Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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Sunday Toughie No 237
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It is always a delight when a new Sunday Toughie setter appears, especially so when it is from Hudson who has 83 normal toughies and many more anonymous backpagers to his name.
That this was a pangram certainly helped with 7d, I bunged the missing letters in and parsed this later.
We have 15a and 15d clues today and I have hinted half. I hope you find the checkers to cross the line, but will try and give a nudge if asked.
Here we go, Folks…
Enigmatic Variations 1759 (Hints)
CHORUS LINE by GASTON
Hints and tips by Gabriel / Jpeg
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The theme of Gaston’s puzzle makes us think of Broadway, but that is not one of our strong suits.… Continue reading
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A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where, across the country, wildfire season continues with investigators attempting to determine if the cause of a fire was natural, accidental, or criminal; sadly there is a significant number of the latter.
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada quite quirky and not so friendly, using his personal thesaurus in places, with a somewhat strange looking grid which required some lateral thinking; one long ‘un, eight anagrams (four partials), two lurkers, and no homophones, all in an asymmetric 31 clues; with 16 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, all BRB verified where necessary, you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand! You might even need your favourite e-search ‘assistant’!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
If I hadn’t struggled so mightily to parse two of the clues, I might have said that I really enjoyed this proper Friday Toughie but I still can’t parse one of them (and none of the three crossword-solving ‘friends I phoned’ could help until I got an email just after the blog was published. I spotted the theme quite early on in the solving process – apparently it is the centenary of Britain’s first Grand Prix [the names of eleven British Formula One champions are to be found in the Across solutions, some of them crossing over two solutions, one name doing double duty for father and son with that surname]
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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. Continue reading "DT 31312"
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This puzzle was published on 1st August 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. An excellent Saturday puzzle from Chris Lancaster that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and significant feedback. Continue reading “DT 31307 (Full Review)”
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Solid stuff from Django today, with his usual flourishes. 1a tickled me from the off. I once filed a piece for The Independent about Britain’s “poshest” dump. There were working tumble-dryers discarded there willy-nilly – one still in its box, quickly snapped up by the hawk-eyed manager. There was even an on-site shop to sell the best of the plunder that included a W-reg Ford Fiesta (with MOT) and a speedboat. That’s Dorset for you!