Solving time: 18.30. I found this a tricky but enjoyable puzzle with some nicely disguised definitions, and also some where the definition was a giveaway but the wordplay needed quite a lot of thought. I … Read more “Times Crossword 24095”

Solving time: 13:42 This was very enjoyable and seemed rather tricky. The last three to go in for me were 1A and 1D, and of course the cricket reference at 28A. I was pleased to … Read more “Times 24,094”

Solving time: 9.55. Worked through this pretty steadily, with the SE corner the last to crack. Felt as if I should have been a couple of minutes faster when I’d finished. I thought the grid … Read more “Times Crossword 24093”

Easily sub-10 minutes here; shall I tempt fate by saying this looks like it’s going to be one of those easy weeks after some quite testing puzzles in the last fortnight? No, best not. I … Read more “Times 24,092 – The Bare Necessities”

Solving time: 36 Minutes Quite fun and not too difficult. NW corner last to go in for me. As soon as I got VARNISH, the rest fell into place.Mostly familiar, although I learned the name … Read more “Times 24091”

Solving time: 6:50, one mistake (7dn) I didn’t know the Ibsen play Hedda Gabler, and guessed wrongly from the anagram at 7dn. One-all, then, with the setter’s / editor’s / printer’s gaffe at 6ac. Elsewhere, … Read more “ST 4305 (Sun 30 Nov) – Hedda ache”

This was mostly straightforward and took me 40 minutes with no major hold-ups. For a while I had answers dotted around all four quarters and it took a little time for them to start coming … Read more “24089 – Nice end to a tricky week”

Solving time : 17 minutes, with a few brief distractions. Though I didn’t think I was going to do this at all tonight, I was greeted with the little yellow birdy picture. I managed to … Read more “Times 24088 – ooerr – a puzzle from the backdoor!”