Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Cock-a-hoop to see this fresh double act pop up again. How they divvy up the clues without coming to blows I have no idea. My own experience of “collaborative” writing has been nightmarish, but then my first wife was briefly once my editor. Well, that obviously went really well! Maybe they just pull straws? Either way, it clearly works seamlessly. Nowt outlandish here – though I was mildly surprised to find 16d in Chambers – and all pretty smooth. It fairly flew in. The floor, as ever, is yours.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** Enjoyment ****
A somewhat chilly autumnal morning here in Harpenden with no sign yet of the sun putting in an appearance. Feeling a touch lethargic so I’ll use the excuse of subbing for Senf today as an excuse to do as little as possible this afternoon. The multitude of leaves in the garden will need clearing but that will be the extent of my exertions & may treat myself to fish & chips washed down with a pint (you can take ‘em into the pub next door) as a reward.
Today we have our usual fortnightly offering from Mr Brevity with an appearance of his sweetheart. I thought the puzzle much trickier than his Beam Toughie on Tuesday but maybe I just made harder work of it than the level of difficulty merited. Either way a couple of crumpet scratchers extended the grid fill into 3* time so for me comfortably the most challenging back-pager of the week thus far. As ever very enjoyable & of course superbly clued throughout.
Potoroo is on duty over in t’other place & the puzzle seems pretty accessible (or at least the 75% of it I’ve done so far). ALP is on hand with explanations if required + another selection of 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 – Toughie Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
For me this was on the cusp between the difficulty of a Friday backpager and a Tuesday Toughie, but thinking about it while I typed the Hints, this might be because I knew all the things that might be ‘unknowns’ for other solvers
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ***
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. I found today’s puzzle to be fairly friendly for a Wednesday. Amongst my favourite clues were 21a, 2d, 4d and 26d, but topping the podium today is the bleary bride in 8d. Many thanks to our setter.
Sunday Toughie No 248 by Beam
Full Review by Gazza
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This puzzle was published on 25/10/26
Beam has given us a pretty gentle puzzle this week.
Continue reading “Sunday Toughie 248 (full review)”
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This puzzle was published on 25th October 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A nice and entertaining Sunday puzzle of Dada that I enjoyed solving and thereafter penning a full review of his puzzle for your kind perusal and significant feedback. Continue reading “ST 3392 (Full Review)”
Toughie No 3785 by Beam
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from the Wirral. The Criminal Justice system has decided it does not need my services today, at least, so you are sentenced to receive my ramblings. Many thanks to ALP for covering last week.
I found it difficult to rate today’s puzzle for difficulty. Everything apart from one clue flew in, to the extent I was contemplating the strange oxymoronic concept of a Beam Floughie. And then there was 14a. This took me significantly more than double the time for the rest of the clues put together, but which was entirely down to my failure to detach myself from one feature of the clue and which was actually a lot more straightforward than I made it. However, no such difficulties with the Enjoyment – this was great fun to solve, full of clever distractions, all of Beam’s usual trademark features and a little, mild, sauciness. No surprise that the schoolboy in me includes 1d on the podium, just pipped by 12d and 14a. Thanks to Beam for a splendid start to the Toughie week.
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ***/****
A dampish typically autumnal start to the day here in Harpenden but it’s starting to brighten up & we have a largely dry day to look forward to.
I found today’s Anthony Plumb maybe a little more straightforward than the last couple of Tuesdays. I’d rate it pretty well on a par with yesterday’s puzzle in terms of difficulty & very enjoyable it was too. As ever it will be interesting to see what others make of it.
Ray T is on duty over in t’other place with one of his no anagrams Beamers. It is fairly gentle also & bob-on for the Tuesday Toughie slot so well worth having a stab at if looking for a further challenge.
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.
Welcome, with a special welcome tinged with sadness to any solvers from The Independent who are trying out today’s Telegraph Crossword after that site terminated its own crossword on Saturday. There are several Telegraph setters who also set for The Independent, and despite the puzzles being uncredited, there is still a range of different styles and personalities shining through — we just have to play the additional meta-game of spot the setter!
Talking of which, I was delighted to meet both of our regular Monday setters, Heron and Weatherman, at the Sloggers & Betters gathering in York last month. At least one of them preferred not to be photographed (entirely reasonably), so you’ll have to take my word for it. They both thought Mondays would largely be alternating between them — however, if I remember correctly, one of them claimed last Monday’s crossword and t’other said they were doing November 9th, which is next week, meaning I’m no better informed as to who we’ve got today.