Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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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.
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
A chilly, wet and gloomy morning makes this a perfect day to stay indoors and do battle with what I thought was a proper, almost 5* Toughie. Continue reading “Toughie 3778”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. I found today’s puzzle similar to yesterday’s in terms of difficulty. Some general knowledge of Greek mythology and literature is needed, and there are one or two more obscure words, but everything is fairly clued. There is also a very groanworthy Quickie pun. My favourite clue, and the one that gave me the biggest laugh, was 17a. Many thanks to our setter.
Sunday Toughie No 246 by Hudson
Full Review by Gazza
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This puzzle was published on 11/10/26
Hudson has provided a very entertaining Toughie this week.
Across Clues
1a Hit extremely elegant golf shot (6)
SOCKET: an informal verb to hit (sock) and the outer letters of elegant. The answer is a rather obscure word for a golf stroke using the shaft of an iron club (thanks to the BRB). Continue reading “Sunday Toughie 246 (full review)”
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This puzzle was published on 11th October 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. Dada has given us an enjoyable solve this Sunday and now I present to you a full review of his puzzle. Hope to have your valuable feedback and comments. Continue reading “ST 3390 (Full Review)”
Toughie No 3777 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****
Welcome to a grey and damp Wirral. Dead calm, but that just means the drizzle isn’t going anywhere fast.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** Enjoyment ***/****
A miserable, damp & somewhat chilly morning here in Harpenden so no excuses for not attending to neglected domestic chores.
Not sure if it was just me being slower on the uptake than normal but I found this one maybe a tad trickier than usual for a Tuesday & a slower grid fill than Heron’s puzzle yesterday. Unmistakably an Anthony Plumb production with all the usual characteristics of his setting style & a very enjoyable solve it was too. I’m far from confident that I’ve pegged the Quickie pun correctly – Jonathan Ross issuing advice to the remedial English Lit class is the best I can come up with. As ever I’ll be interested to hear what others make of the puzzle.
Dada is on duty over in t’other place & though I’ve only glanced at it briefly it looks reasonably accessible (late correction – first appearances can be deceptive 🤔). Tuesday Toughies are usually the day to dip your toes into deeper waters if looking for a further challenge but today’s is challenging. Whybird will be delighted to hear your thoughts.
As usual there is a selection of music to enjoy or ignore. Apologies if I’ve gone overboard a bit.
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.
Hello again. Falcon will be back blogging next week.
I’m looking forward to meeting our regular Monday setters Heron and Weatherman at the Sloggers & Betters event (it’s a Spoonerism) in York next weekend. Is today’s Telegraph Crossword by one of them? It’s hard to say, not least because I’m writing this introduction on Sunday evening, before having seen the puzzle.
The sixth Sunday Toughie from Silvanus was a pleasure to solve, but I am going to have to rush this blog a bit as I am going to the Ilkley Literary Festival to a talk about a crossword-related crime mystery that Smylers mentioned on Monday
I will add nudges and comments afterwards
Here we go…
Enigmatic Variations 1769 (Hints)
DAY JOB by ARTIX
Hints and tips by Gabriel
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AI is getting good. Very very good. Claude took about 30 seconds to figure out the theme and most of the clues.… Continue reading
