Times 25832 – Expect Records to Tumble
This was perhaps the easiest daily crossword I have ever done, and certainly the easiest since I started blogging nearly two years ago. I expect a lot of fast times, several PBs and not a few less than...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic no. 87 by Hurley
This one should find plenty of finishers - most pretty easy but 3 or 4 clues have chewy wordplay. Lots went in by just spotting the definition which is nearly always at the front or back of the clue. I...
View ArticleTimes 25,833 - Mrs T meets Jack T
A fun puzzle with some interesting constructions. I'm guessing there may be several solutions based upon definition without a full parsing. 20 minutes to solve.Across1ACTIVIST - T(I)V-IS in ACT;...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic No. 88 by Izetti
For once I am on UK time and awake late enough to do this before hitting the hay. Also relieved that our holiday house has broadband so there's no need to decamp to McDonalds for breakfast. This seemed...
View ArticleTimes Crossword 25,834 - Divine
Solving Time: 19 mins, a steady solve without ever getting too bogged down. Although I enjoyed this I thought it had one or two rather loose bits that twenty years ago would pass happily but with which...
View ArticleTimes Crossword 25835: Don't bank on it.
24 minutes dead for this one, which is four better than a clue a minute. I enjoyed this as a technical exercise, finding that many of the clues yielded to the careful unravelling of the wordplay rather...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic No 89 by Dazzler
Solving time: Straightforward(ish)This was an odd exercise for me. I looked at the puzzle on first reading and felt quite blank about it, but as I solved a couple of clues, everything just seemed to...
View ArticleTimes 25836
I found this one straightforward and therefore very welcome after the past few days of tricky puzzles. I completed all but two clues in 35 minutes but 5dn and 9ac delayed me for a little longer....
View ArticleQuick Cryptic No. 90 by Oran - pleasant pot pourri
I arose early to find a little tranquillity in which to blog this, but the grandchildren mayhem started eleven minutes later just as I finished solving and started typing. I haven't had the pleasure of...
View ArticleSaturday Times 25831 (5th July) - placeholder
Out and about today, will get this up as soon as time allows.
View ArticleSunday Times 4597 (6 July) by Tim Moorey
13:49 on the club timer for this one, so a pretty straightforward puzzle. There are some unfamiliar bits and pieces in here - a musical instrument, a fish, an unusual plural form, a word that's escaped...
View ArticleMephisto 2810 by Paul McKenna
A generally easy puzzle Across3ALTOGETHER - ALTO-GET-HER; 10ASSURE - ASS-URE; 11RICARD - RI(CAR-d)D; 12PEPPER - PEP-PER; 13BRAD - B(reak)-RAD; excellent=RAD: 15EMPERISE - (e premise)*; 16TUART -...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic - 91 by Teazel
If you are having problems accessing today's puzzle, please see my reply to Anon belowThis one took me 11 minutes but I thought it was going to be a lot longer than that because I had to read at least...
View ArticleTimes 25838 - Undressing or not?
Solving time: 38 minutesMusic: Thompson, The Plow that Broke the Plain, Stokowski/Symphony of the AirThis should have been an easy one, but I was scribbling away and put in a wrong answer without...
View ArticleJumbo 1098
Many apologies for the delay on this. I was away for most of the weekend and realised that I had not prepared the blog ready for posting.This was tricky as there were a few unfamiliar words (9D, 58A,...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic no. 92 by Orpheus
Ooh la la! A real tough one which I'm thinking won't please everyone. In case you can't find it here's the link:http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20140715/211/I'm still working on why some of...
View ArticleTimes 25,839
Clock stopped at 15:59, for a puzzle I very much enjoyed. Not the easiest, with a couple of words I had to call up from the outer reaches of my lexicon, and as always there are bound to be different...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic No. 93 by Flamande
Good puzzle, I thought, so thanks to Flamande. Not too tricky, but some sticky moments along the way that had me scratching my head for a while.The hardest bit was finding the damned thing! As at time...
View ArticleTimes 25840 - Not 1 ac for me
I tackled this early but not early enough to pre-empt the 'petites' seeking porridge; it took me a while to get going, then all but the NW corner went in quickly enough, then fifteen of my 32 minutes...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 94 by Tracy
The link on the Times site is broken yet again so here is the correct url for those trying to access today's Quickie: http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20140717/214/Sorry this won’t be a very...
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