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TLS 1137 by Praxiteles - The Uxbridge Companion to Music
Competition! I have one wrong but haven't been able to pin it down. First one to spot the mistake gets a signed copy of William Byrd's The Thieving Magpie.Edit: I've now identified my mistake but...
View ArticleSaturday Times 26496 (20th August)
Solving time 16:10 for this top-class puzzle which was full of wit and invention. I'm thinking of the wordplay to clues like 14ac especially, but also 17ac, 4dn and 16dn. The praise is not all just for...
View ArticleSunday Times 4708 - bleeurgh
I normally write this blog during the week, and set the timer so that it will be posted at 1am on Sunday. For one reason or another I have not had time this week, so I find myself posting in real time....
View ArticleMephisto 2921 -Paul McKenna
Struggled a little with this one, though I think a lot of it was confidently putting in NEARNESS at 18 down. My printout still has a few question marks on it, hopefully those will be figured out as I...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 645 by Orpheus
A crossword that I found slightly easier than average, which is not unwelcome for a Monday morning. For those with no interest in gardening, 9D may come as an unpleasant sting in the tail - if you've...
View ArticleTimes 26503 - Get rid of some cherubs, say?
Solving time: 90 minutesMusic: John Coltrane, A Love Supreme, BalladsMaybe I have been spending too much time on Mephisto, maybe I was not on the wavelength, but after five minutes I knew I was in...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic 26504
Once again on a blogging day I wasn't really on form and needed 90 minutes to complete this one. 1ac and 2dn eluded me until the last minute and being such long answers this really held me up. There...
View ArticleQuick Crytpic 646 by Flamande
A quicker solve of the long anagram at 1ac would have helped considerably. As it was I took 16 minutes being misdirected by the many clever clues and some padding to others. So, whilst fun, here is the...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic Number 647 by Mara
A nice confidence-boosting crossword today, helped along by several anagrams and a string of double definitions. If you’re a complete beginner and have one or two unsolved clues, I strongly advise you...
View ArticleTimes 26505 - After Elizabeth, indeed.
I don't know yet whether I woke up thicker than yesterday, or this was hard. I certainly struggled to get going, littering bits of the grid with a few of the easier solutions, instead of the usual more...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic 26506 - September 1, 2016 At last, a cure for insomnia!
I struggled through drooping eyelids through this, untroubled by any inkling of excitement for 25 minutes*. So many of the clues were of the “stick this into/onto that” variety, so many indeed that I...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic No 648 by Corelli
I enjoyed this - nice devices and lots of good surface readings made it a smooth and satisfying solve. A minute over my target ten with 19d unparsed. Had I not been blogging, I would have been content...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 649 by Hurley
Morning all. A pleasant offering from Hurley today. Nothing too obscure in the grid, although BROUHAHA is a word you don't write down every day.There's the usual number of "crossword standards" in...
View ArticleTLS Crossword 1138 by Myrtilus - August 12, 2016
I've had some difficulty with Myrtilus's excellent creations but solved this one smoothly enough on the Hudson Line train within the hour between Yonkers and New Hamburg. Parsing was quite another...
View ArticleEmergency Blogger Requested!
Sorry everyone - I am trapped in Wales with minimal internet access and literally only just remembered what day it is. Would anyone be able to rustle up a quick blog for today's at incredibly short...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic 26507
This is an emergency blog and is still in preparationAs usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in...
View ArticleJumbo 1222 August 20, 2016 - YMMV
Morning all,I wrote this up a couple of weeks ago and I apologise for not remembering too much about it. The clock says I did it in just over 47 minutes, a bit more than three Jasons or three Magoos,...
View ArticleSaturday Times 26502 (27th Aug) - placeholder
Sorry, I won't have time to post until later this afternoon or evening.
View ArticleJUMBO 1221
I had intended to post this blog with a future date before I went on holiday so that it would pop up last weekend but I ran out of time so I’m afraid it’s late again. I’d say this was the best Jumbo...
View ArticleSunday Times 4709 by Jeff Pearce
An enjoyable puzzle at the gentler end of the spectrum this week - and none the worse for that! Some very nice wit and whimsy on display at 16d and 17d, and several neat and elegant clues with 26ac,...
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