Category: Weekend Cryptic

For me this was my easiest puzzle ever on a blogging day. I barely stopped working through the grid. It seemed that either the wordplay or the definition took me straight to the answer. The … Read more “Times Saturday 26754 – June 17, 2017. Crazy as an Ottoman.”

17:12. I’m writing this on a train from Cardiff to London immediately after solving the puzzle, so unlike last time I can actually remember something about it. I started quite quickly, and after five or … Read more “Sunday Times 4750 by David McLean”

Good to be back! Thanks to McText for standing in. This puzzle had a slightly different feel to it. The surfaces of the clues all read nicely, and some of the definitions had a nice … Read more “Times Saturday 26748 – June 10, 2017. And the polls are in!”

A highly enjoyable puzzle (as usual) from Dean, although I found it to be slightly less tricky than some of his offerings. The surface of 8a alone was worth the price of admission, and I’m … Read more “Sunday Times 4749 by Dean Mayer”

Pulling on the No 12 shirt again this week while our Saturday Centre Forward is away. If he’s done the puzzle, he surely won’t have missed the several spades (21dn) and one heart (7dn). The … Read more “Times Saturday 26742 — June 3, 2017. It’s got my name on it”

18:08. I am writing this yesterday: I have been on holiday this week, so have not had time for the blog until now. As a result I can’t really remember much about the solve. My … Read more “Sunday Times 4748 by Jeff Pearce”

Coming off the subs bench, replacing Bruce who’s no doubt enjoying a bridge tournment somewhere. Hope he gets some good deals. My old bridge partner, Henry Cabot, was once dealt 13 clubs and promptly bid … Read more “Times Saturday 26736 — May 27, 2017. You say goodbye, I say hello”

By Harry’s exacting standards, I found this one to be at the (relatively) less demanding end of the spectrum, albeit some of the detailed parsing proved quite tricky. 2d requires some lateral thinking, and I … Read more “Sunday Times 4747 by David McLean”

No exotica here, but everything was challenging. Several clues where I made a note to myself to check later that some word really can mean what the clue suggests! My COD was 4dn. I also … Read more “Times Saturday 26730 – May 20, 2017. And it’s goodbye from me for the while”

30:01. I struggled mightily with this, feeling miles off the wavelength all the way through. I did enjoy it though, in a masochistic kind of way. Going through it to write up the blog, as … Read more “Sunday Times 4746 by Dean Mayer”