Times 1062
38:34 on the Club timer, which is just a little above average for me with the Jumbo. If I had to sum up the solving experience in one word, it might be "steady": by no means the easiest puzzle, but...
View ArticleSaturday Times 25634 (16th Nov)
A mini cricket theme in some of the clues and solutions of this one, appropriately as the first test in Brisbane is under way now. Solving time was about 18 minutes, on the train on the way home...
View ArticleSunday Times 4564 (17 Nov 2013) by Tim Moorey
Solving time: About 24 minutesI found this the complete opposite end of the difficulty spectrum to last week's fiendish Dean Mayer offering. I rattled through this one very quickly (for me). That's not...
View ArticleMephisto 2777 - Paul McKenna
I did this in a number of bits and pieces sessions, since I wasn't in town when it first appeared. I thought it was going to be a walk in the park after a number of the longer answers went straight in,...
View ArticleTimes 25641 - Finishing, but not really finishing
Solving time: 48 minutesMusic: Brahms, Double Concerto, Ferras/Tortelier/KletzkiThis was a rather frustrating puzzle. Although I was, after a little thought, able to write in the correct answers, many...
View ArticleTimes 25,642 - Stick It Up Your Jumpa
A chewy 25 minute puzzle with a good deal of GK required including a reference to UK coinage that overseas solvers will find very difficult if not impenetratable. We don't often see astronomers here...
View ArticleRIP Araucaria
Many of you may have seen the news already, but I thought I'd put something here too.John Graham (aka Araucaria in The Guardian and Cinephile in the FT) passed away in the early hours of this morning....
View ArticleTimes Crossword 25,643 - the end of the beginning..
I'm out partying this evening, so I fervently hope that this is the last of the Championship puzzles, the third from the second preliminary, as I will be in no great shape to start from scratch if it...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic 25644 One out of left field.
Knowing I'm supposed to be able to explain all this definitely slowed me down, but I came through in 24.33, which I hope is going to look like a decent time. I think there's some very tricky stuff in...
View ArticleClub Monthly 20158 November 2013 - ribbon-like strip of pasta edition..
Solving Time: Don't ask.. this took me a long time. I rattled off about half in reasonable fashion and then gradually ground to a halt. Resuming a day or two later, I got a few more.. then a few more.....
View ArticleTimes 25645 - Happy Day!
20 minutes, and as predicted I got off very lightly after a testing week of puzzles. One clue gave me pause for thought but otherwise it was more or less a write-in. If I'd not bothered to parse as I...
View ArticleSaturday Times 25640 (23rd Nov)
Solving time about 20 mins. I didn't actually get around to this until I was on the way home from work last night, started it quite late in the journey and finished it when I got home. I couldn't make...
View ArticleJumbo 1063
Just over 30 minutes, including checking, on the Club timer so nothing of particular difficultySorry for the delay in posting. Business trips and general workload on top mean that I am running...
View ArticleMephisto 2778 by Don Manley
Off to a fast start with 1A, 5A and 11A followed by the first five down clues in very short order. No major hold-ups after that for a good average puzzle. Some enlightenment needed at 7D...
View ArticleSunday Times 4565 (25 Nov 2013) by Jeff Pearce
Solving time: About 35 minutes, but without full parsing.There were several answers that were obvious from the definitions & checkers, but the wordplay took a while to untangle. I'm thinking of the...
View ArticleTimes 25647 - A little bit of this and a little bit of that
53 minutes for me, with five of those spent on the unknown revloutionary chap. A little bit of everything here: Greek, British slang, British toff-speak, British northern towns, misenumeration from the...
View ArticleTimes 25,648
When I choose to solve and blog at midnight rather than the next morning, there's not usually enough of a sample of other online solvers to work out if I've been comparatively fast or slow, so we shall...
View ArticleTimes Crossword 25,649 - Statistics Show...
Solving Time: Just under 30 minutes, so somewhat harder than average, but with several of those minutes spent on 28dn. Also I have several not fully parsed and one error, which I suspect might in fact...
View ArticleTimes 25650 - A 1ac ate my baby
Solving time : a distracted 20:35 with one silly typo (JONN for JOHN at 7 down). I'm distracted by the first day of the Brisbane Test and the culimination of a three-episode arc of South Park which is...
View ArticleTimes 25651
Solving time: 1:10:27 - although I'm pretty sure I fell asleep in the middle somewhere, but I'm not sure how long for!A tricky puzzle that I probably would have enjoyed more had I not been so tired....
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