Thursday’s puzzle is the first qualifier for this year’s Times Crossword Championship. We won’t of course have reports on these until after entries have closed. We’ll say whether the blogger thought the puzzle was easy or hard, but we won’t give their solving time. Please don’t give your solving times in comments.
This is maybe a bit paranoid given that this year’s announcement about the champs stated that everyone beating 30 minutes last year got in, but I’d prefer to play it safe.
The two photos are eleven years apart – the black and white one was taken for a company magazine article when I made my second Times final in 1996. No prizes for guessing which I prefer!