Times 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...
View ArticleTimes 26817
Well it's hotter than Lord Flashman's pants here today, so we're hunkering down indoors with shutters shut as if we've gone off to the seaside to join all the French in bouchons. Not a difficult...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic No 26818, 31st August 2017. Up across and down.
On Thursday blogging days I do the puzzle in the Times edition version, because that turns up a few minutes after midnight, and the club version some hour or so later, so don’t expect to find my time...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic No 908 by Tracy
I found this very good. Started off slowly with a first sweep of the acrosses, but it all opened up nicely and I would have finished just within my target 10 minutes had I not been left to 11ac for a...
View ArticleClub Monthly 20203 August 2017. Out with the old..
Solving Time: For some reason I found this more straightforward than usual, about 40 mins, in one session. I have no idea whether I was in good form or others have found the same thing, as the...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic 909 by Mara
I'm covering the QC blog today following the changes at the Club which have sadly lost us the services and witty contributions of Galspray who will be missed around here. Let's hope his absence is only...
View ArticleTimes 26,819: Trains, Planes & Automobiles
Hello from sunny Scotland - I actually have to get up and pack very early tomorrow to catch a train from Kilmarnock to Edinburgh, so you'll get the shortest possible blog and like it. This charming...
View ArticleTimes Saturday 26814 – 26 August, 2017. I’ve got a little list!
Perhaps my enjoyment was jaundiced by jet-lag after 23 hours of travel, but there were several clues I found unsatisfying here: 14ac, 4dn, 7dn and perhaps 16dn, not to mention 15ac which is still a...
View ArticleJumbo 1280
I found this one of about average difficulty but of above-average enjoyment, with some quirky clues and amusing wordplay, not least 1A. Apologies for the slight lateness but I'm house-sitting for...
View ArticleSunday Times 4761 by Dean Mayer
This one had a bit of an unusual feel to it for me, which I think was probably down to the relatively high number of cryptic definition type clues with no associated wordplay - four of them by my...
View ArticleMephisto 2974 - by Don Manley - rising to the occassion.
Another in a growing sequence of relatively easy puzzles requiring very few references to Chambers. I wonder what say Private Eye might have made of 25D – surely an opportunity to have a little fun?In...
View ArticleTimes 26821 - Quirkus Maximus
I rather think they got last Friday and today's muddled up, or maybe the editor just wanted to give the V an inkling of what it is like to strut one's stuff when the material has rather too much give...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic 910 by Joker
I needed 11 minutes for this one, with most time lost unaccountably on 4ac. It seems to be a mostly straightforward puzzle but past experience tells me that one can't always be sure, so I shall watch...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic 911 by Hurley
I couldn't quite believe how quickly these answers went in. With only 3 left the clock showed 5 minutes. I may have got overexcited as I ended up with 8 minutes. The hold up was in the SW - 12dn had to...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic 26822
I found this one quite tricky in parts and needed 54 minutes in all to complete the grid.As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds,...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 912 by Orpheus
I found this one at the trickier end of the spectrum, though these things are very subjective. Nothing overly dastardly from our setter, but I can imagine some of the wordplay causing head scratching...
View ArticleTimes 26823 - don't be a t*t, do the wordplay.
I was feeling rather jaded when I sat down to tackle this one, so made heavy weather of it, taking around 45 minutes and one still not fully understood (11a). But I suspect it's not all that difficult...
View ArticleTimes 26824 - in which I make a mess of spelling an Australian word!
Solving time : 16:34 but with one typo - I seem to be making a lot more typos with the recent changes to the crossword club, in the leaderboard I am 67th, with a whopping 15 in the incorrect column. Oh...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic No 913 by Izetti
I found this to be a nice easy romp by Izetti, and completed it well inside 10 minutes, being helped by spotting the two long down clues almost immediately. There were no difficult or unusual words to...
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