Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30998
Hints and Tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***
A fairly gentle and enjoyable Wednesday outing with nothing to frighten the horses – thanks to our setter.
Continue reading “DT 30998”
Sunday Toughie No 183 by proXimal
Review by Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 27th of July 2025
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This puzzle was published on 27th July 2025
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A gentle, lovely puzzle from Dada this Sunday that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a full review of his puzzle for your kind perusal and valuable feedback. Continue reading “ST 3327 (Full Review)”
Toughie No 3525 by Chalicea
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Welcome to a very pleasant trip on Chalicea’s time-machine. … Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ****
It’s a lovely sunny day here in Harpenden this morning & it looks as though the weather is set fair down here for the remainder of the week.
I did wonder if we were going to get something a bit different today after the shock of Saturday’s prize puzzle & yesterday’s fairly tricky (for me) offering. I needn’t have worried because we’ve the usual expert Plumbing & a very tidy job it is too. I found it pretty straightforward & thoroughly enjoyable from a fast start to a brisk finish. Chalicea has also given us a very approachable floughie over in t’other place that is well worth a visit for those who don’t usually venture to those parts.
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 today is a provincial holiday in Ontario as well as several other provinces.
Today’s puzzle had a decidedly more modern feel to it than usual with many cultural references that certainly post-date my generation.
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.
Sunday Toughie No 184
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After the Centenary celebrations, we are back to normal with this fine Beam toughie. All his signatures are there, toilet humour, initial letters, underwear, queens and sweethearts and an impressive five-and-a-bit words per clue.
We have a generous 16a and 16d clues, and I have hinted just less than half, allowing me to provide a nudge or two if required.
Here we go, Folks…
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Keen to get ahead of the game, I asked Claude, “In a themed crossword puzzle, we are told that in the filled grid we must simulate the effect of an action by moving a thematic block of cells within the two central columns, thus displacing another block. What might the theme of the puzzle be?”
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where the heat, humidity, and smoke continue – roll on September when it should start cooling down.
For me, and I stress for me,© after yesterday’s GCHQ brain mangling normal service has been restored! Dada quite friendly with 6 anagrams (two partials), two lurkers, and two homophones all in an almost symmetric 30 clues; with 15 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, you should be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. And, remember, my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!