Times 27055 - Songs of shady sisters
Time: 18 minutesMusic: Stan Getz, Another WorldI think it is fair to say that easy Monday is back, although for how long, who knows? I am glad I caught it, as I had a very busy weekend and don't have...
View ArticleQC 1105 by Mara
Once again I find myself having to keep things brief. The fact is that my mother-in-law had to be hospitalised yesterday for something that initially seemed to be very minor but ultimately turned out...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic 1106 by Teazel
This puzzle was a mixture of lots of easy and small clues with some unusual vocabulary thrown in to balance the books. I took a lot of time at LOI 1dn and unnecessarily held myself up at 22ac. How...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic 27056
I'm having a run of bad luck on my blogging days at the moment and once again with this one my solving time was off the scale. Last week when I reported something similar I was relieved later to see so...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 1107 by Hawthorn
Hawthorn's previous puzzles have been elegant and witty (and slightly harder than average I'd say), and this one is no exception - a very enjoyable solve. We have some examples of clue types that are...
View ArticleTimes 27057 - solvitur festinato cum laude hodie
By the time you read this, if you can be bothered, I hope to be restored to binocular vision - of a quality I haven't 'seen' for sixty years - and the 'where's yer parrot' jokes will presumably stop....
View ArticleTimes Cryptic Jumbo No 1324 (19/5/2018): They Also Solve Who Only Stand And Wait
I'm very sorry that this has been so long denied - in only partial mitigation I was quite ill over last weekend, but I have also only recently worked out the numerological secret of Jumbos - if they...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic No 1108 by Joker
Middle of the road from Joker today, I'd say, in terms of both difficulty and quality. The average standard is very high, though, so all good! I started off slowly enough, eventually getting about half...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic No 27058, Thursday, 7 June 2018 Not, thankfully, fubar.
I somewhat laboured over this for 24 minutes, which might have had to do with the lateness/earliness of the hour but I liked it rather a lot. Two of the clues, 12 and 14, only really succumbed as I...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic No 1109 by Hurley - Climb every mountain
I don't know if it is blogitis, or just doing the crossword online instead of on paper, but, somehow, my blogging QCs seem to take longer than they should. This was my slowest for over two months at...
View ArticleTimes 27,059: Ocean's 15x15
I did this on paper and with interruptions so have no time to offer you, but I seem to remember getting off to a slow start, though things picked up later; I've just checked the Snitch and it does look...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic No 27054 - Saturday, 02 June 2018. Meaningful spelling reform...
No flora or fauna – how excellent! Strangely I knew the rock at 10ac, no doubt from crosswords. This was a steady solve until I got down to four or five missing in the top left, and my LOI 26ac.I think...
View ArticleJumbo 1325
I think this was a slightly harder than average puzzle that I made more difficult courtesy of some brainlessness all of my own making. However after wading through this self-imposed mire, it was...
View ArticleBank Holiday Jumbo 1326
This took a shade under 45 minutes including making sure I understood everything so by my standards at least this was straightforward. Nothing wrong with that and there were some entertaining clues...
View ArticleSunday Times Cryptic 4801, by David McLean — Getchyer marketing cream here
I have every expectation that some of the infallible wits here will come up with some clever remarks about some of these clues, where I have utterly failed. But honestly, it all seems a bit phoned in....
View ArticleMephisto 3014 - Tim Morey
Fairly easy puzzle. One clue 20A appears to be missing an anagrind whilst another 5D has a somewhat unusual one. Pleased to see one of Europe's most important research, technology, and innovation...
View ArticleTimes 27061 - Eternal summer gilds them yet
By the time you read this (or not), I will be on the first leg of my Greek tour, which starts in the Ionian island of Lefkada before moving to the Aegean island of Chios, with a stopover in Athens to...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic 1110 by Tracy
This pleasant offering from Tracy took me 11 minutes. I think it's mostly straightforward but there are a couple of tricky items so I shall be interested to read others' opinions.As usual definitions...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic 1111 by Grumpy
Given this is the 1,111th QC, I looked hard for hidden messages but apart from a vaguely costume drama feel (1dn 4dn 7dn 11ac leaving 12ac 14ac to 15dns 24ac) could not find anything conclusive. I also...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic 27062
After a run of difficult puzzles on my watch this one was quite easy and I completed it in 30 minutes, bang on my target.As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions are in curly...
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