Solving time: 32’ Solved at a rather brisk pace – for me. I actually knew all the words in this puzzle or at least believed they meant what the clue implied. A nice thing about … Read more “Times 23601/not a dictionary word to be found”
23600 – lots of food and drink today
Solving time: 1h36 Pretty tough going. Luckily the two long ones were places I have heard of – might cause problems for some. I didn’t get the wordplay for ABSCOND until I did this write-up.It … Read more “23600 – lots of food and drink today”
Mephisto 2436 / Chris Feetenby
Solving time: about 45 mins, with C used for 2D and a daft blind spot on 21A. One or two hazy areas below where others may be able to improve on my understanding. Across 9 … Read more “Mephisto 2436 / Chris Feetenby”
ST 4223 (Sun 6 May) – Lies, damned lies and politics
Solving time: 3:49 A quick solve despite inexplicable slowless on 1ac. Some of the cryptic ‘grammar’ was loose in this puzzle (e.g. 1ac, 23dn, 28dn). Quotation of the day: “Since a politician never believes what … Read more “ST 4223 (Sun 6 May) – Lies, damned lies and politics”
Times Saturday 23593
Solving time 21:14 I really should make notes while solving, as now I come to write the blog entry I can’t remember what clues caused me problems or why I took so long to solve … Read more “Times Saturday 23593”
Surfeit of subtraction
I enjoyed this puzzle, but have to admit that some of the joy of completing it was dissipated in the over-reliance on “subtraction” clues, where the solver has to remove parts of words to get … Read more “Surfeit of subtraction”
Jumbo 695 – anyone’s quickest ever?
Solving time 13:13 Only a couple of minutes outside my 23×23 Jumbo record, and there were answers I felt I might have got quicker. So I wonder whether anyone set a PB with this… Across … Read more “Jumbo 695 – anyone’s quickest ever?”
23597 – Excelsior
Solving time: 18:58 Maths, Physics, Latin, French, English, History. Although I have six Highers, I didn’t spot that “exam” meant “HIGHER” in 1A until I thought to subtract JACK from HIGHJACKER. There was self-kicking. The … Read more “23597 – Excelsior”
23,596 – three faults?
Solving time 8:06 Some good stuff here but rather spoiled for me by three clues that seem not quite precise enough – unless Collins or COD (not available to me today) include stuff I don’t … Read more “23,596 – three faults?”
Times 23595/needed a portolan to find the oche
Solving time: 42’ Took some scouring of clues and an empty grid until something fell (first was the anagram at 8D) – from then on made fairly steady progress with the bottom-half significantly easier than … Read more “Times 23595/needed a portolan to find the oche”