Solving time : 16m28s – I have to say that I think this is my out-and-out favourite Times crossword puzzle of at least the last year, an absolutely awesome collection of brilliantly deceptive and witty … Read more “23,567 – Kudos for this kicking cracker”
23,566 – as hard as it looks post-solve?
Solving time 6:58 Despite a fairly long day travelling to the office and back, and not solving until after supper, including a couple of glasses of red, I go through this in fairly quick time. … Read more “23,566 – as hard as it looks post-solve?”
Times 23565/gubbins
Solving time: About an hour but in two sessions The top-half was a lot easier than the bottom. A couple of new words that had me reaching for a dictionary (which had to wait until … Read more “Times 23565/gubbins”
23,564 – Accidentally Like A Martyr
Solving time : About 50 mins I thought this was fair crossword overall; I like puzzles that you can complete without any (or with very little) specialist knowledge. There were a few words that I … Read more “23,564 – Accidentally Like A Martyr”
ST 4217 – Copper-bottomed
Solving time: 4:58 No significant gripes this week, a good and accurate puzzle of about average difficulty for the Sunday Times. Favourite clue was probably 11ac, which reminded me that there are loads of slang … Read more “ST 4217 – Copper-bottomed”
Times Saturday 23557
Solving time: 13:15 I got the two 15-letter downs quite quickly and was hoping for a much faster time, but just got stuck on a few at the end. 4d was the last I put … Read more “Times Saturday 23557”
Fast Friday
My fastest solving time ever – 4 mins 58 secs. This was a very easy Friday effort, as evidenced by the time it took me to solve it. There were no difficult words, or oblique … Read more “Fast Friday”
23561 – optimist misses out
Solving time : 16:05 I made heavy weather of this, though I am not entirely sure why. I knew most of the unfamiliar answers, the exception being BRAT-PACKER, which is not really unguessable. I have … Read more “23561 – optimist misses out”
23,560 Party time again
Solving time 7:22 Trickiest part of this for me was the SW corner. With a fair number of moderately exotic words, this felt like quite a good solving time. Possibly a shame that this puzzle … Read more “23,560 Party time again”
Times 23559/Tati in a tutu?
Solving time: 1hr 3mins Tough Tuesday. My brain has slowed down considerably this week. My Grandmother died – it’s OK she was 104 and totally with it until the last moment (her last words to … Read more “Times 23559/Tati in a tutu?”