Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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Welcome to the eleventh in our series of weekly puzzles.
Anax makes his first appearance after his debut in the FT this week. Three down and two to go!
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
I chose to tackle this over breakfast at a nearby Little Chef. It can be said that ideal conditions for tackling an Elgar are a pleasant, airy environment with perhaps a plateful of good food and cafetière of refreshing coffee to provide those “set it aside for a moment” opportunities. That didn’t stop me from going to the Little Chef though.
And, frankly, it didn’t help as I found this puzzle a bit of a monster in places. Predictably, I’m starting this write-up with no understanding of some of the wordplay constructs, and (since the fingers are currently busy) legs are crossed that those little lights will dawn as I write.
Favourite clues are in blue, as usual.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ***
If you like your Toughies tough this one’s definitely for you… or was it just me? After 15 minutes I had only a handful of answers and wasn’t sure where the next was coming from. The problem seemed to be a fairly large number of long-ish clues and quite abstract surface readings which looked hard to break down but, as it turned out, the main difficulties were unusually presented (and occasionally questionable) wordplay indicators.
Although my enjoyment rating of three stars reflects the fact that not many clues were really satisfying to solve, there were some super ones as well, 29a probably being the pick of the bunch – this, and the others I liked, are shown in blue.
We really appreciate your comments, so please give us your thoughts on this puzzle. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment *****
Given the preamble’s listing of 7 “true” and 4 “sort of” theme answers, plus the task of identifying extra words in all but one of the clues, I feared this was going to be a nightmare to solve, but it turned into a puzzle of moderate difficulty and some exceptionally imaginative clue-writing. I really do hope Tilsit has some more puzzles in the bank because if they’re anything like this we’re in for bags of fun in the tradition of the best cryptic crosswords.
On a first read through the clues only 2d gave an immediate answer and, strangely, I didn’t even notice the extra word! This is a feature that shone through consistently – in nearly all cases those extras were well hidden. It was a closer examination of 3d that got me into the theme (cleverly alluded to in the title) and after that the fears of a monster solve proved unfounded.
My favourite clues are in blue and I’ve added extra “click to highlight” parts which will reveal the extra word in each clue.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
After about 30 minutes, with three or four unfilled answers, I started to panic with this one. The problem for me was an abject lack of knowledge about the themed answers connected with 4d, so there was more guesswork going on than I’m used to. That wasn’t a legitimate cause for panic, of course; no, it was panic because today is going to be a mad rush before flying out to Italy pre-sunrise tomorrow. My parents live over there, you see, so while I have the advantage of very cheap holidays on a hillside overlooking the Med with Portovenere in the distance and hot sun and great food and beautiful scenery and fellow bloggers turning green with envy, I have the disadvantage of midnight emails asking me to buy various bits and pieces they can’t get over there.
It’s fair to say my mind is on other things, so let’s stop the holiday talk for a moment and knuckle down…
This was a straight-down-the-middle sort of puzzle for me – no fireworks but hardly anything to grumble about; in fact there is an unexpected and very commendable high point at 12a. My enjoyment rating of three stars is only because I didn’t have an affinity with the theme, but I’m sure many of you will have taken greater pleasure in it.
Favourite clues are, as ever, in blue.
Leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
A quick glance over the clues, and this puzzle seemed to have Elgar written all over it, albeit without the linked answers and smattering of numerical grid references. On solving, many clues had that close-to-the-edge risk factor to convince me even more. And it turns out I was completely wrong. What an aficionado I am.
So, you might think I enjoyed this, and (unlike a Jeremy Clarkson sentence starting with those same words) you’d be right. There’s lovely, imaginative stuff all over the place, coupled with some real challenges that took a lot of unravelling.
The clues that made my flag flutter are shown in blue – do yours match?
Leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
I feel awful about this. Time constraints mean I’m writing this review in a desperate rush, so I can’t be as expansive as usual in my comments.
This was a tough one for me, the NW corner taking an age to fall into place. Some wordplay I didn’t understand at the time of completing the grid but, on reflection, it’s the usual mix of entertaining wickedness from Elgar – a fine, occasionally naughty, but ultimately satisfying challenge.
My favourite clues are in blue.
Leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment *****
This blog often contains comments about whether or not the Toughie does what it says on the tin, but getting the balance exactly right – a tough puzzle, but solvable and enjoyable – is difficult to achieve. The three stars I’ve given for difficulty here are solely a reflection of the fact that I managed to get on the setter’s wavelength very quickly, but I suspect others may have found it hard going in places. What I can be fairly sure of, though, is that those who got through it will have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. No doubt the crossword editor receives many comments along the lines of “I think the Telegraph Toughie should be…”; the only thing I can say is that an increase in the number of puzzles by Notabilis would be welcomed by all. He really is a superb setter; imaginative, witty, concise and solidly Ximenean in technique.
This puzzle is no exception, an absolute delight. The clues are completely fair, smooth, and littered with just the right number of “Aha!” moments, and also a few genuine “Bravo!” moments.
My favourites are in blue but I’ve tried to highlight the very best out of a really fine set of clues.
Your comments on the puzzle are most welcome. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
The last time I reviewed an Elgar puzzle it was a “blind” solve; had no idea who had set it. This time I was forewarned so was on the lookout for his trademark trickery which, naturally, shines through in this mega-tough but highly entertaining (occasionally very naughty) puzzle. 4d, 5d and 12d are sure to raise both giggles among the knowing and temperatures among the sweet and innocent, but it’s all good fun.
It was a tricky solve in most areas, but the SE corner put up most resistance, and (as always seems to be the case with me) a number of answers went in without parsing the wordplay, so I’m hoping those pennies will drop as I write.
Favourite clues are in blue although, because there were a lot of them, I’ll try to narrow it down to my top half dozen or so.
Please do leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ***
Did I have this one coming? After several weeks of easy-to-moderate Fridays this came along with “absolute stinker” tattooed on its forehead. Some tricky wordplay is combined with several very obscure answers.
There is a theme, but there is also a departure from the thematic norm in that the completed grid appears not to contain any thematic material. Instead, we have clues presented as rhyming couplets (hence the forward slash bits) and, spread among them in sequence, all twelve of the calendar months. As a result some of the surface readings come close to being nonsensical but that’s hardly surprising given the constraints imposed by two thematic elements.
My favourite clues are in blue.
Please tell us what you thought of this one, and add your assessment of it by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.