The trend of easier Mephisto puzzles continues, but I’m sure the trend will reverse itself shortly. I solved this one in one session on a Saturday night while waiting for George’s blog. Nearly all the words, and many of the cryptic elements, are not in any way obscure, and most of the answers were short.
Sunday Times Cryptic No 5197 by David McLean — not like pulling teeth… eh?
Starting with the longer answers first, I filled in most of this rapidly… until the last handful, which took almost as long as all the rest!
Quick Cryptic 3195 by Bjorn
A fair bit of top-spin and it’s advantage Bjorn…
Times Cryptic Jumbo No 1767 – 27th December
A first Jumbo from one of our newer setters, and it’s a good one with lots of witty clues.
Times Cryptic Jumbo 1766 – Bob’s Country Bunker
Just in case you’re confused about which puzzle this is, given the plethora of jumbi we had over the festive period, this is the one from Boxing Day. I found it tricky”.
Times Cryptic 29430 – Sat, 3 Jan 2026. New year, new test
I found this harder than the run of Saturdays recently. Not much that experienced solvers won’t have met before, but you’ll need to have thought about it! Thanks, setter. How did you all do? Note … Read more “Times Cryptic 29430 – Sat, 3 Jan 2026. New year, new test”
Times Cryptic 29435 – weighed more mighty than I seem
Too good for the likes of me, but I enjoyed the challenge, until I didn’t and gave up. Trusty aids and liberal use of the check feature came to the rescue.
Times Quick Cryptic No 3194 by Wurm
A typically witty Quick Cryptic from Wurm today with a couple of tricky bits.
Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is Phil’s turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. As an added bonus for the first of our puzzles of the year, Phil has provided a 15×15 grid, but don’t worry – it is no more difficult than the usual 13x13s. You can find the crossword here.
29434 Keeping it clean
Time: 12:36, by some distance my quickest of the week though it may be the clues just fell nicely for me. The artsy bits should be reasonably well known to regular solvers, though you may … Read more “29434 Keeping it clean”
Quick Cryptic 3193 by Alex
Fun puzzle, middling difficulty.