Category: Weekend Cryptic

This all seemed fairly straightforward, and straightforwardly fair, but wittily engaging and elegantly clued. I doubt if anyone will have had major problems. This afternoon at an event remembering Jonas Mekas (1922–2019), I learned that … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4851, 19 May 2019, by Robert Price — Scherzo in “Be Sharp” (See?)… minor”

I started quickly, picking the proverbial low-hanging fruit. Things changed about halfway through, and the rest was a struggle. The obscurity and artistry of many clues had me doubting answers even when I saw them. … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27354 – Saturday, 18 May 2019. Low hanging fruit, and high art?”

8m. A gentle one this week. No unknowns for me, although the answer at 22ac is one of those (many) things I think I only know from crosswords. Not much more to say on this … Read more “Sunday Times 4850 by David McLean”

If you knew that Terence Rattigan wrote the play mentioned in the title, you probably found this whole crossword a walk in the park! Otherwise, you might have had to tax your mind a bit … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27348 – Saturday, 11 May 2019. A Walk in the Woods.”

I am writing this intro in my cosy chambre in the famous Hôtel la Louisiane (there’s a documentary about it) on rue de Seine (Saint-Germain-dés-Pres), on vendredi après-midi, after a visit to the Librairie philosophique … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4849, May 5 2019, by Dean Mayer — Oui, whee!”

Another typical Saturday, I’d say. No plants, no animals, just an obscure sauce. I’m deeply sceptical about the complaint at 9dn. It seems to follow the principle of, “give a dog a bad name”! Thanks … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27342 – Saturday, 04 May. A saucy little 17.”

9:55. Not too hard a puzzle from Myrtilus this week. Well either that or I’m getting attuned to his ways as a setter, which seems unlikely after such a short time. A really fun one, … Read more “Sunday Times 4848 by Robert Price”

This was medium difficulty, I thought. Once more I did it during odd moments and don’t have a time, but at least I did finish. My progress was basically clockwise: NW, NE, SE and SW. … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27336 – Saturday, 27 April 2019. Once more intro the breach.”

Greetings from the heart of the Cévennes region of France. I wrote most of this before my trip began, fortunately. It’s rather late here and I just realized that it’s already dimanche. And I have … Read more “Sunday Times Cryptic 4847, April 21 2019, by David McLean — Seeing double”

For some reason, I was never comfortable working on this crossword. (Sorry, setter. It wasn’t you, it was me, I’m sure.) On the first pass, I only got two answers, and for most clues I … Read more “Times Cryptic No 27330 – Saturday, 20 April. Don’t try this at home.”