With consistently good times for the mid-week puzzles that slowed most people down, this was an easy win for Mark Goodliffe who wins the inaugural star. Yours truly did consistently badly with these three, and … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC contest No. 1 – results”
ST 4233 (Sun 15 Jul) – A cruciverbal revolt
Solving time: 5:34 I don’t know why mistakes in Sunday Times crosswords contain to surprise me, but they do. See 17ac for this week’s gaffe. * = anagram, “X” = sounds like ‘X’. Across 11 … Read more “ST 4233 (Sun 15 Jul) – A cruciverbal revolt”
Times Saturday 23653 (July 14)
Solving time 10:46 Not too much difficulty here for a Saturday puzzle, and I would have gone under 10 minutes but for spending a while trying to decide what the first letter of 21ac should … Read more “Times Saturday 23653 (July 14)”
Times Jumbo 707 (Sat 7 July) – Moth balls
Solving time: 32 mins, one mistake (42ac) Definitely not at my sharpest when solving this, having suffered a spectacular bout of food poisoning the night before. The top left corner in particular took me ages, … Read more “Times Jumbo 707 (Sat 7 July) – Moth balls”
Unofficial Times cryptic RTC contest No. 1 – your solving times please
In July 2007, someone commenting on Tony Sever’s Times 2 RTC blog suggested having a competition like RTC for the Times cryptic. The same request has been made more than once on the Times club … Read more “Unofficial Times cryptic RTC contest No. 1 – your solving times please”
Times 23658 – quick one today
The title doesn’t refer to my solving time, which was average at best – 12 minutes, but to this blog entry. I have a busy day ahead of me, so this will be short and … Read more “Times 23658 – quick one today”
Times 23657 – Fairly disastrous
Solving time: 23:02 My first thought for 1A was that “quite” means FAIRLY, and there is AIR which means “dry”, and so I entered it, resolving to work out how “quarry” could possibly mean FLY … Read more “Times 23657 – Fairly disastrous”
23656 – very hard but very good
Solving time: 22:51 I found this one pretty tough – there’s almost nothing trivial, and lots of novel clues to keep even old hands sucking their pencils. Based on what looks like a setter’s “signature” … Read more “23656 – very hard but very good”
Times 23655/in a flat spin
Solving time: 42’ Solved in under half-an-hour except for the top-left: 1A and 1D took another 15’ to decipher. The usual couple of wordplays that I’m still mull[et]ing over. Across 1 FLATS,PIN – Only after … Read more “Times 23655/in a flat spin”
23,654 – Cant beat last week’s time
Solving time: 31 mins Another fast Monday time for me!I did most of the top half first, getting the first 5 across clues at first look! Last to go in was 20A.I only had one … Read more “23,654 – Cant beat last week’s time”