Category: Weekend Cryptic

Given that this puzzle appeared on Halloween, I wondered if there would be spooky things afoot. As it turned out, no … it was much more treat than trick. I finished quickly and relatively easily. … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27810 – Saturday, 31 October 2020. Happy Halloween.”

8:47. I completely forgot that it was my turn to blog until the last minute, so I am writing this hurriedly late on Saturday evening and I’m going to have to keep comments to a … Read more “Sunday Times 4926 by Robert Price”

Well the clocks went back in the UK overnight, and this was a good puzzle to signal the end of summer on that side of the world. Nothing too testing. A nice bit of tiffin … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27804 – Saturday, 24 October 2020. Summer’s almost gone.”

I hardly ever start with the first clue on these but rather approach them strategically. My virtual FOI (though I happened to see ANI first) was the one long one right down the middle. After … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic No 4925 by Dean Mayer — Boffo socko performance!”

I would have rated this as middle of the road for a Saturday, until I got hopelessly stuck in the NW corner. It turned out I had never heard of the specific form of the … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27798 – Saturday, 17 October 2020. Anyone for badminton?”

7:43. A pretty easy one from Harry this week, without much by way of talking points. Mostly familiar vocabulary although I don’t remember coming across 8dn before. I’m not entirely sure of my parsing of … Read more “Sunday Times 4924 by David McLean”

After an easy puzzle the previous Saturday, this one restored the balance in definitive fashion! It had some general knowledge gaps for me, and many clever clues and cunning definitions. My favourite was 9dn, with … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27792 – Saturday, 10 October 2020. Now don’t kick up a fuss!”

I worked this while watching the season premiere of Saturday Night Live, and as my eye casually swept over the new clues, I first saw LENTO, which I should have taken as a watchword. Right … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic No 4923 by Robert Price — Not so fast!”

20:41. Brilliant stuff from Dean this week. One of the hallmarks of a really great puzzle for me is that when I go to blog it a few days after solving, a lot of the … Read more “Sunday Times 4922 by Dean Mayer – One Hand in my Pocket”

Ah Saturday. Another accessible puzzle. Every answer was from the known universe of discourse, and no clue was trivial. Just how I like it! My favourite was 5ac, with its delightful self-referential qualities. Thanks to … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27780 – Saturday, 26 September 2020. Lazing on a weekend afternoon.”