Solving time: 3:49 I have no idea who’s on the Sunday Times setting panel, but whoever set this one – more please! A vast improvement over recent weeks with some really excellent clues, 21ac being … Read more “ST 4213 (25 Feb) – Beetle mania”
Times Saturday 23533
Solving time 21:46 Are Saturday’s puzzles getting harder or am I getting worse? I haven’t gone under 20 minutes for weeks, whereas my weekday averages are around 13 mins, with the occasional sub-10 minute time. … Read more “Times Saturday 23533”
23,538 – Good stuff – worth two looks
Solving time : 7m34s – A dipangram (2 of each letter in the grid at least), and a demonstration that this can lead to interesting words, as well as just odd ones. Also, and more … Read more “23,538 – Good stuff – worth two looks”
23537 – CORNERED
Solving time : 12:16 – with one wrong A really good crossword with interesting words and approaches to cluing. And I was feeling quite pleased when I had only three to go after less than … Read more “23537 – CORNERED”
23,536 – reprises
Solving time 8:20 I suspect I’m relatively slow on this one – 11D took quite a while to work out, and the anag at 27 kept me fooled for a while. Across 9 PERM,AFRO,St. “Curly … Read more “23,536 – reprises”
Times 23535/must watch more TV
Solving time: 47’ No need to time myself to the hundredth of a second today: I was held up by 6D, 10A and 23D for about 15 minutes. The last two being subtraction clues (can … Read more “Times 23535/must watch more TV”
23,534 – very easy
Solving time 4:25 Good start with 1A,2,3,4 straight away though 4 showed up one of my occasional spelling idiocies – “theif”. Quite a few wordplay details worked out in full afterwards, but there was enough … Read more “23,534 – very easy”
ST 4212 – Ewe what?
Solving time: 8:52, one mistake (6 dn). I didn’t enjoy this much for several reasons, from obscure/invented phrases (11ac, 21ac) to incorrect wordplay (9ac, 18dn) to a frustrating finale when I was left with a … Read more “ST 4212 – Ewe what?”
Times Saturday 23527 – Happy Birthday Roy Dean!
Solving time 24:22 I found this quite tricky, with a few obscure words to puzzle over. I noticed the phrase CHAMPION SOLVER in 21 and 24 across, and thought “Bloody need to be to finish … Read more “Times Saturday 23527 – Happy Birthday Roy Dean!”
Times 23,532 – Quite easy
I found this quite easy – two well-known London references, both long words, solved first time round, no devilishly tricky wordplay, initial slow progress with the acrosses being compensated for with fast solving of the … Read more “Times 23,532 – Quite easy”