Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
There has been much discussion in the comments recently about the use of obscure words in the Daily cryptics. As you might expect, this problem has not been confined to the Telegraph puzzles. Hugh Stephenson, the Guardian’s crossword editor, has kindly given permission for this extract from his monthly newsletter to be reproduced here.
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment **
Tilsit is spending the weekend with me and we will be in Cheltenham on Saturday afternoon at the Kemble Brewery Inn and later at a nearby curry house. The following day we will be cheering (very quietly) for Peter Biddlecombe and John “Elgar” Henderson at the Times Crossword Championship. This all means that I will not be available from lunchtime today, but our very own double act of Gazza & Libellule will do their best to answer your queries and maintain law and order.
Latst update: Unfortunately Tilsit has had a bad fall – that alone would not have stopped him from coming but he broke his spectacles as well and can’t get a replacement pair until Monday at the earliest. I will at the pub from about 4.00 pm onwards.
Those of you that like your Saturday puzzles to be easy are going to be very happy today. This one is responsible for me having a very early night!
Don’t forget that you can give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them. A full review of this puzzle by Tilsit will be published at 12.00 on Thursday, 15th October.