Solving time: 1:05:24 Apologies for the late arrival of incoming Flight Number Jumbo 712 ā I decided to take advantage of the very pleasant Bank Holiday weather and shot away at very short notice before … Read more “Times Jumbo 712 – Author, author”
Times 23691/mixed results
Solving time: 41:30 I was doing quite well on this for the NE, SE, SW quadrants only to spend 20 minutes on the NW. And Iām from the Pacific NW ā very embarrassing. Some fix-ups … Read more “Times 23691/mixed results”
23690 – eh?
Solving time of 51 minutes Quite a straightforward start to the week. There were a few things that annoyed me slightly, such as the apostrophes in 21A and 26A, but it was all pretty soluble. … Read more “23690 – eh?”
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC contest No. 6 – results
After the fireworks of last week, we get back to that hard fact about competitive solving: speed is irrelevant if you make mistakes, so accurate solving at say 10 minutes a puzzle will beat just … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC contest No. 6 – results”
ST 4238 (Sun 19 Aug) – Chicken pox
Solving time: 20:44, one mistake (9ac) A disaster, mostly because 5dn (“An improvement on medical attention” (10)) took me nearly 15 minutes but also because having finally got there, and correctly guessed 24dn after some … Read more “ST 4238 (Sun 19 Aug) – Chicken pox”
Mephisto 2451 – Chris Feetenby – an extra H?
Straightforward enough, although I can’t quite see the wordplay in 1ac, and 11ac doesn’t appear in Chambers. Some excellent clues, especially 16ac, 27ac and 13dn. My only criticism, and it is very minor, is that … Read more “Mephisto 2451 – Chris Feetenby – an extra H?”
Times Saturday 23683 (Aug 18th)
Solving time 15:44 I’ve also now (finally) updated the blog entry for the previous Saturday (23677), which can be found here. This was quite an interesting puzzle with some excellent wordplay in places, although there … Read more “Times Saturday 23683 (Aug 18th)”
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 6 – your times please
This is a weekly unofficial contest based on your times for the Times cryptic crossword from Saturday to Friday. I’m harbouring hopes for my first win this week after Mark G told me that he’d … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 6 – your times please”
23,688 – Deliver me from slow times
A dose of Fridayitis for me today – my slowest Friday solve in ages, at 22 minutes and a few seconds. I’m not quite sure why it took so long, but once I had worked … Read more “23,688 – Deliver me from slow times”
23,687 – riddling askant
Solving time: 11:09 I was told at last night’s drinks that we crossword bloggers should be less sycophantic. But this is a particularly good puzzle, with lots of imaginative approaches, and smooth and witty surfaces. … Read more “23,687 – riddling askant”