Solving time : 51 mins Writing this very late – sorry. I have spent two long days working in the offices of an ICT company, but Livejournal is on their pornography black list and so … Read more “23726”
40 years on…
In 1967, Terry Biddlecombe won the Cheltenham Gold Cup on Woodland Venture. Today, I just managed to win a “Cheltenham silver cup” for the Times Crossword Championship. I’m afraid I was too busy accepting congratulations … Read more “40 years on…”
ST 4244 (Sun 29 Sep) – Salubritas et Eruditio
Solving time: 6:51 Very quick blog for this, as I’m sure noone is remotely interested given today’s main event. 20dn is terrible, the rest fairly standard. Rather uncharitably I hope that Alonso and Raikkonen crash … Read more “ST 4244 (Sun 29 Sep) – Salubritas et Eruditio”
Times Saturday 23719 (Sep 29)
Solving time 17:16 I thought I’d made hard work of this until I read that Pete Biddlecombe took an hour and talbinho a whole day! Shame this wasn’t one of the Championship puzzles in Cheltenham! … Read more “Times Saturday 23719 (Sep 29)”
Jumbo 719 (Sat 22 Sept) – Roughing it
Solving time: Gave up on the last 4 (starred) after 45 mins. Very tough this one, although I’m sure more cultured solvers will have known 1ac and so found the top left much less of … Read more “Jumbo 719 (Sat 22 Sept) – Roughing it”
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 12 – your times please
This is a weekly unofficial contest based on your times for the Times cryptic crossword from Saturday to Friday. In July 2007, someone commenting on Tony Sever’s Times 2 RTC blog suggested a competition like … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 12 – your times please”
A “better” class of puzzle
Due to the last few weeks being the only time of the year when I actually do some real work, as opposed to pretending (hope my employers don’t read this blog!), I haven’t done many … Read more “A “better” class of puzzle”
23,723 – Mornington Crescent
Solving time: 11:24 A welcome allusion to everyone’s favourite radio show at 16D. A choice few of Humphrey Lyttleton’s comments on Samantha’s activities are given in the ISIHAC Wikipedia article (I have just looked at … Read more “23,723 – Mornington Crescent”
23,722 – a slow one
Solving time 13:36 Pleased to see that this time is substantially quicker than at least one other past finalist, but not attaching much significance to it – my times can vary widely in the few … Read more “23,722 – a slow one”
Times 23721 – it was a near thing
Solving time: untimed but pretty rapid (with one undone clue). Not a hard puzzle – I went through it at a clip last night after a long hard day at work while eating Thai food … Read more “Times 23721 – it was a near thing”