Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Good morning from Saint Sharon’s sanatorium here in Barrel where I am suffering the cold both of my grandsons had when we met up for a day out on The Oxford Canal on Sunday. Our first day out together since Lockdown. Continue reading “Toughie 2506”
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment **
I usually enjoy Donnybrook’s puzzles, but this one was the exception. Continue reading “Toughie 2486”
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Good afternoon from the heart of rural Warwickshire where life in lockdown is pure bliss and great practice for our forthcoming retirement. Continue reading “Toughie 2458”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Good afternoon from the very still heart of Downtown L I where great excitement has been enjoyed as a Cuckoo has been heard singing his song in the osier beds. The first in many years. Todays Toughie is not too tough although a couple of parsings held me up. Continue reading “Toughie 2442”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Good Afternoon which is just about when our paperboy/man turns up. This is just how I like a Tuesday Toughie. Tough enough to make me think but doable after a little bit of thought.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
This puzzle required a fair degree of General Knowledge, but the composer was the only one I had not encountered before. Although this was my last one, in retrospect the wordplay was very straightforward.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
I hope that you are all taking care and coping in these troubling times. I made my weekly trip to Sainsbury’s this morning and had to queue 50 minutes in a long spaced-out line snaking round the car park before getting into the store – the weather was fine and there was quite a bit of banter exchanged (at a distance) between some of us in the queue so it wasn’t too much of a chore but it wouldn’t be much fun in the rain.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
The only (small) difficulty was in spotting the anagram fodder for several of the clues – the rest was plain sailing. Continue reading “Toughie 2394”
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Donnybrook makes it simple today with a mix of easy clues with even easier ones, with 10a being the only clue that would have been out-of-place in a backpage puzzle.
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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”