The December Magpie, the first electronic version is available and free. It contains six barred grid puzzles by the Magpie editorial team, who include our own occasional blogger Mr Magoo. Difficulty is supposed to range … Read more “Magpie – 60½ for 0”
23,771 – well beaten
Solving time: 21 minutes with six missing; 24 minutes with aids A slow start going through the across clues. Nothing until 23A. Then steady progress from the bottom up, helped by the two, straightforward, long … Read more “23,771 – well beaten”
23,770 – the curse of the 17 strikes again?
Solving time: 18:37 The curse of the Times crossword club certainly strikes again – no online puzzle and I left home before the papers landed on the doormat, so had to buy a paper at … Read more “23,770 – the curse of the 17 strikes again?”
Times 23769 – not bikini nor jerrycan
Fortunately I read the comments before writing this up so my concerns about CURLICUE and HASP have been resolved. Overall, a good puzzle which went rather quickly largely because the long 1A fell at first … Read more “Times 23769 – not bikini nor jerrycan”
Times 23768: Outphoxed
Time: 43 minutes An enjoyable crossword in the end but I was completely flummoxed by the NW corner – and greatly hindered by a typo in entering the answer to 5D (I do the interactive … Read more “Times 23768: Outphoxed”
ST 4251 (Sun 18 Nov) – Dessert storm
Solving time: 6:39 (one mistake – 13dn). Yet another anagram error in this puzzle (16dn). Also a missing letter in the online version. * = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’. Across 1 LOST CAUSE; … Read more “ST 4251 (Sun 18 Nov) – Dessert storm”
Collins dictionary free search is back
Once more, you can do free searches of Collins English Dictionary at the Collins web-site: http://www.collinslanguage.com/ This is useful for the Times puzzle, as Collins is one of its two reference dictionaries. There do however … Read more “Collins dictionary free search is back”
Saturday Times 23761 (Nov 17)
Solving time 10:37 A bit easier than the normal Saturday fare, I was helped by getting all four 14-letter answers straight away, which gave the first letters of 12 other clues. I was prevented from … Read more “Saturday Times 23761 (Nov 17)”
Jumbo 726 – unknown element trouble
Solving time: 24:25, one wrong answer A fairly challenging puzzle, which stumped me at the end with one of those toss-up anagrams for a word I didn’t know. It’s another appearance for one of those … Read more “Jumbo 726 – unknown element trouble”
23766 – My first blog, blow by blow
Solving time: Longer than it should have taken. I put this down to nerves on my first blog and attempting it late at night after a busy day.. Nevertheless it was a very enjoyable puzzle … Read more “23766 – My first blog, blow by blow”