Some good news and bad news
I've just had word from Dave Perry that he's finished a month's convalescence at home and is back at work, and also ready to resume blogging duties. Thanks so much to all the people who have stood in...
View ArticleMephisto 2804 by Paul McKenna
Reasonably straightforward Mephisto in which Alf Garnett meets Mahatma Gandhi - I wonder what Alf would have said? At 4D I've queried "full-time", suggesting "permanent" as a better alternative whilst...
View ArticleST 4591 - Tim Moorey in Gentle Mode
Shelled out 2.50 to get the Sunday Times in order to do the crossword, and pleasant enough it turned out to be, and quick enough to solve to retain some credibility with my wife and daughter, who have...
View ArticleTimes Jumbo 1092
Clock stopped at just under the half-hour mark, which means I continue a sequence where nearly every Jumbo I've blogged for months seems to have been in the category "mostly straightforward puzzle,...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic No. 61 by Teazel
As usual on a Monday the link on the Times button goes to the wrong puzzle so here's the way in: http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20140602/168/Teazel set a couple of hard puzzles during the...
View ArticleTimes 25802– The Law and the Prophets
Had to resort to the dreaded aids to finish this one off – I’m putting it down to the jet-lag as it’s not a difficult puzzle. That said, the north-east (taken to include 17ac) has some tricky stuff,...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic No 62 by Tracy
Good get-able crossword. Thanks to Tracy who, I think, has 'previous' on providing such entertaining puzzles. A couple of items familiar from previous crosswords - one is the IV/VI each way bet, the...
View ArticleTimes 25,803
As we move towards the World Cup, this was a puzzle of two halves; the first one making me think this was going to be a stroll, the second turning out to present unexpected difficulties (this may well...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic No 63 by Mara
Quite a mixed bag. Several relatively straightforward clues providing a soft underbelly through which to attack the puzzle, a few trickier ones, one which I thought was decidedly tough and another one...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic 25804 - orchidologists and priest-ologists required
Under pressure to blog at a reasonable hour, after an early appointment elsewhere, this took me 32 minutes and required a couple of visits to Wiki to check an unknown orchid and a simple word I'd never...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic No 64 by Grumpy
Solving time: Easier end of scale.A nice pleasant stroll today in the company of Grumpy. Nothing terribly complex, although I did wonder if 13 across should have had A in the clue as well ("A profit,...
View ArticleTimes 25805 - meep
Solving time : OK - I'll admit. I'm in no state to be solving or blogging and it's showing through - 1 hour and 5 minutes later I'm being told I have a correct solution, which is a minor woohoo moment,...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic Number 65 by Juno
There is a lot to enjoy in this chewy little crossword, which feels a bit more grown-up than some of the others we have had recently (no criticism of this or former puzzles intended). Too many of the...
View ArticleTimes 25806
Solving time: 30:32I see no blog up for today's cryptic by mid-afternoon so I thought I'd throw one together. I'm supposed to have retired from Fridays now, but we'll allow this one for old times'...
View ArticleJumbo 1093
Steady average Jumbo, with a couple of clues (11D and 31D) that were a bit trickier to solve/parse.Not timed as solved on paper.Across1 HONEYCOMB - HONE = polish, (part)Y, COMB = search6 ON TOP OF -...
View ArticleSaturday Times 25801 (31st May) - reassortment remonstrates?
Well, that was a fun puzzle! I have to admit that I didn't see any of the symmetrical anagrams until well after I'd finished the puzzle and was typing it into the Crossword Club for the competition...
View ArticleMephisto 2805 - Don Manley
I got most of the top half out without needing a dictionary, but the bottom half, and particularly the bottom left required a bit more poking, not helped by some wild "close, but no cigar" guesses from...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 66 by Hurley
The puzzle can be found at http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20140609/173/This is Hurley's sixth offering in the Quick Cryptic line, the previous five seemingly scattered all over the...
View ArticleTimes 25808 - Did this one give you fits? Keep fitting!
Solving time: 27 minutesMusic: Bax, Symphony #7, Leppard/LPOThis puzzle should not have been difficult, provided you have the required general knowledge in your brain. Birds, plants? This will not make...
View ArticleSunday Times 4592 (1 Jun 2014) by Jeff Pearce
Solving Time: 37:47I had this blog all written and ready to go several days ago and then completely forgot to post is yesterday, so apologies for that. I need a chance to get back in the swing of it, I...
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