The easiest puzzle of the week so far. Took me only 6:23. ACROSS 1 LEFT BACK – a defender in football and a reference to the return to power of the Labour Party in 1997. … Read more “Times 23,670 – I take issue with ATISHOO”
23,669 – semiprecious haggis
Solving time : 10:50 Fairly striaghtforward for the most part, but I got a bit stuck at the end on 25A and 22D. For 22D I was unable to think of the courtier and worried … Read more “23,669 – semiprecious haggis”
23668 – were you enlightened?
Solving time 9:58 A slow start, with 12A the first clue solved, and a slowish finish in the NW corner. Annoying old chestnut of the day was 16D, which should have taken no time at … Read more “23668 – were you enlightened?”
Times 23667
Solving time 20:10 I don’t think the puzzle was a 20-minute difficulty one for me, but I solved it at 7:00 this morning and my head was still full of cobwebs. It took far too … Read more “Times 23667”
Sunday Times 4234
Solving time 6:23 Sorry – another overdue posting which I just realised I was due to write. I had at least solved the puzzle and scrawled a rough version of this. Mostly straightforward, but one … Read more “Sunday Times 4234”
23666 – fat chance
Solving time: 58:12 with one mistake Pleased to get under an hour – it felt a bit longer. I was very slow to get started, but gradually worked my way though – the SW and … Read more “23666 – fat chance”
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC contest No. 2 – results
In a week when even some of the most hardened competitors made mistakes, Jason kept his head to win the mini-championship despite spending close to half of the total time on one puzzle. the_od was … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC contest No. 2 – results”
Times Saturday 23659 (July 21)
Solving time – 14:08 Sorry about the briefness of today’s post, but I haven’t got much time, so just brief clue explanations I’m afraid. Across 1 M,IS,MAT,CH – CH = “Companion of Honour” 5 NIPPER … Read more “Times Saturday 23659 (July 21)”
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC contest No. 2 – your solving times please
Special information for this week: 5D in 23663: On the basis of Google searches, if you had GARBAGE BAG instead of GARBAGE CAN, you can count it as a right answer for this competition. I’m … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC contest No. 2 – your solving times please”
23664 – A Dickens of a puzzle
A fairly straightforward Friday puzzle, with a couple of unusual words thrown in to make it a bit of a challenge. Took me just under ten minutes – 9:53 Across 1 UP-STICK-S 9 ANTI-GONE – … Read more “23664 – A Dickens of a puzzle”