Time taken: 8:36. Might be an end to the run of Tricky Thursdays.
Times 28971 – is crossword solving an inductive science?
I didn’t find this easy, and kept wandering off down blind alleys until the right paths emerged.
Quick Cryptic No 2730 by Izetti
A game of two halves, Brian.
QC 2729 by Orpheus
For me it was Chestnuts 3 NHOs 2, after Extra Time.
Times Cryptic 28970
Very enjoyable but tough with some tricky definitions and wordplay.
Times Cryptic 28969 – fast fail
Hi everybody. Most of this flew in, then a few held me up a few minutes, and ultimately I failed on 8a. I don’t have a COD but enjoyed the solve. Thanks setter.
Times Quick Cryptic 2728 by Joker
I would have to count this as harder than average, but having reviewed it all whilst writing the blog I have no idea what my problems were.
Mephisto 3332 – Be careful what you wish for!
Yeah, I’m the dummy who said last week’s Mephisto was too easy – sorry about that. This one had me hunting up and down in Chambers all week, and I still had a few to do earlier today, so I had to sit down and grind them out.
Sunday Times Cryptic No 5119 by Robert Price — Romeo gets around!
Sheer genius, with a wide variety of succinct, initially baffling clues.
Quick Cryptic no 2727 by Lupa
A very pleasant puzzle from one of our less frequent setters, and all done in 12:12, BUT with one error that I think might catch a few others too.