Category: Weekend Cryptic

Solved in 13:10, so on the easyish side but with some great clues. I was surprised to find 10D isn’t in any of the dictionaries I possess – or (dons tin-foil hat) maybe it was … Read more “Saturday Times 26010 (31st Jan)”

Solving time: 54 minutes All manner of sensibilities seem to have been ruffled with this one. Probably a combination of 11d & 20a that did it. Personally I think these people need to get out … Read more “Sunday Times 4626 (25 Jan 2015) by Dean Mayer”

Solving time 14:20, so a pretty average time for me. To get 10ac, 22dn and 24dn it helps to be an opera buff I guess (but then that is part of the “assumed knowledge” required … Read more “Saturday Times 26004 (24th Jan)”

This took me 18 minutes, but I made a silly mistake. I seem to be doing this a lot at the moment. I found this quite tricky: there’s a lot of stuff in here I … Read more “Sunday Times 4625 by Jeff Pearce”

Solving time 17:49 (although at least a couple of minutes of that was at the end staring at S?E?T (25ac) and trying to make sense of the clue). Glancing at the comments on the Crossword … Read more “Saturday Times 25998 (17th Jan)”

Solving time: 36:47 A decent crossword, not too tricky. A couple had me puzzling over the wordplay for a while post-solve – 26a & 24d. I had no quibbles. There was a certain amount of … Read more “Sunday Times 4624 (11 Jan 2014) by Tim Moorey”

12:54 for this one, but it felt a bit harder than the last couple of weeks, although nothing too taxing really. A few people on the Crossword Club forum reported trouble with 24D/25A at the … Read more “Saturday Times 25992 (10th Jan)”

This was a jumbo of average difficulty which went in with few hold-ups. It struck me on reflection that it was perhaps slightly looser than the normal Times standard, which is neither a good nor … Read more “Jumbo 1126 – Saturday December 27th”

I don’t have a time for this. Being called upon to repair a cello halfway through doesn’t half mess with solving speed, don’t you find? By the time I’d done that I didn’t have time … Read more “Sunday Times 4623 by Dean Mayer”

First one of the new year, and we’re off to an easy start. 11:10 for me on the Monday morning train, and 4th of the journey after Monday’s Times and Guardian and the Sunday Times, … Read more “Saturday Times 25986 (3rd January)”