Solving time 31:03 My slowest time for about two months – I ascribe it to the fact that I solved this with a thumping hangover. There’s not too much really tricky here, although some of … Read more “Times Saturday 23737 (Oct 20)”
2007 Grand Final Unofficial RTC – your times please
This is a one-off unofficial contest based on your times for the three puzzles used in the Grand Final of the 2007 Times Crossword Championship. We’ll just have a ‘mini-championhip’ table for this one, so … Read more “2007 Grand Final Unofficial RTC – your times please”
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 15 – your times please
This is a weekly unofficial contest based on your times for the Times cryptic crossword from Saturday to Friday. Championship puzzles and this contest Contests 13-18 will consist of five puzzles each rather than the … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 15 – your times please”
We’re nearly one / Jumbo 722 delayed
I’m hopeless at remembering birthdays so while I remember, the team version of Times for the Times is one year old next Wednesday. A chance to pause and take stock. I’ll ask the same questions … Read more “We’re nearly one / Jumbo 722 delayed”
23,742 – slow starter
Good, fair puzzle today with some excellent surfaces, I thought. Took me a while to get started, but the whole thing was complete in less than 11 minutes, OSAGE being the last light to go … Read more “23,742 – slow starter”
23,741 – lean and fit
Solving time: 13:34 Although there are some very clever and tricky constructions here, most of the clues are very economical with few padding or link words, meaning that the structure tends to be easy to … Read more “23,741 – lean and fit”
Mephisto 2459 – Tim Moorey
Solving time: about 90 mins I guess one of the advantages of egg-head crosswords is that because there are fewer solvers to shock, you can get away with some fairly ripe language. This puzzle takes … Read more “Mephisto 2459 – Tim Moorey”
23,740 – Championship Prelim 1, Puzzle 3
Solving time: 7-9 mins on the day There’s just a hint of a theme here – two symmetrically placed nervy answers at 11 and 21. There are a few snippets of literature and music, but … Read more “23,740 – Championship Prelim 1, Puzzle 3”
Times 23739 – Ian Eddy
My last two clues were 16D/21A — and I still wonder about the latter. Had to guess that ORATORIAN was yet another priest (after yesterday’s flamen somewhere). Not sure about PERON’s wordplay yet either. Peter … Read more “Times 23739 – Ian Eddy”
23738 – Ancient Rome
Solving time: 50:24 A few unfamiliar words to ponder over. Some anagrams that came pretty quickly. Although I wrote in NEATEN and HANDICAP quite quickly, it took me a while to decipher the wordplay for … Read more “23738 – Ancient Rome”