Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Another great puzzle from Donnybrook. The answer to 11a reminded me of an anecdote, recounted below, from a job in Glasgow some 25 years ago – we stayed in a hotel in East Kilbride (Glasgow’s equivalent of Milton Keynes) as our usual hotel (The Pond, now the Leonardo Inn, at Anniesland) was fully booked. Continue reading “Toughie 2299”
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
The handful of lesser-known words were clued in such a way they could be worked out then checked in Chambers. Continue reading “Toughie 2283”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ****
I struggled with some of the clues but looking back the only ones that involved something I had never encountered were the Chinese port in 10 Across and the American “spin” in 7 Down. This was certainly not a typical (Fluffy) Tuesday puzzle! Continue reading “Toughie 2267”
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
As usual, Donnybrook teases and tantalises. There’s a lot to enjoy in this puzzle, and the words which were new to me were clued fairly. Favourite clue is a dead heat between 16 Down, which took a while to parse, and 19 Down, with its brilliantly conceived definition.… Continue reading >
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Kitty now has a full-time job, so is taking a break from blogging. That means that, for the foreseeable future, this blog will be a safe place for ailurophobes!… Continue reading >
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Hello to you all — I hope you had a lovely Easter weekend. It was certainly hot here. After such a long and hard one, I’m looking forward to going back to work for a rest.*
It’s been a good while since Donnybrook last appeared on a Tuesday, and it’s great to see him today. While I did have to check the odd half-remembered fact or unknown word deduced from wordplay, everything resolved smoothly and it was a pleasure to solve. How was it for you?
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ***
Given the amount of GK that’s contained in this puzzle I’m surprised that it didn’t actually pose many problems. I think I was helped by getting all four of the 15-letter answers fairly quickly.… Continue reading >
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
This is an interesting mixture of fairly straightforward clues (e.g. 9a and 3d where the answers leap out at you) and clues with clever and misleading definitions (e.g.… Continue reading >
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ****
I emerged from hibernation to do battle with the Toughie and found it to be a puzzle of two halves. The right-hand side went in with little difficulty but then I struggled with the left-hand side which seemed to contain more than its fair share of less familiar words.… Continue reading >
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
After yesterday’s pretty tough start to the new year we’re back on gentler ground today with an enjoyable puzzle. Thanks to Donnybrook.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.… Continue reading >