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Times 26,555: Hey You, You In The Jesus Sandals
I cannot tell you exactly how long I took over this puzzle as I did it while on the move around London, in a minorly Kafkaesque ordeal of trying to get a replacement for my no-longer-functioning Oyster...
View ArticleGCHQ Puzzle Book
I got an email from a publicity assistant at Penguin Books about 10 days ago, asking me if I'd like a review copy of "a very exciting cryptic puzzle book due to be published next week". Obviously I...
View ArticleTIMES JUMBO 1231
Nothing to scare the horses here and some fun along the way. First in was BEER MUG and last was TREE RING. Away we go then.Across 1BEER MUG - ER + MUG (features as in face) after (on in an across...
View ArticleSaturday Times 26550 (22nd Oct)
Solving time 14:25. I vaguely remember struggling over some of the parsing while solving but I remembered it all OK this morning. I've sort of run out of time now though so here it is without further...
View ArticleSunday Times 4717 by David McLean
Thoroughly enjoyed this offering from Harry, which I tackled in a couple of sittings of about an hour each - which by my standards is not too bad for this particular setter, who I generally find the...
View ArticleMephisto 2930 - Paul McKenna-Donn Reynolds and the Nicaraguan Resistance
A mixture of the easy and the rather more opaque. I seemed to spend more time than usual checking entries in Chambers to support meanings in clues (eg 11A). Also, I'd never heard of the basketball...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 690 by Flamande
Thanks again to jackkt for agreeing to swap blogging slots with me. Just like last time I find myself crossing swords with Flamande, who has embarked on something of a world tour in this one, with...
View ArticleTimes 26557 - The goodbye-to-BST biff-fest
Solving time: 20 minutesMusic: Rachmaninov, Symphony #1, Previn/LSOI completed this in 20 minutes on paper, mostly biffing the answers as the literals were quite obvious in this one. But in order to...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic Number 26558
This continued my run of troubled solves that took me well beyond my 30 minute target. On reflection I can't really see what gave me so many problems, although if I'd known the name of the Cornish town...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic 691 by Joker
Time taken 11 minutes.I'm not sure what's happened about today's QC blog so I am posting this one to cover for Chrisw. Sorry about the brevity, but if anyone has questions I shall be pleased to...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 692 by Orpheus
A pleasant puzzle from Orpheus which I personally found to be at the easier end of the spectrum, although these things are always somewhat subjective.For those very new to this game, this puzzle...
View ArticleTimes 26559 - Championships, heat 1, puzzle 1. A gentle beginning.
This one was a straightforward stroll up the nursery slopes, I thought; without rushing I had it all done and dusted in 19 minutes, ending with the NE corner. No doubt the gradients will get steeper in...
View ArticleQuick cryptic No. 683 by Hurley
A very quick blog today necessitated by a very early start in the morning to head off and play golf. Luckily, Hurley obliged by producing a relatively easy challenge which didn’t hold me up too long –...
View ArticleTimes 26560 - whirled of sport
Solving time : 10:50. Greetings from New York City, where I just got back from a rather good show (Kinky Boots). It's the 9th innings in the final game of the World Series, and Australia is off to a...
View ArticleWish you were here: Times Quick Cryptic 694 by Felix Friday 4th November 2016
A swift solve for a Friday, about six minutes, accompanied by Us and Them and Hound Dog simultaneously running through my brain, joined by Another Brick in the Wall and See You Later Alligator; and of...
View ArticleTLS Crossword 1146 by Myrtilus - October 14, 2016 - The Great British Bard-Off
It is Myrtilus, not Talos that fell to me this time, but I think they have a similar, praiseworthy knack for producing crosswords that are of almost exactly the same level of cryptic complexity as the...
View ArticleTimes 26,561: Ecclesiastes Cake
An efficient and professional puzzle that I was far too much on the wavelength for, resulting in a time of barely 6 and a half minutes (under pen and paper conditions) that left me feeling a bit...
View ArticleSaturday Times 26556 (placeholder)
Sorry, something's come up and I won't be able to post a blog this weekend. Not on time anyway, may get to it Sunday evening at the earliest. If someone can help out I'll be very grateful.
View ArticleSaturday Times 26556 (October 29, 2016)
This one occupied me for 62 minutes. It was a steady solve with only one unknown word, yet another plant to add to my vocabulary, but it was gettable from wordplay. As I'm standing in at short notice...
View ArticleMephisto 2931 - Don Manley
I started this last Saturday night and remember either having a good brain night, or just flying through this one and the Azed in one sitting. A look back and there's a mixture of familiar and...
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