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 ****
Well, what an unexpected treat: an all-too-rare Toughie from Robyn. Then again, he does have other fish to fry these days. Not the friendliest of portcullis grids but, heck, it is a Thursday and the clueing is, of course, delightful – largely gentle-ish and supremely logical. A soupçon of French, football and (boo!) AI. Only the exotic 12a gave me any real pain, but its building blocks are clear. I could easily have added an extra half on for that alone but, on checking the clock, a muscular two it is. The floor is yours … howl at me if you must!
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31275
Hints and Tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ****
Thanks to today’s setter for a very enjoyable puzzle. I wonder whether your guess as to their identity will correspond with mine.
Continue reading “DT 31275”
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
An enjoyable themed Donnybrook proper Wednesday Toughie where it probably helped if, like me, you knew the required ‘stuff’
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. I found today’s crossword to be quite tricky – it took me longer than the previous two days’ puzzles put together. However, I expect many of you will say that you sailed through this one with no problems at all! Today we have a pangram for which a fair amount of general knowledge is needed, but everything is fairly clued. I especially liked 5d, 7d and 18d, but my favourite today is 14a.
Many thanks to our setter: I’m going to take a punt on Hudson, who I know is fond of ursine national treasures such as 1a, as well as the legendary singer whose first name appears in 2d.
Sunday Toughie No 229 by Zandio
Review by
Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 14th of June 2026
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This puzzle was published on 14th June 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A nice and gentle puzzle from Dada this Sunday that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a full review of his puzzle for your meticulous observation and valuable feedback. Continue reading “ST 3373 (Full Review)”
Toughie No 3709 by Chalicea
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty */2 – Enjoyment ***
Welcome to another Sunny Summer Inside Page Cryptic Crossword week. I know it says “Toughie” above, and in the paper, and on the Puzzles Page, but it isn’t. We have another TINO and I only raised the difficulty level by a quarter of a star because of a couple in the NE and for the parsing of 15d. That’s not to say the puzzle is in any way poor – it’s neatly and cleverly clued as ever for a Chalicea – it was just over far too soon for me, with the notable exception of 15d. Amongst my favourites were 3d, 7d, 16a, 19a, 20d, 22d and 29a. However, I’m giving my top prize to 15d.
Thanks to Chalicea for a very pleasant puzzle.
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ***
After some substantial overnight rain it’s warming up to an uncomfortable extent here in Harpenden so any notion of golf is out the window.
Today’s Anthony Plumb (I assume) is the usual gentle & enjoyable Tuesday affair that I suspect will not cause too many problems for commenters. Apologies in advance for any parsing errors – suffice to say my levels of concentration in this heat are not the best.
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 my lakeside retreat near Ottawa where an overcast, rainy Saturday gave way to a warm, sunny Sunday.
Today we have the expected introductory gentle warmup to ease us into this week’s slate of puzzles.
I must give a shout out to Senf who came to my rescue on the Quickie pun. I discover I have been mispronouncing the answer my entire lifetime.
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.
