Solving time: 46:36 Since joining the blogging team, my Jumbo times have been consistently in the range of about 17 to 30 mins, so I found this significantly harder than normal. Nor was it just … Read more “Jumbo #674/23 Dec – Waxing lyrical”
23489 – guesswork
Solving time : 8:27 As usual, I entered quite a few words (including 10, 14 and 24 across and 3 and 13 down) quickly without having worked out the wordplay. (One of the good things … Read more “23489 – guesswork”
23488 – not a 12 in the park
Solving time 13:33 I found this an entertaining but quite difficult puzzle, with some of that “tough puzzle makes easy clues harder than they should be” effect that one or two others have mentioned. I … Read more “23488 – not a 12 in the park”
23,487 – A very English crossword
Solving time: 5:35 This might have been trickier for overseas solvers, with references including Lewis Carroll [sort of!], Gilbert & Sullivan and (naturally) cricket. Beginners’ tips of the day – ‘garland’ = LEI, ‘stolen’ = … Read more “23,487 – A very English crossword”
23,486 – and a Happy New Year to all
Solving time : 1h 12mNot a bad start to the year. I spent an hour on this and had completed most but the SW corner. Came back after a short break and it all fell … Read more “23,486 – and a Happy New Year to all”
Mephisto 2417 – Christmas Special
Solving time: about 2 hours in two sessions Another puzzle that suffered the Christmas 2006 web-site curse – the preamble was missing until added a day or two later. 18A was INGREDIENTS, and the six … Read more “Mephisto 2417 – Christmas Special”
Sunday Times Jumbo 4204/still Christmas
A Christmas Eve Sunday Jumbo – which was a bit hard to find online. Xmas eve puzzle with a Xmas-lite theme (pantos, reindeer, santa…) which even I didn’t find very hard. A couple of new … Read more “Sunday Times Jumbo 4204/still Christmas”
Times Saturday 23480
Solving time 11:30 A welcome relief after the previous Saturday’s really hard puzzle! No obscure vocabulary, and some very well-constructed clues with excellent surface reading. I expect the faster solvers here will have halved my … Read more “Times Saturday 23480”
23,484 – Curate’s egg
Solving time: 8mins approx Some excellent clues here, others I found quite strained, and two (13ac/5dn) that I still don’t fully comprehend. Across 4 E(D/M/ON)TON 9 S/IGNORA(N.T.) 11 KID/NAP/S 12 HORUS, ref HOU/R/S 13 C/LEVEL/AND … Read more “23,484 – Curate’s egg”
23,483 – Mix-ups cut no ice
Solving time : 8:42 Each letter of the alphabet appears at least twice in the grid, giving some interesting words to clue – I enjoyed the howitzer and the sasquatch. Also the occasional well-worn word, … Read more “23,483 – Mix-ups cut no ice”