Solving time: 51m 48s Annigoni and shandygaff were new words to me – everything else I’ve come across either in real-life or crossword-life.After realising each letter had been used apart from J, I expected a … Read more “The Times 23720 – Just the capital missing”
ST 4243 (Sun 23 Sep) – Poison arrow
Solving time: 3:23, one mistake (16dn) I thought I was on for a PB on this one, which was probably the reason for my carelessness with 16dn. In the end, the last three or four … Read more “ST 4243 (Sun 23 Sep) – Poison arrow”
Times Saturday 23713 (22 Sep)
Solving time 13:54 Apologies for leaving this a whole week, but last Saturday’s 12-hour shift turned into a whole week’s worth, and I was just too tired. Still, I keep saying to myself, think of … Read more “Times Saturday 23713 (22 Sep)”
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 11 – 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. 11 – your times please”
Times 23,718 (detecting the architects)
Solving time: 9:26 – my most disappointing time of the week (though not my longest) – after a minute’s thought, I got going OK at the start, and didn’t realise I was getting held up … Read more “Times 23,718 (detecting the architects)”
Jumbo 718 – Tricky Clue City, Arizona
Solving time: 50 minutes, with a dictionary used for the last couple of clues. This started out easily enough, but I got very bogged down in the SW corner (44A and D, 48, 54, 43) … Read more “Jumbo 718 – Tricky Clue City, Arizona”
23,717 – Vicious but fair
Solving time: 21:31 Alarming to take more than 20 minutes with Cheltenham looming. It was the North West corner that held me up. It would have been much faster if I had cracked the obvious … Read more “23,717 – Vicious but fair”
23,716 – easy for old hands or medics?
Solving time 6:17 Although this was fairly quick, it seemed to use a few things that could be new to some. Across 1 R.A.(C(omi)C),O,ON – {working = on} is one for beginners to remember 5 … Read more “23,716 – easy for old hands or medics?”
Times Championship 2007
Not long to go before the big day in Cheltenham on Sunday 7 October. Last year we had five of our regular bloggers and commenters among the 24 competitors in the Grand Final. I hope … Read more “Times Championship 2007”
Times 23715/it’s Tuesday again
Sorry I’m late with this – I’m in a new job and had to interleave solving this with a million other things. None of which I managed to finish at work. Had to wrap this … Read more “Times 23715/it’s Tuesday again”