Times 26973 - very comma very tasty
Seems a bit of a foodie theme today, with one obscure word at 23a which did ring a faint bell once the wordplay suggested it. The top half went in smoothly but the lower was a little more intractable,...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic No 26974, Thursday, 1 March 2018 He shoots, he scores again and...
I think I might preface my remarks by suggesting a game of guess who. In at least four rows of the grid there are, in the two answers combined, what appear to be hints to particular individuals. Try...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic No 1038 by Hurley
A tougher one today from Hurley, I found, pushing me over the 14 min mark. Some interesting general knowledge, enough imaginative cluing, and you can't ask for much more than that. I learnt the name of...
View ArticleMonthly Club Special No 20209: Return of the Pregnancy Frogs
For some reason there was 50 minutes plus on the clock already when I started this one, which was good really as it meant any sense of time pressure was off and I could just concentrate on enjoying...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic No 1039 by Tracy
After yesterday's trickier than usual crossword, we have another testing one, courtesy of Tracy. Testing? Well this made me, at least, think more. I liked that it included a smattering of more...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Times 26,975: Mr Clues Goes To Town
Well, horryd certainly called it yesterday: after a week of fairly gentle 15x15s we were due for a stinker. Doing this first thing in the morning on a snow day, with the kids blasting out YouTube...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic No 26970 - Saturday, 24 February 2018. Up the river without a...
In the middle of another hectic weekend this took me 35-40 minutes, so fairly easy, I think. Interestingly, as I now start the blog, I can identify all but two of the definitions at a glance and...
View ArticleSunday Times 4787 by Jeff Pearce
A gentle puzzle this week which I suspect may have left some of the old hands wondering what to do with the rest of their Sunday morning, but which equally will have been encouraging for newer...
View ArticleMephisto 3000 by Moorey, McKenna and Manley
The puzzle has a special introduction:The three Mephisto setters have put their heads together for this special occasion. In each row, one clue’s wordplay and grid entry both fail to account for one or...
View ArticleTimes 26977 - Over the Tree-tops I Float Thee a Song
Not much to say about this puzzle, with its multiple use of charades (A + B type clues). It was so straightforward that my time of 18:41 may not see me safely Snitchified. Nonetheless, I thought it was...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic 1040 by Flamande
I needed 1 minute over my target 10 for this one which I think was entirely due to 6dn as my last one in. On reflection it all seems quite straightforward but I shall be interested to find out what...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic 1041 by Kenny
Following on from yesterday's discussion of the 'only one hidden' rule - today we have one forward and one backwards (10ac, 6dn).Kenny appears to have an interest in the USA which may please some of...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic 26978
I needed 38 minutes for this one but found it mostly straightforward. My biggest problems were spotting how 20 and 26ac worked having biffed both answers with a little help from the checkers in place...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic Jumbo No 1309 (Saturday, 17 February 2018): Something For The...
Well none of you seems to have noticed that this didn't get posted in a timely manner on Saturday - it's like nobody cares very much or something, sob!A shame really as this was a rather pleasant...
View ArticleQC 1042 by Izetti
A gorgeous little QC from Izetti - the Grand Master of the elegant puzzle in my book. Nothing obscure but it made you think, and every clue was beautifully constructed.I would guess this was of medium...
View ArticleTimes 26979 - stuff I didn't know I knew but did ...
I found this a serious work-out, more on the way to Club Monthly stlye than a standard weekday romp, with quite a few answers being obscure words known only to cryptic crossword regulars and pub...
View ArticleTimes 26980 - but do they speak 13 in 3 (or 17 or 23)
Solving time: 17:17. I struggled mightily with this one, but it was all because I was unfamiliar with much of the general knowledge - the other other three times that are in so far are similar to mine....
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic No 1043 by Joker
I must be getting better at these things, as this is another QC solved well inside my 15 minute target (10 minutes and small change). I may have to adjust my target down by a third, and disappoint...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 1044 by Mara
I'm writing this in a French hotel with the most pathetically slow internet connection, which feels like I'm sending every word by carrier pigeon. Nothing to scare the horses here, I think. It started...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Times 26,981: Priests and Cannibals, Prehistoric Animals
I'm going to say this *wasn't* the long-awaited pure stinker, but looking at the current state of the leaderboard, it does appear to have met the requisite level of difficulty for a Friday, and the...
View Article