In tune

 

I had been meaning to do this for ages. But finally it got high enough in my to-do list to get organised - tune the piano. Our previous piano tuner retired a while back so I needed to find another one.

Boudicca Way Part 1 - In Reverse

When we did the first part of the Boudicca Way in 2019, see here, not everyone who wanted to do it was able to make it, so Joyce decided to do it again, but this time in the opposite direction... and I thought I'd go along too.

Pickled Onions

These went down so well last year, I had to do some more.

Gin Distilling

It has been a while since my last distillation run (in June) and stocks of my home-made gin are getting low. So, with Jane and David coming soon, I thought I'd make some more.

Mathematics Prize Winner

 Look what William got in his email yesterday...

Well done William! And £1000 too!

A Jolly Jumbo

Times Cryptic Jumbo 1517 - 11th September

Times Cryptic Jumbo 1517 - 11th SeptemberI think this excellent Jumbo crossword is a great demonstration that a crossword doesn't have to be full of trickery to be fun and satisfying. I was all but finished in under 30 minutes but I had plenty of fun along the way, with over a dozen ticks of appreciation on my copy. As usual, though, there were a handful of clues that held me up at the end including the clever cryptic 7A and the unknown phrase at 34A. It's hard to pick a favourite, but the groanworthy 36D has the biggest tick. Thank-you setter. How did you all like it?

( Read all about it... )

Hartest Walks

It was a  lovely sunny autumn day today for an old favourite pair of walks from Hartest, last done in October last year (see here), but you can find more versions here.

A Breadman Quick Cryptic

Times Quick Cryptic No 1969 by Breadman

A gentle end to the week compared to the last couple of days (and my last couple of Fridays) with this Quick Cryptic from Breadman. It is a curious grid with no answers more than 10 letters, which suits me fine as I find long words bother me. There are also a few gimmes like 10A, which should help you get started but, curiously, only two part-anagrams. My first one in was 1A, which got me off to a flyer. Some neat clues; my favourite was 17A and it was good to see a baking reference too. My last one in was 23A as I needed the checkers to remember the sweet green concoction. In all it took me just over the 4 minute mark, so comfortably under my average time. Nice one. Thank-you Breadman. How did you all get on?

Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time we have the debut of a new compiler to the team, Sawbill, in providing the extra weekend entertainment. You can find his crossword here. Enjoy! And if anyone is interested in our previous offerings you can find an index to them here.

( Read all about it... )

Weekend Quick Cryptic 34 by Sawbill

Click here to read about the origin of this series of crosswords.

A brief history of the origins of these crosswords for those who are new to them. As a blogger of the Times Quick Cryptic Crossword on Times For The Times every other Friday, I have often had comments on the blog bemoaning that The Times only provides a Quick Cryptic on Mondays to Fridays. When I finally gave up work at the end of February 2020, I decided that I would try my hand at compiling crosswords. It was with some trepidation that I published, in May 2020, the first of these Weekend Quick Cryptics to fill the gap. Well it seemed to go down well so I did another. And then my fellow crossword solver and commenter on Time for the Times, Phil Jordan, volunteered to produce some too. And, more recently, we have been joined by a third compiler, Sawbill.  We take it in turns, publishing each new crossword via my Friday Quick Crossword blog. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here.

Today we have a debut from a new compiler, Sawbill! He has been one of our test solvers for some time and has now taken the plunge as a compiler. You can try and solve it interactively here on MyCrossword or here on crossword.info, or download a PDF to print here. Alternatively you can copy and print the image below. Comments and queries welcome here or with the solution post (which also gives tips on some of the clues). Sawbill and I will respond to them as soon as we can.

Crossword for Victoria

A few weeks ago we got a message from Olivia in the "member-puzzles" channel of our Discord site...

"Just asking if any of you clever cluesmen would be willing/interested in doing a bespoke Quick Cryptic puzzle.  One of my sisters has a milestone birthday on Sept. 25th and I've been racking my brains what to get her.  My sister only does the QC - she thinks, wrongly, that she's not up to the 15x15.  I would be delighted to spring for a consignment of the beverage of your choice in return... or anything else within reason.  Absolutely no pressure!"

How could I resist?

Lawshall Walk

It was another fine day so after my dentist appointment and weekly food shop this morning I thought I'd go for an afternoon walk. I had found this walk by Martin Bate last week on planning other walks, so thought I'd give that a go.

Pete Long at the Hunter Club

 

Yey! Jazz night at the Hunter Club again last night. I had got a table for two. Dawn forgot we were going and didn't get home from school till 7:10, but we were in time to order drinks and a pizza before the start.

Stanton Walk

Another lovely day. Best to make use of it while the weather's good. So I set off for a morning walk from Satnton, aiming to visit Wyken Hall, The Grundle and Stanton Mill. It was a variant o my walk last autumn (see here), but taking a different route our of Stanton towards Wyken Hall.

Stansfield Walk

It was a lovely day today so I thought I'd go for an afternoon walk.

Redgrave Walk

Today it was my turn again to lead a walk for Joyce's Weekly Walks. This week I chose to do a walk around Redgrave Village and then up to and around the Redgrave and Lopham Fen Waveney route.

Now Bottled and Labelled...

...my Newkie Brown Ale.

Crossword Clue Database

  Now this could be useful!

Rougham Hall Nurseries

Today we visited Rougham Hall Nurseries for the first time, even though we have driven past them many, many times on the A14.

Another Izetti Quick Crossword

Times Quick Cryptic No 1959 by Izetti

Another Izetti Quick Cryptic for me to blog today. It took me just over 7 minutes, so, as with my last QC blogging duty 2 weeks ago, it is somewhat on the harder side of average if my time is anything to go by. I'm not sure where the time went, but 4D and 7D were a little tricky and there's a clue that requires you to solve another one first. My last one in, 22A, didn't come easily but maybe because the definition doesn't seem quite right. I think it is a mistake. What do you think? But another good test from Izetti with lots of instructional clueing, such as a the trick in 1A where the definition is a verb in the clue and a noun in the answer. Nice puzzle. Worth it for 1D, my clue of the day, alone. Thank-you Izetti. How did you all get on?

Fortnightly Weekend Quick Cryptic. This time it is Phil's turn to provide the extra weekend entertainment. You can find the latest crossword here. Enjoy! And if anyone is interested in our previous offerings you can find an index to them here.

( Read all about it... )

The Three Dragons (and a Tiger) Walk

Today it was my turn to lead a walk for Joyce's Weekly Walks group. I decided to do a variant of the U3A Longer Walks Group walk I had done last month, trying to find all 3 dragons.

Weekend Quick Cryptic 33 - by Phil Jordan

Click here to read about the origin of this series of crosswords.

A brief history of the origins of these crosswords for those who are new to them. As a blogger of the Times Quick Cryptic Crossword on Times For The Times every other Friday, I have often had comments on the blog bemoaning that The Times only provides a Quick Cryptic on Mondays to Fridays. When I finally gave up work at the end of February 2020, I decided that I would try my hand at compiling crosswords. It was with some trepidation that I published, in May 2020, the first of these Weekend Quick Cryptics to fill the gap. Well it seemed to go down well so I did another. And then my fellow crossword solver and commenter on Time for the Times, Phil Jordan, volunteered to produce some too! So now we alternate, publishing each new crossword via my Friday Quick Crossword blog. You can find an index to the complete series of crosswords here.

This time it is Phil's turn to provide the fortnightly weekend quick cryptic crossword. You can try and solve it interactively here on MyCrossword or here on crossword.info, or download a PDF to print here. Alternatively you can copy and print the image below. Comments and queries welcome here or with the solution post here. I will respond to them as soon as I can.

Padron Peppers

Our first pepper crop! For the first time we have grown some Padrón Peppers.

Happy Birthday Dawn!

 

It is Dawn's birthday today and the sun came out! So we took a short trip to Felixstowe before lunch to walk along the promenade and visit the Sunday market.

Newkie Brown Ale

Tassel Nanobrewery is in action again. As autumn is coming... and my sister-in-law and her husband, who originate from Tyneside, are coming to visit soon, I thought I'd start my Geordie Newkie Brown Ale kit I had got many months ago.

Dunwich Walk

Today's Joyce's Weekly walk was from Dunwich, not far from where the U3A longer distance group walked yesterday (see here). This was the invite...

Walberswick Walk

Today was the first Thursday of the month, so the day for the U3A longer walks group monthly walk. This month we were led by Martin and Jessica, the first time they have led for the group.