Category: Weekend Cryptic

Solving time 13:32 Sorry for the lateness of this posting – I was away for the weekend at very short notice, although I should at least have put up a placeholder message. Not too hard, … Read more “Times Saturday 23575 – better late than never!”

Solving time: 7:57, one missing (27dn). Mostly straightforward wordplay, but there were quite a few words (or alternative meanings of words) here which are rarely seen outside barred puzzles: ‘neat’ (cattle), ‘euro’ (a kangaroo) and … Read more “ST 4220 (Sun Apr 15) – “Neil suffers setback with one missing, a Red River” (4)”

Solving time 9:44 It’s not often I beat 10 minutes for a Saturday puzzle (or indeed any other day except Sundays), but this was the easiest Times I’ve seen for a long time. I’d expect … Read more “Times Saturday 23569”

Solving time 28:00 (by comparison last week’s Jumbo only took me 24:15) The NE corner gave me the most difficulty, as after completing the rest of the puzzle I had nothing in there at all. … Read more “Times Saturday 23563 – tough for me”

Solving time: 13:15 I got the two 15-letter downs quite quickly and was hoping for a much faster time, but just got stuck on a few at the end. 4d was the last I put … Read more “Times Saturday 23557”

Solving time: approx 15 mins. I was in London last week to meet up with some Irish friends for St. Patrick’s Day, so I solved this from the paper while sat in Covent Garden having … Read more “Times Saturday 23551”

Solving time 14:26 I was away for the weekend and didn’t get a chance to post this entry until now, so apologies for the delay. I’ve just had to re-solve it this morning as I … Read more “Times Saturday 23545 – better late than never!”

Solving time 13:22 I found this a lot easier than the last few weeks’ Saturday puzzles – should really have been under 10 minutes but I got stuck on a couple at the end. I … Read more “Times Saturday 23539”

Solving time 21:46 Are Saturday’s puzzles getting harder or am I getting worse? I haven’t gone under 20 minutes for weeks, whereas my weekday averages are around 13 mins, with the occasional sub-10 minute time. … Read more “Times Saturday 23533”

Solving time 24:22 I found this quite tricky, with a few obscure words to puzzle over. I noticed the phrase CHAMPION SOLVER in 21 and 24 across, and thought “Bloody need to be to finish … Read more “Times Saturday 23527 – Happy Birthday Roy Dean!”