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”
23714 – easy start to the week
Solving time: 27:40 An enjoyable puzzle, mostly quite easy, with a few educated guesses where I wasn’t entirely sure. I sussed out all the wordplay before I wrote in the answers.I didn’t know Esk, choriamb … Read more “23714 – easy start to the week”
Mephisto 2455, Mike Laws – a puzzle of two halves
Solving time: 42 minutes Half of this time was spent strolling through what seemed a very easy puzzle, with at least a dozen clues that wouldn’t be out of place in a daily puzzle. The … Read more “Mephisto 2455, Mike Laws – a puzzle of two halves”
ST 4242 (Sun 16 Sep) – Sticky tape
Solving time: Gave up on 20ac after 20 mins, with 17dn also wrong. My main quibble today is with the non-dictionary phrases at 1ac and 18dn. On the other hand, a couple of the (many) … Read more “ST 4242 (Sun 16 Sep) – Sticky tape”
Times Saturday 23707 (15 Sept)
Solving time 16:36, which felt slow for a pretty straightforward puzzle. I can’t remember what slowed me up now – probably just my brain not firing on all cylinders on a Saturday morning. Across 4 … Read more “Times Saturday 23707 (15 Sept)”
Jumbo 717 (8th Sept)
Solving time 28:04 I don’t often finish the Jumbo in under half an hour, so this was a quickish time for me. I was probably helped by the 22 multi-word answers. I don’t know if … Read more “Jumbo 717 (8th Sept)”