Times Quick Cryptic No 868 by Orpheus
A gentle enough offering from Orpheus today, if my time of seven-and-a-half minutes is anything to go by. One wrong, of course, but I'd say the "Unlucky!" sign was quite accurate on this occasion (as...
View ArticleTLS Crossword 1180 by Talos - June 16, 2017 A host of golden brickies
This one definitely had its points of interest, not to say contention. Initially hiding his light under a bit of Printer’s Devilry, Talos has provided us with some devious and mind-stretching cluing....
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 869 by Hawthorn
Morning all. No surprises from Hawthorn today, all the answers are well-known words or expressions, and I would imagine everyone's heard of the movie.That doesn't guarantee that it's easy of course,...
View ArticleTimes 26,771: At The Court Of The King Of Skyros
An easy puzzle by Friday standards, I thought: I was drunk enough from prior festivities to have typed BETTLE instead of BEETLE in the Concise, but even taking a little extra care over the main event...
View ArticleTimes Saturday 26766 - July 1, 2017. Nothing tedious today.
After struggling last week, this week went very smoothly until the last answer! I started well, finishing the bottom half (all bar one) and then the NW followed by the NE, but then found myself still...
View ArticleSunday Times 4753 by David McLean
I found this one decidedly tricky, and had to chip away at it over several sessions. When writing up the blog, I was trying to figure out why it had seemed so hard - there were no real obscurities...
View ArticleJumbo 1272 June 24, 2017
I seem to have fallen into a pattern with the Jumbos, where the easier ones take just over half an hour, and the harder ones take about an hour. This one took 32:54, so you do the maths.Here's how I...
View ArticleMephisto 2966 - Tim Moorey
Straightforward puzzle with no particular points of interestAcross1 Old silver coin seen in special case time and again (6)SCEATT; (case)*-T-T7 My eccentricity shows in old-fashioned thong (4)LORE;...
View ArticleTimes 26773 - Double Cross
I was going along swimmingly (not Mark Spitz, exactly - more like a middle-aged bloke with a dodgy crawl stroke) on this one until I hit a wall at the 9d/18a crossing. Now, if I was American or could...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic 870 by Teazel
I neeeded 11 minutes to complete the grid parsing as I went, so missed my target by 1 minute. There are a few words here that may only be easy if the solver has met them before, so I've no helpful view...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic 871 by Corelli
Another Corelli, another 15 minutes of entertainment - finished, finally, at 20ac with a far from obvious hidden clue.I had a double take on the parsing at 6dn and a triple take on whatever was going...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic 26774
55 minutes for this one. I seem destined to report a slow solving time on blogging days. I don't suffer from 'blogger's nerves' any more but in the course of duty one likes to consider every possible...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 872 by Flamande
One at the easier end of the spectrum today, I thought, although solvers who don't have a nodding acquaintance with Middle Eastern currencies may have had to trust to definition and cross checkers at...
View ArticleTimes 26775 - who can do this one? 28 across.
A general knowledge flavour to this one, I thought, with more unusual or obscure words than in recent Wednesday challenges, but all gettable with the wordplay. We uncover a cactus, an antelope, a...
View ArticleTimes 26776 - is that Mr. Wu cleaning windows?
Solving time : 9:59 on the club timer, as close as you can get to under 10 minutes! I'm the third time on there and the fastest, so maybe I'm more on the wavelength with the setter, or I just knew a...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic No 873 by Joker
Twelve minutes to complete, and then a couple of minutes scratching my head over the parsing of 14A. I’m not entirely satisfied even now, so maybe a chance for someone to ILLUMINE the setter’s...
View ArticleTLS Crossword 1181 by Praxiteles - June 23, 2017 - 1181 and All That
A customarily splendid offering from Praxiteles, filled with some really quite ingenious &lit-type clues. The main theme is Sellar & Yeatman's 1066 And All That, and if you have fond memories...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 874 by Pedro
Gor blimey. Having consistently finished the quickie in under 5 min all week, it comes to my blog day and I make a right meal of it. 14 minutes, minus the 45s it takes to set up Mohn2's Javascript...
View ArticleTimes 26,777: Per me si va nella cruciverba dolente
Less hard than yesterday's puzzle by the looks of things (has everyone else become as obsessed with Starstruck's Crossword SNITCH app as I have?) but this definitely contained a few speed bumps to...
View ArticleTimes Saturday 26772 - July 8, 2017. One for our North American friends.
I think this will be another easy or medium puzzle by Saturday standards, at least for the expert solvers. A nice mix – some history, some geography, some languages.The SE corner took me longest – both...
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