Solving time : 25 minutes A standard Times cryptic with a levening of slang, cricket, religion, obscure poet and so on. There are no less than five long anagrams. Across 1 CARESS – CARES-S; pet=canoodle … Read more “Times 24,253 Salvage Frogman in Camouflage”
Superfluous roue certain to become a tough boss?
Solving time: 18 minutes Music: Sibelius, Symphony #2, Schippers/NYP This puzzle should be very easy for everyone but the rawest beginner. I expect to see very fast times from all the regulars. Across 1 TWELFTH … Read more “Superfluous roue certain to become a tough boss?”
ST 4332 (Sun 7 Jun) – 17A of vitroil
Solving time: 6:10 A pretty good puzzle without too many quibbles, although 17ac confuses me and I may have got the wrong answer. * = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’. Across 1 CORNETTIST; (RENT … Read more “ST 4332 (Sun 7 Jun) – 17A of vitroil”
Jumbo 818
Solving time: 19:30 An easyish Jumbo with quite a few plants in answers or wordplay – 1A, 47, 57, 45 (twice!), 31. Probably coincidence rather than an intentional theme. Across 1 HER,B(P)AR,IS – a fairly … Read more “Jumbo 818”
Mephisto 2545 Mike Laws
A puzzle that was as easy as the previous week’s had been difficult. It came the day after a very tough Saturday Prize Crossword that took me longer to complete! One point of interest is … Read more “Mephisto 2545 Mike Laws”
Saturday Times 24245 (6th June) – a true classic
Solving time 33 mins, which felt pretty quick for this monster! Almost every clue was a work of art, with the difficulty purely in the deceptive clueing – I can’t see any real obscurities here. … Read more “Saturday Times 24245 (6th June) – a true classic”
Times Crossword 24250
Solving time: 8.07 This was a straightforward and relatively easy end to the week and I expect there will be some fast times. There was quite a lot of wordplay of the “remove a letter … Read more “Times Crossword 24250”
Times 24,249
Solving time: 14:40 I am sure the RMT have good reason for striking, but not having an underground journey disrupts my crosswording. My time may well be better than it would have been as I … Read more “Times 24,249”
Times 24248 – Grand slammers in the slammer?
Solving time: 18:40 Very slow, but better than yesterday! There was no huge delay for the last two answers (2 and 11), so I’m fairly sure this will simply be tough for everyone. Barring a … Read more “Times 24248 – Grand slammers in the slammer?”
Times 24,247 – Killer on the Loose?
Very similar to my last blogged puzzle – solving time a solid 15 minutes, with a handful of solutions where I wasn’t 100% certain of answers from prior knowledge of the word, but satisfied I … Read more “Times 24,247 – Killer on the Loose?”