Mephisto 2823 - Don Manley
Most of this is crystal-clear wordplay for obscure and not-so-obscure words, but there's still one that is nagging me, and with two unchecked letters there's the slight chance that I'm wrong, though...
View ArticleSunday Times 4610 (5 Oct 2014) by Jeff Pearce
Solving time: 33:06A fairly gentle offering this week. Nothing particularly stood out for a COD, but there was nothing I hated either, so quite a vanilla puzzle I felt. But that's not intended as a...
View ArticleTimes Jumbo 1112
Solved in just under 31 minutes, and usually I reckon anything under 35 on a Jumbo is about par for the course in terms of difficulty. Lots of nice clues, though.With Jumbos, which attract a far...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 156 by Grumpy
The puzzle can be found at http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20141013/288/A straightforward Quicky with just the odd bit of general knowledge that might cause a delay. Some smooth surfaces...
View ArticleTimes 25916 - Check your grooves...er, make that Groves!
Solving time: Not recordedMusic: None, golf on TV again.I worked this puzzle while watching the last 7 holes of the Frys.com on TV, so no time. I would watch a hole or two, put in a few answers, and go...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic No 157 by Orpheus
This is a top notch offering which travels around the northern hemisphere, has some witty clues (I've selected 2 COD - clues of the day) and has the reappearance of a sweet which appeared in my...
View ArticleTimes 25917
36 minutes with the crossing pair 5dn and 15ac accounting for my missing my 30 minute target. I found this a lively and interesting puzzle but not too difficult.Deletions are in curly...
View ArticleTimes Crossword 25,918 - Solid as a
Solving Time: 26 minutes for this, mainly because having made steady if unspectacular progress, I got quite stuck at the end, on 1ac, 7dn and 4dn. All perfectly good clues, just me being slow I guess....
View ArticleQuick Cryptic No 158 by Rongo
This needed a little thought here and there, not just a fast write-in, took me about 15 minutes to be sure of the parsing as well as entering the answers where obvious. All very fair and I would think...
View ArticleTimes crossword 25919: Madrid 913 761 500
This was fun, with some fine punning clues of the kind that make words do stuff they're not supposed to do. The tricky thing for your obedient servant is that, if one has to explain a bit of gigglesome...
View ArticleTimes Crossword Championships 2014
This year the Championships have moved again, out of the Times HQ and into the Tower Hotel near Tower Bridge. I've booked a room myself, so I may just hang around the hotel bar between sessions. In the...
View ArticleTimes Quick Cryptic No 159 by Felix
Solving time: Upper end of scale.Greetings allOne from the harder end of things today, but not by much. I think I had my stupid solving head on when I tackled this as working out how 6 down worked held...
View ArticleTimes 25,920: Destroy All Monsters
I stayed up till midnight to get this one polished off - thankfully it was a nice easy one, clocking in at under 7 minutes. I think our esteemed editor is just trying to give us a glimmer of hope,...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic No 160 by Flamande
Nothing too obscure, but a bit of general knowledge (literature, movies) needed and a few worthwhile anagrams, making this at the harder end of Quick Cryptic offerings in my view; it took me about 12...
View ArticleSaturday Times 25915 (11th Oct)
Solving time 11:34, so quite an easy one. This week's will probably be another kettle of fish entirely. Maybe it's just nerves, but I always find the Saturday puzzle on Championships day to be...
View ArticleJumbo 1113
I enjoyed this one as there are a number of clues with clever definitions and wordplay, and almost every clue has a very smooth surface reading. My compliments to the compiler.I did not time myself as...
View ArticleMephisto 2824 by Tim Moorey - Inspiration Required
I have a new odd location to add to my list of strange places in which I have completed a crossword - a cruise ship off Cape St Vincent in a force 9 gale with 8 meter waves. It brought a whole new...
View ArticleSunday Times 4611 by Dean Mayer - does it hurt? Every time.
Nice to put some faces to names at the championship yesterday. Unfortunately I seem to have picked up some sort of bug from my kids so wasn't really in the mood for the pub, but on the puzzles...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 161 by Mara
In case of problems accessing the puzzle it can be found here: http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/timescrossword/20141020/293/Either we have a new setter name or there is a typo in today's heading. We've had...
View ArticleTimes 25922 – Pole Dancing with the Inland Revenue
A nice warm-down for those competing at the championships on Saturday, with no need for arcane knowledge or familiarity with Gerry Anderson characters. 26 minutes.ACROSS1. SUPERB – UP (‘on horseback’ –...
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