Category: Weekend Cryptic

This puzzle appeared on the first anniversary of the inauguration of the current US president, and not a single reference! Such restraint. I finished this in a bit over 20 minutes on the timer, so … Read more “Times Cryptic No 26940 – Saturday, 20 January 2018. The anniversary waltz.”

An entertaining puzzle from Jeff which I (somewhat unusually) managed to complete in one sitting, which would suggest it was not too taxing. I particularly liked the cryptic device at 15ac, and I thought 9d … Read more “Sunday Times 4781 by Jeff Pearce”

This puzzle may have set a record for the number of double definition clues – five out of 29. I found it relatively straightforward – 36 minutes on the timer. I put in 24ac on … Read more “Times Cryptic No 26934 – Saturday, 13 January 2018. Double the fun!”

14:52. My first reaction when I opened this puzzle was panic: on the basis of the usual rotation I was expecting a Jeff Pearce puzzle, but for some reason we got another David McLean. My … Read more “Sunday Times 4780 by David McLean”

This might have been a “typical” Saturday puzzle, if I hadn’t foolishly biffed a wrong answer to 25ac, and so made 23dn impossible until I eventually gave up and went back to check the helpers. … Read more “Times Cryptic No 26928 – Saturday, 06 January 2018. All right bar my plight.”

27:30. For the first time ever I managed to remember that the Sunday puzzle that appears just before Christmas is a jumbo, so I was able to give myself plenty of time to solve it. … Read more “Sunday Times Christmas Cryptic 4778 by David McLean”

Preparations on the Sunday for the NYE event Mrs No Vice (if ever there was a misnomer…) and I were hosting meant I did not get around to this one until New Years Day. Tackling … Read more “Sunday Times 4779 by Dean Mayer”

Well the last Saturday crossword for 2017 made for a pleasant finish to the year. Now that clocks have changed I regularly do the crossword over our midday meal and found nothing to upset the … Read more “Times Cryptic No 26922 – Saturday, 30 December 2017. A gentle wind-down.”

I found this to be an enjoyable, steady solve which featured a trot around the globe to several of my favourite places (Tasmania, the US eastern seaboard, the Channel Islands and Yorkshire) and which had … Read more “Sunday Times 4777 by Jeff Pearce”

Finished on paper in 45 minutes – a gallop by my standards. I think most of the clues in this puzzle are unusually straightforward in structure, with very few obscure references. The challenges are in … Read more “Times Cryptic No 26910 – Saturday, 16 December 2017. A Christmas present?”