Category: Quick Cryptic

Times Quick cryptic 744 by Orpheus Friday 13th January 2017 This puzzle has everything: lots of musical references, as befits Orpheus; Shakespeare; geography; mathematics; an obscure new word or two; two chemistry references; plus some … Read more “Times Quick cryptic 744 by Orpheus: Triskaidekaphobia”

I don’t think I have blogged a puzzle by Des before, and I had no difficulty adapting to him on this occasion, my total time being well inside my 15 minute target. Some nice clues … Read more “Quick cryptic No 743 by Des”

I’ve had the pleasure of blogging a few Hawthorn puzzles recently, and they have always been beautifully crafted. This one is no exception. I’ve now totally given up on predicting degree of difficulty around the … Read more “Quick Cryptic 742 by Hawthorn”

13 minutes with 15dn/20ac being the last to fall. The long clue at 8ac could prove the key to faster times as it provides many crossing letters including the first letter of the long 9dn … Read more “Quick Cryptic 741 by Pedro”

I’ve no solving time for this one as I nodded off and returned to it later. I can’t imagine I found it hard as many of the clues are very straightforward, so I must have … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 740 by Joker”

5:47 to complete this one.  So that’s four more or less standard Quickies in a row after Izetti started the year off with a bang on Monday. Nice offering this from Rongo, with a variety … Read more “Quick Cryptic 739 by Rongo”

I think this was towards the harder end of things, so I was happy to come in at the 13 minute mark. Some tricky clues, some generous checker-providers, some cracking clues, and lots of lovely … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 738 by Mara”

Continuing the business as usual theme today, with a pleasantly gentle puzzle solved pretty much top to bottom. Lots of longer and multi-word answers certainly helped to fill the grid, and there is an abundance … Read more “Quick Cryptic 737 by Tracy”

After yesterday’s it is a bit of a relief that today’s qualifies for the ‘Q’ of QC without being an easy write-in. There is some interesting vocabulary (which headed me off into some diversions) but, … Read more “Quick Cryptic 736 by Teazel”

My attempts at predicting how difficult others will find any given Quicky have generally been lacking in accuracy, however I’m quietly confident that I will be in tune with the consensus when I say that … Read more “Quick Cryptic 735 by Izetti”