Solving time: 21:06 As I have come to expect from Chris Feetenby’s Mephisto puzzles, I was able to complete this puzzle without resorting to Chambers. Any unfamiliar words were able to be worked out from friendly … Read more “Mephisto 2418/Chris Feetenby – Enough Standard Clues to Stop You Lamping!”
Sunday Times 4205/Dec 31: New Years Resolution
A brilliant anag &lit at 4D to end the year and a Scots celebration to usher in the new at 16D. Not a bad puzzle overall but marred yet again by a missing S in … Read more “Sunday Times 4205/Dec 31: New Years Resolution”
23485/Sat 30th Dec
Solving time 19:28 I seem to remember being stuck for a while in the top right-hand corner, mainly through having CONTRAST for 11ac (C,O,N,START* seemed obvious, although it doesn’t hang together). ACROSS 1 BAN(IS)TER 9 … Read more “23485/Sat 30th Dec”
23,490 – Ee bah gum
Solving time: 11:48 I didn’t find this easy, partly because there were a few words or references that I didn’t know, partly because some of the clues were beautifully misleading, but I’m not sure which … Read more “23,490 – Ee bah gum”
Jumbo #674/23 Dec – Waxing lyrical
Solving time: 46:36 Since joining the blogging team, my Jumbo times have been consistently in the range of about 17 to 30 mins, so I found this significantly harder than normal. Nor was it just … Read more “Jumbo #674/23 Dec – Waxing lyrical”
23489 – guesswork
Solving time : 8:27 As usual, I entered quite a few words (including 10, 14 and 24 across and 3 and 13 down) quickly without having worked out the wordplay. (One of the good things … Read more “23489 – guesswork”
23488 – not a 12 in the park
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”