Solving time: 58′ Meticulously fair wordplay but some pretty obscure references that had me scurrying for reference books (e.g. LABAN) and I’m not sure about the Clare reference in 13D nor the wordplay for 22A. … Read more “Times 23577/Laban”
23,576 – heatstroke
Solving time : 42mins, but not sure about a coupleI found this pretty straightforward – I did it on the train, so hoped I wouldn’t need to go to the dictionary. I am not sure … Read more “23,576 – heatstroke”
ST 4219 (Sun 8 Apr) – The Confetti Incident
Solving time: 16-ish minutes, one missing (21dn) The less said about my effort on this, the better. 21dn was understandable, but I don’t know what I was playing at on 5ac, 10ac and 7dn. * … Read more “ST 4219 (Sun 8 Apr) – The Confetti Incident”
Mephisto 2432/Tim Moorey – just glad to get it finished!
This was the toughest Mephisto that I have had to blog – I’m not sure why. Sometimes I just seem to struggle for no apparent reason, and this was the case here. 70-80% of the … Read more “Mephisto 2432/Tim Moorey – just glad to get it finished!”
Times Saturday 23569
Solving time 9:44 It’s not often I beat 10 minutes for a Saturday puzzle (or indeed any other day except Sundays), but this was the easiest Times I’ve seen for a long time. I’d expect … Read more “Times Saturday 23569”
Jumbo 690 – African elephant?
Solving time 19:05 Just under the 20 minute that seems to be my Jumbo par at the moment. Some clever stuff in here – long hidden words, and repeated words used for both anagram fodder … Read more “Jumbo 690 – African elephant?”
Times 23,574/Not my best effort…
I really struggled with this puzzle. Some of the words included seem a little forced, although legitimate (UH-HUH and TERMLY for example) and there’s at least one clue I didn’t understand. ACROSS 1 CA(T(h)E)RS 4 … Read more “Times 23,574/Not my best effort…”
23,573 – Plenty of standards on view
Solving time: 5m45s – Got held up badly at the end by 6d/7d/13ac which was feeble – guessing correctly at 13ac but then worrying enough about the other two that I crossed it out before … Read more “23,573 – Plenty of standards on view”
23,572 – Make it snappy, Peter
Solving time 7:55 Not that snappy, but a good puzzle – no obscure words except maybe CUTIS, and wordplay subtlety rather than difficult “general knowledge”. A quick reminder that today sees the second qualifier for … Read more “23,572 – Make it snappy, Peter”
Times 23571/cryptic interruptus
Solving time: 40’ but missing two NW answers Rather difficult – and I discovered I don’t do all that well under pressure – I have to get out of the house about 20 minutes ago… … Read more “Times 23571/cryptic interruptus”