Times Cryptic 26486
I've no exact timing for this one as I solved it in two sessions and managed to lose track, but I'm sure it wasn't less than 40 minutes. Very enjoyable on the whole with one clue that appeared to rely...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 631 by Tracy
14 minutes for me for what seemed a good QC level. Plenty to work out (a few put-this-inside-that clues) plus a couple of good old fashioned terms but nothing too devious. Thanks, Tracy.ACROSS8....
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 632 by Hawthorn
I don't recall having the pleasure of blogging a Hawthorn puzzle before - but based on this offering, I certainly hope to have the opportunity of doing so again in the future.Very enjoyable with some...
View ArticleTimes 26487 - Liza with an S
Nothing too obscure or difficult today; if you told me it was Monday I could believe it. I made a few clues seem harder than they really were, completing the right half before the left and ending in...
View ArticleTimes 26488 - an American, a Frenchman and an ogre walk into a bar...
Solving time : 17:33. I found this one difficult, and there was one complete guess from wordplay that I was relieved to find was correct - congratulations to those of you who know the town and wrote it...
View ArticleQuick cryptic No 633 by Mara
My first time blogging a MARA puzzle I think, and it was a pleasure.For some reason, I didn’t set the timer, but it felt that there was plenty to get one’s teeth into here, and I wouldn’t be surprised...
View ArticleTLS Crossword 1135 by Broteas - July 22, 2016
My heart sank a bit when I saw I'd drawn a Broteas in the blogging rotation - my last two outings on his puzzles were lacklustre at best. So it was a very pleasant surprise to find that (with a couple...
View ArticleQuick Crossword 634 by Des
Welcome, this is my first ever blog. All comments and feedback appreciated. Slightly harder than an average QC, I felt (notwithstanding struggling with technology), came in at eleven minutes. Some...
View ArticleTImes 26,489: Familiarity Breeds Content
Another Friday, another rather easy puzzle by (the increasingly obviously apocryphal) Friday standards. I don't think I'm having the best of weeks but finished this inside 400 seconds without breaking...
View ArticleSaturday Times 26484 (6th Aug)
16:29 for this fairly challenging puzzle (although it would have been a bit quicker if I hadn't bunged in THUMB STITCH at 13D). Not sure where I got that from - it doesn't even exist. Lots of...
View ArticleTimes Jumbo 1219
Not too challenging, I thought, though it introduced me to a new word (the ancient people at 54ac) and a phrase (51ac) that I'd never encountered before with that particular meaning. As always, *...
View ArticleMephisto 2919 - Don Manley
I thought this was a step up in difficulty from the last few Don Manley Mephisto puzzles, and found the top half of the grid came together far more slowly than the bottom half.Botany appears to get a...
View ArticleSunday Times 4706 by Jeff Pearce
9:36, but with one stupid error: I put CASES at 24dn. It sort of works, if you’ve an eye to finishing in under 10 minutes, and make a connection between ‘requests’ and CASES in a vaguely legal sense,...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 635 by Izetti
I found this on the whole at the easier end of the difficulty spectrum, with 5D I imagine being the likeliest unknown for solvers (though the wordplay isn't unhelpful). Based on my previous experiences...
View ArticleTimes 26491 - Almost a lip-out on a two-footer
Solving time: 24 minutesMusic: Old Blind Dogs, The World's RoomI finished my catch-up solving yesterday, doing about seven daily puzzles and Mephisto in two days. I found some of them quite difficult,...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic 26492
My solving time for this one was off the scale. There were five answers, two of them intersecting, that were beyond my ken, and another two I needed aids to come up with, so technically a DNF for me...
View ArticleQC 636 by Grumpy
I seem to have had many hard QCs to blog of late so it was refreshing when this one seemed simple - but then 9ac and 10ac had me in knots. 12 minutes in the end but overall I'm quite happy that they...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic Number 637 by Hurley
After getting off to a flying start at the top of the grid, I ended up thinking this was quite a difficult quickie. There’s certainly some reference to general knowledge that one might not need to drag...
View ArticleTimes 26493 - Hamish, ye'll have had yer tea?
A late start this morning, owing to staying up in the wee small hours watching the farce and triumphs of the Olympic cycling. Some velo-chaps after a good liquid lunch must have sat down and decided...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic 26494 - August 18, 2016 So that's what it means.
You need to know some stuff for this one at a level almost consistent with a TLS. Past brushes with Greek, Italian/music, Arabic, classic literature, various religious texts and French anti tech...
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