Quick Cryptic Number 175 by Teazel
A puzzle of intermediate difficulty, which has plenty of inventive crypticness and tongue-in-cheek definitions. There’s nothing unfair about any of these clues, but a decent amount of lateral thinking...
View ArticleSaturday Times 25933 (1st Nov) - or should that be 1st April?
Solving time 21:50, which I was quite pleased with in the circumstances, as several people had mentioned how tricky it was last week. There were a few other problems to overcome though - and the puzzle...
View Articlemephisto 2827 - placeholder
Im staying somewhere without wireless and im not quite up to posting a full report from my phone so the mephisto write up will be early monday am uk time. Feel free to discuss and question and the hive...
View ArticleSunday Times 4614 (2 Nov 2014) by Dean Mayer
Solving time: 39:28Quite a tough one it seemed to me from Dean this week. I loved the deception in 16d so that gets my COD.There was talk on the forum about a nina, but apparently it was news to Dean...
View ArticleJumbo 1116 - Placeholder (late as usual)
Went to get the paper copy to type up and cant find it anywhere - kids have probably used it to paint on or clean mud off their shoes! will have to find a minute tomorrow to print and blog
View ArticleTimes 25940 - Nothing to boast about....
Solving time: 22 minutesMusic: Vaughn Williams, Antarctic Symphony, Boult/LSOThis one was really very easy. I sometimes have trouble with these, because the clues are easier than I'm used to, and I...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic Number 176 by Tracy
I’m standing in for mohn today.A mixed bag of predominantly straightforward clues, which required the dredging-up of one or two half-forgotten bits of vocabulary. Lots of nice surfaces to throw you off...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic No 177 by Rongo
Blimey governor! Time for a cup of strong Rosy Lee. I thought this was a medium solve until I processed the blog. I suspect some terminology may not be obvious to all. Either definition or wordplay...
View ArticleTimes 25941
I thought I was going to romp home in good time on this one but as my target 30 minutes approached I was still stuck on a couple of unknowns in the lower half and completely baffled by 3ac where I was...
View ArticleTimes Crossword 25,942 - 2014 Championships, First Preliminary, Puzzle 2
Solving Time: About 20 mins. I did the Prelim. 1 puzzles on the day (as a guest, not a competitor) and managed to complete all three just about within the hour, give or take. All the puzzles seemed...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic No 178 by Flamande
Mostly straightforward, with 1a and 21a perhaps requiring a little more thought. Some familiarity with London geography, rhyming slang and north of England endearments would make it easier, but the...
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Times 25943: The ideal gift or those who hanker after a true penn'orth.
I stopped the clock at 19.25 for this delightful concoction, all proper clues but with a great deal of wit, and at least one laugh out loud clue. No cricket, and plants that I either knew for sure or...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic 179 By Orpheus
After a long hiatus here comes the office temp. Forgive the rush job. I don't know if others had similar access problems. I rarely use the Times main puzzle site (I go via the Club) but of course for...
View ArticleQuick Cryptic No 180 by Hurley
A pleasant, well balanced puzzle, a little harder than Wednesday's, mainly because of some long anagrams at 1a, 5d, and 23a; once these are done you have plenty of checkers. Nothing too tricky, if you...
View ArticleTimes 25,944 - Tygers of Pangram
Keeping the preamble short, as I'm late enough with this as it is: I found this by no means an easy puzzle, setting down my pen somewhere past the 40 minute mark, but I pretty much loved it, possibly...
View ArticleSaturday Times 25939 (8th Nov)
Solving time 12:05, so quite a gentle offering for a Saturday with a very helpful grid providing a lot of checked letters in some places. Not much else to say about this one, so straight on with the...
View ArticleMephisto 2828 by Paul McKenna - We Will Remember Them
This puzzle appeared on Rememberance Sunday 9th November and has an appropriate theme that I have endeavoured to reflect in the blog.This was not a difficult puzzle but I have two unparsed lights at...
View ArticleSunday Times 4615 by Tim Moorey
8:21. Another straightforward puzzle from Tim Moorey, but that didn't prevent me from making a horlicks of it with a particularly stupid mistake. Drat. Not much else to say really so I'll just get on...
View ArticleTimes Cryptic Crossword Book 18 - Puzzle Index
Thanks to Andy Burch from Australia for once again solving the latest book of Times Crosswords and sending me an index linking to all our blogs for each puzzle. This collection is of puzzles originally...
View ArticleTimes Jumbo 1117
No need to think of anything new to say by way of pre-amble, I can simply cut and paste from my last Jumbo blog, which said "Solved in just under 31 minutes, and usually I reckon anything under 35 on a...
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