Mephisto 2972 - Tim Moorey
A very fast solve that gave no problems and needed no recourse to Chambers; 2D and 28D solved without even reading the clues! In the blog the definition in the clue is underlined and followed by the...
View ArticleTimes 26809 - There are that raise up strife and contention
As if the cruciverbal gods sought to wreak vengeance on those who have attempted to incite rebellion against the Order of Things, this second-day-of-the-week offering presented more difficulty than the...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic 900 by Izetti
This one took me 8 minutes with no real hold-ups. Most of the vocabulary is straightforward although there is a two-word expression at 5dn that may not be familiar to all. It's clearly an anagram...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic 901 by Orpheus
Foreign capitals, Indian cities, flora and fauna plus some less usual vocabulary would, I'd have thought, have held me up longer than 12 minutes (less 1 second - if you're interested). However...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic 26810
I solved all but 7dn, 13ac and 15ac within 30 minutes but then I was stuck. Part of my problem was that I had rashly biffed MILD at 6ac and I needed to realise my error and correct it before I was able...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 902 by Mara
A fairly straightforward offering which I managed to knock over easily enough notwithstanding being somewhat under the weather with a touch of summer flu.17dn held me up for a while as I managed to...
View ArticleTimes 26811 -
Not too much trouble with this one, 20 minutes, easiest Wednesday for a while, although 7d was new to me. I'm a bit hazy about 9a too. [Edit: z8 to the rescue]. Half the clues would be good in the...
View ArticleTimes 26812 - throw your relatives in the air!
Solving time : 10:38, but about two minutes of that was on the crafty clue at 24 down, which is just begging for you to biff in APSES but that just does not work with the rest of the clue. The other...
View ArticleQuick cryptic No 903 by Hurley
Another nice puzzle from Hurley, with a little bit of GK (general knowledge) in 12a, 13a and 22a, but all fairly clued. Hurley traditionally utilises a good mix of clue types, and this is repeated...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 904 by Noel
So I'm typing this from Switzerland with a breathtaking mountain view and rather dodgy wi-fi, so fingers crossed it makes it through. Quite a straightforward offering today I think. There are some old...
View ArticleTimes 26,813: And A Fried Egg On Top And Spam
I found this puzzle a bit of a curate's crustacean - I very much enjoyed its quirkiness during the solve, but I don't think it was the hardest of the week, taking me a midrange 8m15 on paper, and...
View ArticleTimes Saturday 26808 – August 19, 2017. What does a geisha desire?
This started easily with the two geisha clues, but got progressively harder. 14ac, 17ac and 7dn were all difficult. My choice for the clue of the day is 20ac – nice definition and nice wordplay....
View ArticleSunday Times 4760 by Jeff Pearce - O Captain! My Captain!
DNF. I struggled with this, for reasons I largely can’t see now that I come to write up the blog. I failed at the end on FOIE GRAS, and I’m reasonably clear on why I couldn’t get that one. My main...
View ArticleMephisto 2973 - placeholder
Greetings all - sorry about the lateness of this one, but I lost access to the crossword club and since I was out of town I had not printed the Mephisto in advance last week. I have it now, so should...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 905 by Flamande
A puzzle of average difficulty from Flamande today, with his usual credible surfaces. I would guess that 15D might be the only uncommon word for solvers, assuming that everyone has at least a passing...
View ArticleTimes 26815 - "He used to carry his guitar in....."
Time: 29 minutesMusic: Beethoven Violin Concerto, Karajan/Ferras/BSI started out quickly enough, but soon came to a rather sudden and complete halt. The smooth clues made it difficult to separate...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic 906 by Alconiere
A lot of clever clues here which have been a pleasure to blog. I seemed to be taking quite a time completing the grid but the two long ones and the programming language went straight in and I took a...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic 26816
There was some tricky wordplay here and several words unknown to me so I'm a little surprised that I needed only 27 minutes to solve it.Mohn2 kindly advised me that last Monday I posted my 120th Quick...
View ArticleTimes Jumbo 1279, and a farewell
Apologies for the late posting - I've been away, with very limited internet access. Here it is: my final blog on the Times Jumbo. It's been a lot of fun, but it's time for someone else to take over....
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 907 by Teazel
A tricky quickie, with many unusual synonyms playing a role in both cryptic and definition parts of the clue. I was very slow to fill in the right hand side, and discovered two errors (!) upon...
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