Category: Quick Cryptic

I had to consult the dictionary over 9ac before seeing the answer to 2dn, so DNF after many long minutes staring at those last two clues. Apart from that, and despite some other unknowns, a very enjoyable test.

Happily buzzed through this in 8 minutes. Hope you enjoyed it as I did.

Hi everybody. I have always liked Oink’s puzzles, finding them sound, gentle and a lot of fun – everything a Quick Cryptic should be …

Some neat surfaces, nice definitions and more unusual words in this puzzle from Wurm, and a European and Asian geographical feel to it, with several towns and regions included in the answers and clues.  My … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 2103 by Wurm”

Introduction DNF after 21:26. Did I lack heart, or was this really quite hard? In any case, many minutes were spent staring blankly at the screen, and I confess that I didn’t really enjoy the … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 2102 by Teazel”

Started in the NE and worked round clockwise nearly finishing in the NE in 7 minutes. 7ac, 2dn and 3dn had other ideas, though, so after a bit of a late skirmish, I brought things … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 2101 by Breadman”

Solving time: 8 minutes. I found this straightforward, but what did you make of it? As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 2100 by Joker”

Today we have a Quick Cryptic from Jalna, a relatively infrequent contributor, and who’s crosswords I sometimes find a bit tricky. Not overly so today, although I did get held up a little in the … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 2099 by Jalna”

I originally thought this was simply a quirky and original affair from Juno, so it was only with a bit of post-solution scrutiny that I found a glorious Nina hiding artfully in plain sight (hint … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic No 2098 by Juno”

After a little difficulty breaking through to the bottom half (and particularly the SW), this was polished off in less than target time. I had to take a post-solve look at 7dn to parse it, … Read more “Times Quick Cryptic 2097 by Tracy”