Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
Some of you may be aware that BD suffered a fall on Sunday and is currently in hospital.
He is likely to be in for some time but he is in good spirits (well, for those who know BD well, this borders just above grumpy most of the time 
).
It is going to mean a little disruption to normal services and we ask you to bear with us.… Continue reading
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You have reached the world’s biggest and best crossword blog. If you are looking for help with the Daily and Sunday Telegraph cryptic crosswords or the Enigmatic Variations advanced cryptic, a total of 13 puzzles a week, then you have come to the right place.
If this is your first time, or for more information about this site, please click on Continue reading “Welcome”
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Not the trickiest Sunday Toughie so far but I still had a bit of trouble in the SW. I solved this whilst watching Macca at Glastonbury, who seemed to be having a bit of trouble in the South West too but he got better as the set went on. (Terence said he thought it was good from first to last and he has put a clip up on Senf’s blog so check it out there.) I had a full grid by the time Lauren Laverne had finished the post-gig analysis and I had finished a wee dram. Seven hours of kip and coffee to hand here goes with the hints…
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This will be Gaston’s 25th crossword in the Enigmatic Variations series. Solvers will remember his puzzle where we drew a map of the jumps in the Grand National, then his final puzzle after the EV Ladies’ Month where he included geographic features in ‘The South American One’ and his ‘Quest’ that took us back to Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author.… Continue reading
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A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where I am now double boosted or should it be quadruple vaxed – the terms appear to be interchangeable.
For me, as for last week, slightly quirky with some Dada-esque synonyms with five anagrams (four partials), two lurkers (none reversed), and no homophones – all in a slightly asymmetric 28 clues; with 14 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues.… Continue reading
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Hello, it’s me again. Apparently Mr Mick Lynch does not appreciate that Tilsit has an important, non-railway, task on Saturdays and that the ‘fallout’ from a railway strike should really not be allowed to interfere with it. … Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
Osmosis uses just 14 letters of the alphabet. Today is the first time I’ve been able to use this to my advantage: once I had a Y, I knew what the two algebraic variables were likely to be.… Continue reading
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30022
Hints and tips by StephenL
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****/*****
Good morning folks, I’m back again, this time covering for Deep Threat. Continue reading “DT 30022”
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Another Cephas pangram Continue reading “DT 30017”
Toughie No 2875 by Kcit
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Thanks to Kcit for a fairly straightforward puzzle.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
Across Clues
1a Place swathed in unadulterated colour (6)
PURPLE: insert the map abbreviation for place into a synonym of unadulterated.… Continue reading
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30021
Hints and tips by StephenL
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone from a sunny and warm South Devon.
Some less than obvious synonyms took me into 3* time but as enjoyable as ever. Continue reading “DT 30021”