Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *
Tilsit covered my Tuesday slot, while I am covering Thursday to allow crypticsue to deputise for Dutch tomorrow.
I found this to be a slog with no satisfaction on completion. I’m sure others will disagree. What a contrast to the excellent puzzle that I have just solved that will appear as Saturday’s NTSPP. Continue reading “Toughie 2496”
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Zandio is fast becoming one of my favourite Toughie setters as he always gives us a proper Toughie where the difficulty comes from cleverly written clues without needing to use obscurities
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***/****
Slow to start but then progressed smoothly as the checkers started coming in. Some lovely clues made this an enjoyable solve
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. … Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
We haven’t had a Toughie from Zandio since last November but I’d say he certainly hasn’t lost any of his ability to provide a proper really tough crossword in the interim.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ****
This very enjoyable puzzle was just about completed in average time but I gave it an extra half-star to allow for the cogitation needed to finish working out the wordplay. It was good that there was only one obscurity in it (the soul in 5 down). I’m assuming that you’re all familiar with the American rapper. Continue reading “Toughie 2333”
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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***
Hello, everyone. I'm standing in for Bufo this week. I hadn't solved a Zandio puzzle before today, so I wasn't quite sure what I was volunteering for. Today's puzzle certainly took me out of my comfort zone with a few clues that requiring some serious pondering to parse. But I did find a lot to enjoy here, with a few smiles and penny drops along the way. I look forward to reading your impressions. Continue reading "Toughie 2313"
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
I’m not sure what I made of this one. I never really warmed to it but at the same time never ran into any significant problems. I’m not sure why because there were some nice touches (though I didn’t care much for the cryptic definitions). Maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind. I’ll be interested to see what other solvers made of it. Continue reading “Toughie 2297”
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***/****
Thanks to our publican and dankeschön to our German correspondent for covering the past two Thursdays while I was otherwise occupied. I have been looking forward to my first battle with a Zandio puzzle. Continue reading “Toughie 2277”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ***
This is the first Zandio puzzle I’ve had the pleasure of blogging. The right-hand side went in easily enough but I struggled in SW. I’m still not sure about 26a, so if you have any thoughts on that, please share. … Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ****/***** – Enjoyment ****
A warm welcome to Zandio, a new Toughie setter. He (or she) has given us a proper Friday-level Toughie which gave me a bit of a shock and jolted me out of my usual Wednesday comfort zone.… Continue reading