Solving time 6:57 Quick start, with 1A (a classic easy but entertaining clue) falling immediately, but slowed down a bit in the bottom half. In various clues we have references to eyes, brains and sound … Read more “23680 – making sense”
Jumbo 710
Solving time 14:36 A pretty easy puzzle, but the clues read well and there are a couple of good &lit clues. The 15×15 cryptic on the same day was really tough, so this one’s low … Read more “Jumbo 710”
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC contest No. 4 – results
Mark Goodliffe returns from holiday in sparkling form to win the championship scoring by over 20 minutes. Tony Sever grabs second mainly by virtue of a good time for the tough Saturday puzzle. In the RTC … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC contest No. 4 – results”
Times 23679/hard work
Solving time: 44:55 This felt like hard work. Exacerbated since the puzzle wasn’t available online – so, necessity being the mother of invention, I was forced onto the streets of NYC where I actually did … Read more “Times 23679/hard work”
23678 – pons pontis
Solving time of 36:19 Pretty straightforward overall, although some wordplay to think about.I got the two long ones quickly and finished off the LHS fairly quickly – last to go in were 20D and 28A. … Read more “23678 – pons pontis”
Mephisto 2499-Mike Laws
Most of this puzzle fell into place, but it would have helped if I could have worked out the wordplay for 1ac, as I originally had CANNABIS in and that held up my progress on … Read more “Mephisto 2499-Mike Laws”
Times Saturday 23671 (Aug 4th)
Solving time – 38:42 This was another brilliant Saturday puzzle, in the same league as 23647 a few weeks ago. All the surface readings were good. Some of the wordplay was fiendish, some humorous. All … Read more “Times Saturday 23671 (Aug 4th)”
ST 4236 (Sun 5 Aug) – Miskicks
Solving time: 10:15 Very ‘Sunday Timesey’ this week, with a few quibbles: 5ac, 13ac and 1dn are probably the main ones. A few difficult words – 24ac, 20dn and 13ac were all new to me. … Read more “ST 4236 (Sun 5 Aug) – Miskicks”
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 4 – your times please
This week’s changes – nothing except a plea to follow the exact formatting – no extra commas, and all the zeroes, with colons between them. The rest of this post is the same as before, … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC No. 4 – your times please”
Times 23,676 – Fast Friday
Friday puzzles seem to be a bit easier than the rest of the week these days. I thought Monday was supposed to be the easiest day. Time taken: 9m 25s ACROSS 1 HIGH – double … Read more “Times 23,676 – Fast Friday”