Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
The SE corner of this Dada crossword turned it from being one of his Sunday puzzles to a 1* Toughie
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. Today’s puzzle was one of the hardest Wednesday puzzles that I can remember. I had a very sparse-looking grid after my first pass at the across clues, but fortunately the down clues came a bit more easily. There are some very smooth surfaces and a couple of well-disguised lurkers. It’s almost impossible to pick a favourite from so many fine clues, but the one that I enjoyed most was the plucky naturist in 17a. Many thanks to our setter.
Sunday Toughie No 242 by Silvanus
Full Review by Gazza
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This puzzle was published on 13/09/26
A very enjoyable puzzle from Silvanus this week.
Continue reading “Sunday Toughie 242 (full review)”
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This puzzle was published on 13th September 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A truly gentle puzzle from Dada this Sunday that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a full review of his puzzle for your kind perusal and valuable feedback. Continue reading “ST 3386 (Full Review)”
Toughie No 3761 by Hudson
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment *****
A perfectly-pitched and excellent puzzle to start the Toughie Week, very much in harmony with the Wirral’s clear blue skies and just a hint of early-morning crispness this morning. One new word for me, and a few where it took me a little bit of thinking to separate the crossword clue from the ultra-smooth surfaces, so I’ve upgraded the difficulty rating half a notch. No issues with the enjoyment, though; a delight from start to finish. Too many top-notch clues to list, and even choosing a favourite is impossible, so I’m giving out four prizes to the perimeter clues.
Thanks, Hudson, for a cracker of a puzzle!
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ***
Another lovely day here in Harpenden but a whole lot of domestic chores to attend to so golf will have to wait until tomorrow.
Today’s dose of Plumbing is maybe a tad easier than yesterday’s puzzle. That said the grid fill took me a tad longer than usual but I suspect that was because I was more woolly headed than usual first thing this morning. I did enjoy the solve but maybe not as much as the last couple of weeks & there did seem to be a preponderance of first letter deletions. As ever it will be interesting to see what others make of it.
Hudson is on duty over in t’other place & if the form book is anything to go by his Tuesday Toughie is guaranteed to be an accessible delight. Whybird is on hand with hints & more tunes.
As usual there is a selection of music to enjoy or ignore.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from Ottawa, where summer is fast coming to a close – not only according to the calendar but the thermometer as well. Overnight temperatures are well into single digits and flirting with the frost threshold.
I’m once again doing back to back reviews as Smylers has graciously agreed to swap assignments so I can attend an event next week.
The swap is also timely in that today’s review marks a milestone for me as I have now completed my sixteenth year of contributions to this blog, my first review having appeared on September 15, 2010.
As has been mentioned earlier this week, several Canadian provinces will not revert to Standard Time this fall but continue on Daylight Saving Time year round. Ontario will not be one of them, although I understand that Ontario has passed legislation to do away with changing the clocks but is waiting to implement the change until Quebec and New York state decide to do likewise. I suspect a major reason for the delay is to keep the Toronto, Montreal and New York stock exchanges in sync. I also understand that the U.S. Congress is currently considering the matter. Undoubtedly, the politicians in their infinite wisdom will choose Daylight Time despite all scientific and medical evidence showing that Standard Time would clearly be preferable for a host of reasons.
Although still a gentle start to the week, I found this puzzle to be a slight step up in difficulty from the last couple of puzzles I blogged. There appear to be three setters sharing the Monday slot. I’m going to hazard a guess that this one is from Weatherman. If I’m wrong, Heron will likely claim it on Bluesky if it’s one of hers and X-Type sometimes drops in here to take credit for his creations.
In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.
Sunday Toughie No 243
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An almost floughie toughie from Beam, with all the trademarks: single-word answers, no anagrams, queens and sweethearts, and an initialism. Because of his no-anagrams rule, we have rather a lot of double and even a quadruple definition. I hope you find the checkers to finish and will try and give a nudge if needed
Here we go, Folks…
Enigmatic Variations 1765 (Hints)
THE SEVENTH NOTE by CHALICEA
Hints and tips by Gabriel
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At first, I didn’t bother asking AI since the preamble was pretty laconic and unrevealing. … Continue reading