Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Measured as a Toughie, I found this to be fairly easy. Less experienced solvers may think differently if they haven’t previously seen constructs like shopper = one who shops or betrays (13a), near meaning tight or miserly (1d), and splitting the answer to 9d as (3-11). Continue reading “Toughie 2366”
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Another excellent puzzle from Donnybrook – there’s little more I can say. Continue reading “Toughie 2351”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
A very pleasant puzzle which didn’t pose too many difficulties – thanks to Donnybrook.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you thought of it.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment **
We have a very gentle puzzle today, most of which I thought could easily have appeared on the back page. Thanks to Donnybrook.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.… Continue reading
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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?