Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
Elkamere is Dean Mayer, who also sets for The Times, as Anax in The Independent and as Loroso in the FT
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
Always a joy. Today’s Elkamere has several easy ways in and plenty to keep you on your toes. My bottom half went in quickly and my top right hand corner yielded last.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
One of the joys of the Friday slot is having an Elkamere to blog and finding out it is a pangram. I made more use of Chambers than usual, though turns out I had come across all of the grid entries before.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
Always a pleasure to blog an Elkamere. The shorter the clues, the shorter the hints! And it’s a pangram! There were a couple of new words for me today.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
A pleasant surprise to find an Elkamere at the end of the week – a pangram no less. This puzzle is nicely subtle, with several clues that I entered tentatively and only worked out why they were right later on.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I’ve enjoyed every Elkamere puzzle I’ve ever done and today is no exception. In the past they have sometimes been fiendishly difficult; less so recently – which is just fine by me.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment *****
Elkamere is in a kind mood today. This is an excellent puzzle that should be fun also for those who normally tackle the back-pager. Elkamere’s usual trademarks of concise clueing, clever wordplay and nicely disguised definitions make this a pleasure to solve.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
Always a pleasure to have an Elkamere to blog. We have beautifully concise clues as always, and a brief mention of Christmas (18d).
Definitions are underlined. The hints aim to help you unravel the wordplay.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
We have a pangram from Elkamere! I was on the lookout for an X in NW, my last quadrant. A fun and tricky puzzle, where I was repeatedly misled and where I learned to pay attention to the punctuation.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment *****
To end the week, we have another highly enjoyable puzzle with Elkamere’s trademark concise clueing, witty surfaces and precise and entertaining wordplay. I used to say I don’t know how he does it.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Hi everyone. I’m standing in for Dutch this week while he’s off on his holidays, and what a treat to have an Elkamere puzzle to blog. After a little staring at the grid with nothing going in, I spotted 3d which got me started. Thereafter, progress was slow but steady, with plenty of “aha!”s to keep me entertained.… Continue reading