Club Monthly 20153 June 2013 - Absentee Blogger Edition
Solving Time: Just under 40 minutes, in two sessions. So, rather easy, in fact this may be the easiest club monthly I've blogged. The first five acrosses went straight in, unheard of for me.....
View ArticleTimes 25513 - A long long way to run
Goodness me, I think I've earned my money on this one! Oh no, I just remembered I'm doing this for fun, not for cash. I must be mad. For what it's worth, it took me 88 minutes and another 30 or so to...
View ArticleTimes Jumbo 1040 (15 Jun 2013)
Solving time: About an hour with one mistake.I found this one on the easy side compared to some of the others I've blogged. The two full length across clues both went straight in without any need for...
View ArticleSaturday Times 25508 (22nd June)
Solving time 22:04, a bit slow for me but I solved it on the train after a long day at work and I was having trouble staying awake! Lots of good clues here; I particularly liked 9dn and 24dn, also the...
View ArticleCrossword research
Kathryn Friedlander has contacted me today and asked me to publish this, following some newspaper articles which appeared during the week. However, I must admit I never saw any of them myself. Here's a...
View ArticleSunday Times 4543 (23 Jun 2013) by Tim Moorey
Solving time: Just inside an hour all told, over three sessions. I started it while relaxing in a hot bath but had to stop after about 25 minutes as the paper was getting damp and my pen wouldn't write...
View ArticleMephisto 2756 by Paul McKenna - What Happened To Little Weed?
Pleasant but largely straighforward puzzle. Not sure how well known the Flowerpot Men are!Across1WILTJA - WILT-J-A; Jack=J; bush hut; 5ASPICK - AS-PICK; old snake; 10ANKH - loop=HANK then move...
View ArticleTIMES 25515 – Gardeners’ Answer Time
I was going along swimmingly until I was bitten, as so often before, by my bete noire, that little blighter at 19. Even those who get him right will be struggling with 20, I reckon, as it could so...
View ArticleTimes 25,516
11:57. Pleasant everyday not-too-difficult puzzle, without anything I can see that might prove really obscure. Unless you know differently...Across1GALLOPING - OPus in GALLING.9LYRICAL -...
View ArticleTimes 25517: ‘I never a-touch dem’
Solving time: 32:37Got through three-quarters of this quite quickly, then ground to a complete halt in the NE corner (aka the Beta Quadrant). Had to guess a few answers then (FIREWOOD in particular)...
View ArticleTimes 25518 - some bloggers do 'ave em
Solving time : 23:07, which was good enough for fourth (out of four solvers), though I'm a little distracted at the moment with people over and my mouse freezing up. There's some very tricky stuff in...
View ArticleTimes 25519
Solving time: 54:10I started quickly enough, but stalled completely after about 30 minutes with 6 or 7 left, and they went in very slowly. I came very close to abandoning it for the night and coming...
View ArticleThe BASCAAs - (Best Adverse Solving Condition Acronyms and Abbreviations)
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the inaugural, and probably last, BASCAAs.A few words on the genesis of the BASCAAs. It has been pointed out that some of us are a little obsessive...
View ArticleSaturday Times 25514 (29th June)
Sorry I'm late with this - I'm actually working today so I had to squeeze it in when I could around supporting some application developers, who needed a lot more support than I'd anticipated! Anyway,...
View ArticleMephisto 2757 - Don Manley
This was one of the most difficult Mephistos for some time for me, however there's a couple of references that I did know know at all and needed to consult the interwebs to find the last few. Two of...
View ArticleSunday Times 4544 (30 Jun 2013) by Jeff Pearce
My time was about 40 minutes, I think, but I solved it offline while sat in the garden enjoying a 17 without a clock to hand.I thought it a fairly average, but enjoyable solve. I enjoyed 20d, although...
View ArticleJumbo 1041 - Saturday June 22nd
I found this a very good offering. Took a lot longer than usual, but not from obscure stuff, but clever misleading clue structures. That which I didnt know didn't negatively impact the solve, so the...
View ArticleTimes 25521 - That doctor I never liked....what was his name again?
Solving time: 21 minutesMusic: Brahms, Symphony #1, Furtwangler/VPO.Watching the golf on TV, I nearly forgot to do the puzzle. Fortunately, it proved to be a no-brainer, at least for experienced...
View ArticleTimes 25,522 - Play It Again, Sam
Solving time 20 minutesA pangram containing quite a mixture of characters and objects from a Cuban cocktail to a guided missile. On the easyish side of the spectrum I suspect but great fun to solve,...
View ArticleTimes 13428 - You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting
Solving Time: I wouldn't call it solving, actuallyWell, another blast from the past, literally. I volunteered to help mcctext out again, as Jerry is out trudging his way through the Pyrenean snows* and...
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