Times 25626 - what's the sound of one hand typing?
Solving time : 15:07 on the club timer with one silly typo. First one I've tried on the club site since I broke my humerus, so I'm down to typing with one hand. Probably near the top of the one-handed...
View ArticleTimes 25627 - Shooting fish in a barrel
Solving time: 32:47I started this at about a quarter past midnight and there were already seven correct entries on the leaderboard by the time I finished, so I suspect we'll be seeing some fast times...
View ArticleTimes Jumbo 1060 (26 Oct 2013)
I find it difficult to give a solving time for jumbos as I very rarely get the time to sit down and do one in its entirety. Instead I tend to do a few clues here and a few there in short bursts. My...
View ArticleSaturday Times 25622 (2nd Nov)
9:38, so one of the easiest Saturday puzzles for a while, but also very enjoyable. Good surfaces throughout, witty definitions, precise wordplay on a couple of the trickier words - what's not to like!...
View ArticleMephisto 2775 - Don Manley
I found this one quite a challenge, particularly the top half - I stared in the bottom right and worked my way up. I was a little hampered by the final two clues not printing on the page (I usually...
View ArticleSunday Times 4562 (3 Nov 2013) by Jeff Pearce
Solving time: About 45 minutes.It took me quite a long time to unscramble the wordplay in 10a, a common problem according to the forum. The only reference that I didn't know was to the painter Ingres,...
View ArticleTimes 25629 - Meaty Monday
A very nice, if somewhat challenging, pangramatic puzzle with a distinctly retro feel. I tip my titfer to the setter. Across1 LEVIATHAN - alive* + THAN[e]. 6 LARGE - spotlight is GLARE and we must move...
View ArticleTimes 25,630 - A Bit Tricky
This puzzle may I feel cause some problems. 2D is a particularly obscure term with a not particularly helpful cryptic. I was fortunate to be able to solve from the definition, having seen the term...
View ArticleTimes 25631: Second Prelim, Puzzle 1
Solving time: 25:48So not much harder than the first puzzle of the first prelim, that being the easiest so far in my book. Perhaps I got a (for me) decent time because I’d just done battle with the...
View Article25632
27.02, but then I did do a thorough post-solve check before submitting to make sure everything was in order. Still makes me 3 Andy Gilhams again, but this time I'm solving with a head full of cold and...
View ArticleTimes 25633 - Slow Cha-Cha
A minute or two over the hour, so another tricky one for me which on reflection might have been solved more quickly if I had not insisted on working out the wordplay as I went along. In some cases this...
View ArticleSaturday Times 25628 (9th Nov)
Solving time 15:38, so about average difficulty but a very enjoyable puzzle with good surface readings thoughout and some cracking definitions, e.g. "number one fan" for EGOTIST, "one up in good time"...
View ArticleMephisto 2776 by old thingummyjig - Tim Moorey
Another on the easy side with almost no need to consult Chambers. Mephisto 2777 is missing from the Club Site this morning.Across1THINGUMMYBOB - THIN-GUMMY-BOB; 10AIZOON - (iona)* surrounds ZO;...
View ArticleSunday Times 4563 (10 Nov 2013) by Dean Mayer
Solving time: I have no idea, but probably over two hours all told. I printed it off at the start of the week, and had to keep coming back to it on my many train journeys throughout the week to add in...
View ArticleTimes 25635 - It's STILL not a football team!
Solving time: 29 minutesMusic: Vaughn Williams, Symphony #2, Previn/LSOI had begun to lose faith in my solving ability, after failing to correctly finish about four or five in a row. Fortunately,...
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Times 25,636
18:14 on the Club timer, held up at the end by 11ac (followed by a short break spent kicking myself) and 24dn (which I think was more understandable). With the exception of one I can't wholly unpick, I...
View ArticleTimes 25637: Second Prelim, Puzzle 2
Solving time: 29:20So … nothing too difficult here, though I had to ponder 14dn and the 19dn/26ac pair for a while this morning. A brief blog as I hurry to reach my self-imposed deadline of 08:00 WST...
View ArticleSloggers, betters and other cruciverbalists’ centenary convention
Passing on a message from Jane Teather:To commemorate the centenary of the crossword, we really should have a proper get-together for all the regulars, be they high-profile or lurkers. Everyone, from...
View ArticleTimes 25638 - in which we lightly braise a sommelier
Solving time : 23:05 on the club timer, but that was going back and forth between the crossword and the opening day of the Ashes (go Australia!). A few obscurities here, so I suspect general knowledge...
View ArticleTimes 25639 - Season's Greetings
Solving time: 53:03I was out for my company Christmas do last night (yes, I know it's only November, but I didn't organise it!), so I probably should have swapped my blogging duties with someone else,...
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