Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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There’s a new Prize Puzzle available today – with a very special prize!
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, have been selected and hints provided for them.
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Why not have a go at our latest Monthly Prize Puzzle? The winner will receive a copy of The Telegraph Centenary Crossword Collection, kindly donated by Phil McNeill, the Telegraph Puzzles Editor, and signed by Phil and six of the Telegraph setters who are featured in the book (Elgar, Roger Squires/Rufus, Micawber, Peter Chamberlain/Cephas, Notabilis and Don Manley/Giovanni).
Please note that, due to punitive postal charges, while the competition is open to all, the prize is only available to UK solvers.
A review will follow after the closing date (18th January 2014).
100 Landmark Puzzles from the Telegraph’s Archives
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment **
Not a lot of fire in this puzzle, just an occasional spark.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Good morning and Happy New Year from South Staffs on a sunny but windy morning, where the news from Down Under is that England have beaten Australia in a five-day test. (Not cricket, obviously, but another seven-letter word that begins ‘cr’ and ends ‘et’: http://sportsground.co.nz/macrob2014/102593/ )
Thanks to Pommers for standing in while I was away last week. We should have been sailing back from Ireland last Friday, but the ferry was cancelled because of the storms, and we didn’t get home until Sunday.
Giovanni has given us a bit of a workout to start the year with his trademark biblical references and the odd obscure word. Just into *** time for me.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Afternoon All! A double birthday celebration means I am a bit late with the blog!. I found this a very enjoyable prize puzzle from (I think) Cephas.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *
I lost interest in this puzzle half-way through and would have given up on it had I not had a blog to write. It took me far to long to do and I didn’t enjoy it at all. I must be turning into a grumpy old man.
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
The week of easy puzzles continues! At least it does for me.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
To assist the easily confused, I will start by explaining that this crossword appeared on Saturday 21 December (the day of the big Centenary Celebration) but the extended Christmas closing date means that I can only post the review today.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Morning All!. We have a fun festive puzzle from Virgilius from the 22nd December (as close as he gets to Christmas Day). There appears to be one uncharacteristic error at 18 Down but given the amount of time it took most people (myself included) to spot it didn’t really spoil the enjoyment. Festive clues are highlighted in BLUE