Category: Weekend Cryptic

Solving time 16:45, about average, although the online copy I solved was made harder by missing out the clue to 12ac (although I guessed it when I had 4 crossing letters in place). The other … Read more “Saturday Times 24490 (March 20th)”

Solving time 12:18, so pretty easy for a Saturday. No obscure vocabulary, and nothing too tricky in the wordplay either. However, the surface readings were smooth and some of the cryptic parts were brilliantly inventive … Read more “Saturday Times 24484 (March 13th) – boxing clever?”

Solving time 33:22, making it one of the toughest this year for me. It took me a while to get on the setter’s wavelength last Saturday, as there are quite a few clues where the … Read more “Saturday Times 24478 (6th March)”

Solving time 13:47, fairly straightforward for a Saturday (unlike this week’s, which put up a hell of a fight). Nice to see my old friend Isaac Asimov put in an appearance – I read all … Read more “Saturday Times 24472 (Feb 27)”

Solving time, about 45 minutes in the end over two sessions. This was a seriously tough puzzle for me, and after about 25 minutes I was left with four or five clues that I couldn’t … Read more “Saturday Times 24466 (Feb 20) – tough but fair”

Solving time – not noted, but I don’t think it was over 20 minutes. One phrase I’d never heard of was PUKKA SAHIB for an Indian gentleman, but I knew what both words meant and … Read more “Saturday Times 24460 (13th Feb)”

Solving time 16:33. The bottom left was troublesome, with two guessed answers confirmed later (26 & 29), but luckily all the crossing downs were easy. Apart from that it was a fairly straightforward solve. Across … Read more “Saturday Times 24454 (Feb 6th)”

Solving time – a dozy 35:30, on the train last Monday morning. I knew I was still half asleep and would have been better off leaving it till the journey home, but I persevered and … Read more “Saturday Times 24448 (Jan 30th)”

Solving time 21:02, slowed down a bit by a couple of silly mistakes. Otherwise another fairly straightforward one for a Saturday, although there were a couple of obscure words and a literary reference that might … Read more “Saturday Times 24442 (Jan 23rd)”

Solving time 13:46, pretty average puzzle really – not too hard, not too easy, but some interesting wordplay elements nevertheless. Across 1 OVERRIDING – OVER (finished) + RIDING (up). Unusually, a 2-word cryptic indication followed … Read more “Saturday Times 24436 (Jan 16th)”