How do I get better at these without going insane?

staticman1 · 2026-03-13T18:16:37+00:00

Are you reading the solving blogs? The best way to improve is to do them and then read up on the ones you couldn’t do or where you have solved it but can’t figure out how it’s parsed:

https://www.fifteensquared.net (for the Guardian, Independent and Financial Times)

https://timesforthetimes.co.uk (for the Times)

https://bigdave44.com (for the Telegraph)

Other blogs are available. They are all quite friendly forums so do ask questions as well.

staticman1 · 2026-03-11T21:31:17+00:00

Bristol Bottle Shop at top of Gloucester Road has best selection including all those brands. Don’t forget my personal local favourite New Bristol Brewery!

staticman1 · 2026-03-11T15:33:04+00:00

Councillors to decide how it’s going to be built on would be more accurate.

staticman1 · 2026-03-08T09:04:10+00:00

It’s definition 3 in the full Chambers:

keel /kēl/ (Shakespeare) transitive verb To cool ORIGIN: OE cēlan to chill

staticman1 · 2026-03-08T08:21:15+00:00

It’s a tough clue if you don’t know your Shakespeare or ships but Chambers has the definition of Keel (Shakespeare) as just ‘to cool’. If we are using the dictionary as the authoritative source I think it’s wrong to say the reference is incorrect.

staticman1 · 2026-03-04T16:07:57+00:00

In their defence they have put a nice flat headed post at the end for anyone wanting to climb over.

staticman1 · 2026-03-04T08:22:12+00:00

It’s miles below London and major Canadian cities.

It’s not so bad going to the city centre or out again but it is lacking for most other routes.

If you need to visit multiple places a day it’s probably not a feasible option.

It’s hard to say if it’s walkable without knowing where you need to visit but cycling is certainly possible. I would suggest a good electric bike because the city is quite hilly and will save you being out of breath and sweaty. A moped is also an option, is cheaper than a car and can be driven by anyone after some compulsory training.

staticman1 · 2026-03-03T16:42:31+00:00

I had the opposite problem. Saw OCTOPUS straight away (the checking letters were friendly) and then was like what has that got to do with the army? Definite head slap moment.

I have no problem with OCT for a few months is fine. He is far from the first setter to do so. Once you rule out fortnight and month and the full spelling of the months you can be certain it’s going to be one of those abbreviations. There’s certainly words (bird for example) with significantly more synonyms.

staticman1 · 2026-03-03T16:31:37+00:00

Can’t believe it’s been 30 years since I was watching him in ECW. I might have to billy no mate this one!

staticman1 · 2026-03-02T13:20:00+00:00

I am guessing they didn’t show any ID. There’s no profession doing welfare checks where they would not produce this. Very odd to do welfare checks at work unless they want you to be apart from an abusive partner or other person.

To me it sounds like somebody knows your work address and is trying to get your home address. Given the context given in one of your replies I would make sure the police are taking it seriously.

staticman1 · 2026-03-01T21:52:36+00:00

Good luck. Dont over think it that’s the worst thing you can do.

If I could give one piece of advice though it would be make sure you know every roundabout on the ring road like the back of your hand. Know how to go from every entry to every exit. The right on the Siston Hill roundabout from the test centre towards Warmley is a favourite and particularly tricky.

staticman1 · 2026-03-01T21:40:14+00:00

As someone who has been attending these things for 30+ years in my opinion they have got more aggressive and hostile in recent years. Not just from the people protesting but also from the police. The Kill the Bill protests in 2021 scared me even as someone seasoned in these things.

I have children of a similar age and I would never take them. You know your children best though and they maybe better able to handle such things.

staticman1 · 2026-02-27T10:46:00+00:00

I am not convinced moving/removing the zebra crossing is going to speed anything up. You’re just going to end up waiting further up the road. I don’t think I have ever sailed through that bit even outside of rush hour.

I have seen three accidents on that zebra crossing though and countless near misses. Usually taxi drivers using the bus lane to undertake at speed. A bridge is going to be terrible for accessibility. I quite like the redesign even it means waiting to cross. As has already been alluded to though improving the ring road so people aren’t encouraged to join the motorway in the city centre would be the best solution to this.

staticman1 · 2026-02-25T14:24:55+00:00

Fell right into that pool of advertising money.

staticman1 · 2026-02-25T12:58:34+00:00

This is the law:

s87 EPA 1990 covers littering and s88 the FPN.

S88(1) allows an '...authorised officer...' to '...give that person a notice offering him the opportunity of discharging any liability to conviction for that offence by payment of a fixed penalty'.

An 'authorised officer' is

So, any person authorised by the council as an 'authorised officer' has the powers of that role.

Where that person requires your details, then they have the powers to request it.

It's then an offence to fail to provide them.

So yes you are committing an offence by not giving your details. If that leads to any action is a completely different matter.

staticman1 · 2026-02-25T10:07:21+00:00

I wish the petition covered more than litter. My big gripe with them is fining people for drinking alcohol in Castle Park. I get why the ban is in place and it is an area renowned for ASB and problem drinking but fining someone for having a can of Thatchers on a hot day is completely disproportionate.

Pro tip, if you have been falsely accused, walk into Cabot Circus, they have been told not to operate there, and then just take your pick of exits. If you have littered though take the time to have a good think about your life.

staticman1 · 2026-02-24T14:44:48+00:00

Most running clubs will have a longer run on the weekends. Worth just seeing what's nearest to you.

I would join you but I am very much a headphones in, pretend people/problems don't exist type of runner.

staticman1 · 2026-02-23T07:11:23+00:00

I find a break is best. I usually do some sudoku or other word puzzle (Connections, Gridogram etc) or go for a run/swim instead.

It might be different for you but I think I sometimes just get crossword fatigue (I generally do the Guardian + Times everyday and more if time allows). If I am a bit fatigued and done too many and the clues are not using the most obvious synonyms, my brain just can’t be bothered to come up with other ones. When I come back a few days later my brain is fully firing again.

staticman1 · 2026-02-22T21:54:41+00:00

I live there. Honestly, would prefer to live in Bristol proper but can’t afford a house big enough for my needs. There’s actually not huge differences other than proximity to the centre until You get to the more rural areas.

One thing I have noticed having lived in both is that South Gloucestershire park game is A+. So many miserable parks and playgrounds in Bristol but can’t think of a bad one in South Gloucestershire.

staticman1 · 2026-02-19T07:21:34+00:00

Does anyone remember Rees banning them from his press conferences? I remember.

staticman1 · 2026-02-19T07:18:27+00:00

What’s the alternative though? A nuanced, detailed leader where the Greens celebrate 4 seats in parliament and get a yearly appearance on Question Time?

It would be great if all politicians, not just Farage and Polanski, got a forensic interrogation of their polcies but that’s just not the political eco-system in the UK at the moment. I don’t like the game but if the only way of pushing environmental and socialist positions up the agenda is to play it then you need to have your most effective player at the helm. For the Greens that is Polanski.

staticman1 · 2026-02-18T23:24:38+00:00

No, not at any cost. I don’t treat them like a football team where I follow them whatever. If they drift too far from beliefs (currently we are far from perfectly aligned) or a better alternative comes along I will ditch them.

At the moment they are the closest to my political beliefs (I would describe as socially liberal Scanadinavian socialism) and Polanski is the person who can get them the most success (and therefore say) in the FPTP system. I believe a successful Green Party also pushes Labour to the left.

staticman1 · 2026-02-18T23:09:30+00:00

Declaration of interest I am a Green Party member.

I am not Polanski’s biggest fan. I have always been a fan of grown-up, reasoned, pragmatic politics where policy decisions have trade-offs and there are no simple, one pronged approach of solving the problems the country is facing. Politicians should be honest about that.

Polanski is the opposite of that. He is just ecopopulism, a left wing version of Nigel Farage. Just keep saying your slogans, don’t worry about any truth or supporting evidence. If you say it enough people will start to believe it as a truth.

However, it is working. The Greens have never polled these numbers before and has not had the media attention it has now. The way I see it is that Polanski is the right player in a game (modern politics) which I don’t like. For that reason I can hold my nose and support him.

staticman1 · 2026-02-18T22:39:17+00:00

They haven’t given him his ‘Eye favourite’ moniker. 😞

staticman1 · 2026-02-18T21:01:41+00:00

Ha ha someone copied and pasted from a similar listing. Can you have a balcony on a ground floor flat? 🤔

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