Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Kia ora from Aotearoa
We found this puzzle quite tricky for the Wednesday slot, particularly in the SE corner. There were plenty of penny-drop moments that made it another very enjoyable solve for us.… Continue reading
Sunday Toughie No 110 by Zandio
Review by Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 3rd of March 2024
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This puzzle was published on 3rd Mar 2024
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment **/***
I’m not overly au fait with Gila and, stymied by Hungary’s hour difference, I was fearing unfamiliarity might prompt a late night/early morning.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
As Huntsman told us last Tuesday, once again he has temporarily left the environs of Harpenden, this time for the wilds of Suffolk for the purpose of aerodynamic testing of small white spherical objects. … Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from Ottawa, where we switched to Daylight Saving Time on the weekend, meaning the puzzle will be available one hour later than usual until Britain makes the shift to summer time.… Continue reading
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I write this preamble before seeing the crossword and although Robyn has a bit of history with themes, most recently with hidden games in all the across clues in Sunday Toughie 109. I hope that crickety clues don’t feature too heavily as I would be obliged to hop on one leg until we get to 112 as the umpire David Shepherd used to do whenever the score got to 111 or one of its multiples
Apart from an appeal for a catch (25a) and one run scored (14d) I didn’t notice anything else crickety, but quite a lot of Latin and Kings and Queens appear today as well as a fair bit of facial hair in 8d and elsewhere
I am taking Mama Bee out for a Mothering Sunday afternoon tea (The Talbot Hotel in Malton rather than Betty’s) so any pleas for extra help will be answered on our return
It was nice to see that of the four long ones only one was a partial anagram I have hinted half of 14a and 14d clues and hope that the mental image in 27a fades before long
Here we go…
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My favourite children’s comic ‘back in the day’ was Wham!, and unfortunately for those around me I still recall many of the jokes which were printed at the bottom of its pages (eg Q: What did the greengrocer say when he sold his last onion? A: That shallot!). The first few issues were largely the work of Leo Baxendale, whose creations included the memorable Grimly Feendish. Where am I going with this? Well, a mad (as they invariably were) scientist who appeared in an early strip was called Professor Botulinus Toxin, a name which stuck firmly in my mind. Are our setters (for Botox is bicephalous) also Wham! fans, I wonder, and just how feendish will this puzzle turn out to be?
A very good Sunday morning from Winterpeg where Winter continues, with more of the white stuff, but it did not stop us Springing Forward in the wee small hours and now we have a three week hiatus, which seems to be a week longer than usual, when puzzles cannot be accessed until an hour later until the UK ‘catches up’ on Easter Sunday.… Continue reading