Solving time 13:33 I found this an entertaining but quite difficult puzzle, with some of that “tough puzzle makes easy clues harder than they should be” effect that one or two others have mentioned. I … Read more “23488 – not a 12 in the park”
23,487 – A very English crossword
Solving time: 5:35 This might have been trickier for overseas solvers, with references including Lewis Carroll [sort of!], Gilbert & Sullivan and (naturally) cricket. Beginners’ tips of the day – ‘garland’ = LEI, ‘stolen’ = … Read more “23,487 – A very English crossword”
23,486 – and a Happy New Year to all
Solving time : 1h 12mNot a bad start to the year. I spent an hour on this and had completed most but the SW corner. Came back after a short break and it all fell … Read more “23,486 – and a Happy New Year to all”
Mephisto 2417 – Christmas Special
Solving time: about 2 hours in two sessions Another puzzle that suffered the Christmas 2006 web-site curse – the preamble was missing until added a day or two later. 18A was INGREDIENTS, and the six … Read more “Mephisto 2417 – Christmas Special”
Sunday Times Jumbo 4204/still Christmas
A Christmas Eve Sunday Jumbo – which was a bit hard to find online. Xmas eve puzzle with a Xmas-lite theme (pantos, reindeer, santa…) which even I didn’t find very hard. A couple of new … Read more “Sunday Times Jumbo 4204/still Christmas”
Times Saturday 23480
Solving time 11:30 A welcome relief after the previous Saturday’s really hard puzzle! No obscure vocabulary, and some very well-constructed clues with excellent surface reading. I expect the faster solvers here will have halved my … Read more “Times Saturday 23480”
23,484 – Curate’s egg
Solving time: 8mins approx Some excellent clues here, others I found quite strained, and two (13ac/5dn) that I still don’t fully comprehend. Across 4 E(D/M/ON)TON 9 S/IGNORA(N.T.) 11 KID/NAP/S 12 HORUS, ref HOU/R/S 13 C/LEVEL/AND … Read more “23,484 – Curate’s egg”
23,483 – Mix-ups cut no ice
Solving time : 8:42 Each letter of the alphabet appears at least twice in the grid, giving some interesting words to clue – I enjoyed the howitzer and the sasquatch. Also the occasional well-worn word, … Read more “23,483 – Mix-ups cut no ice”
23,482 – Seeing double??
Solving time 9:11 In total, 14 letters of the alphabet appeared at least twice in the same answer somewhere in this puzzle. I suspect a doubled-letter pangram is impossible, but occasionally setters seem to try … Read more “23,482 – Seeing double??”
23,481 – 9ac gave me the 9ac
Solving time: Gave up after 25 mins or so with one missing (9ac) and two wrong (10ac, 24ac). Had a good start on this one but got bogged down and spent the last 15 minutes … Read more “23,481 – 9ac gave me the 9ac”