Category: Quick Cryptic

Overall I found this a relatively straightforward offering, but with a few that had me scratching the head for a while. Some very nice clues – particularly liked 20 ac, 22ac, 2dn and 21 dn. … Read more “Quick Cryptic 372 by Des”

No time due to interruptions but this seemed a little harder than yesterday’s, particularly in the NW. A mixture of easy and challenging clues and generally very entertaining. Definitions underlined, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition, deletions … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 371 by Rongo”

Level of Difficulty – moderate.  I would have finished within my 10 minute target but for 1dn which nearly did for me. As it was I crept home in just under 12 minutes. I don’t … Read more “Quick Cryptic 370 by Flamande”

A tricky little puzzle for those wishing to graduate to red runs from the cryptic nursery slopes; nothing unfair or obscure but some grown-up wordplay and a big anagram. 19d led me to a long … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 369 by Dazzler – two kinds of turtle, so neat.”

Solving time: straightforward Morning all The Don is here today with his usual pleasant puzzle that most should find reasonably straightforward. The solution to the last Across clue may not be familiar to some, but … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic Crossword No 368 by Izetti – 8 across was a pile of poo!”

This detained me slightly longer than normal on account of the SW corner mostly. All of the wordplay is very precisely indicated, as usual, with just a tiny amount of sporting general knowledge required (not … Read more “Quick Cryptic Number 367 by Pedro”

One or two tricky clues pushed this into my medium difficulty grade – 13 minutes. LOI 19dn – as the synonym of ‘explanations’ didn’t leap out at me. Definitions underlined, cd=cryptic definition, dd=double definition, deletions … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 366 by Joker”

A straightforward offering from Tracy today, with maybe only 15D not commonplace vocabulary. 11D sucked me into a Wikipedia black hole from which I emerged hours later with an improved knowledge of both geography and … Read more “Quick Cryptic 365 by Tracy”

A straightforward puzzle with clues all on a similar level, no obscure words and no new tricks. One definition 20a I found a little strange, but the wordplay is clear. Across 1 SET ASIDE – … Read more “Quick Cryptic No 364 by Flamande”

Solving time:- Somewhat troublesome Felix is making one of his occasional appearances today with a puzzle that lies certainly at the harder end of the scale. A number of slightly more obscure definitions didn’t help … Read more “Times Quick Crossword No 363 by Felix”