers were sometimes more obvious than the parsing, and there are a couple I’m not entirely happy with. I will be interested to hear … Read more “Quick Cryptic 974 by Oran”

A most enjoyable puzzle from Hurley today. I blogged a Hurley puzzle a couple of months ago when I was suffering from a self-inflicted sore head, and I was correspondingly jaded in my assessment of … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 973 by Hurley”

I found this to be one of those puzzles which feels quite tricky at the time, but then when you write up the blog you wonder why you made comparatively heavy weather of it. Nothing … Read more “Quick Cryptic 972 by Orpheus”

This grid was defined, to me, by the four 11 letter clues. I enjoyed 17ac and cod 5dn and struggled with the (part) anagrams in 9dn and loi 11ac. Add these to some African warriors … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 971 by Flamande”

This one took me 2 minutes over my target 10 because I had a complete blank on my last one in, 13ac, which on reflection now seems quite inexplicable. I thought this was mostly straightforward … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 970 by Mara”

I found this a bit of a testing little number from Rongo with some tricky clues and a couple of traps for the unwary to fall into. Like I did, as you will see. It … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 969 by Rongo – Great! Super!! Brill!!!”

I am standing in for Rolytoly this week, who is taking a slightly extended holiday, and this was a nice puzzle to blog.  There was some chewy General Knowledge (1a, 5a, 22a and possibly 18d … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 968 by Izetti”

An eminently completable crossword, but not without its various traps and difficulties if you’re a beginner. Apart from the unknown boat at 11ac and an unusual synonym for drunk (isn’t it amazing how many there … Read more “Quick Cryptic 967 by Pedro”

I didn’t find this at all easy and had to chip away around the grid. 10 and loi 11ac then formed the final hurdles which took some time to clear. That I made heavy weather … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 966 by Tracy”

An enjoyable puzzle from Teazel today, with some pleasingly succinct clues that combine smooth surfaces with concise wordplay (e.g. 11A and 15A). Apologies for the even briefer than usual blog but circumstances have conspired against … Read more “Quick Cryptic 965 by Teazel”