Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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This puzzle was published on 10th August 2025
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A lovely, entertaining 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 3329 (Full Review)”
Daily Telegraph Vintage No 23
Hints and Tips by Steve Cowling
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ***
The first crossword to be set by Ruth Crisp and quite a crisp one it is too. It took a while to get into it and I’m still not sure of some of the parsing. There has been much discussion on the blog recently regarding anagram indicators and there are a couple of strange ones here. Anyway, enjoy today’s offering and please forgive any errors – I haven’t done this before.
Definitions are underlined and if you are really stuck click on “click here!” to reveal the answer.
Continue reading “DT Vintage 23”
Toughie No 3533 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment *****
Welcome to the Toughie week from an overcast but dry Wirral.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***
It’s slowly starting to brighten up a bit here in Harpenden this morning so looks perfect for this afternoon’s scheduled battle with bats & ball on the links.
Today’s Plumb production is a reasonably straightforward proposition in terms of filling in the grid though I found one of the whys & a couple of the required synonyms less obvious. It’ll be interesting to see what others think.
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.
Daily Telegraph Vintage No 22
Hints and Tips by Rossophile
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** Enjoyment ***
A gentle start to the week, with this pleasing puzzle from Val Gilbert, who started in 1977. Quite a few anagrams this time, with a smattering of general knowledge needed. I’ve elaborated on 26a – a perfect example of “pour décourager les autres”. Maybe you can think of modern examples, when someone doesn’t deserve their punishment.
Continue reading “DT Vintage 22”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from my lakeside retreat near Ottawa where it seems to have gone from July to October overnight. Fortunately, the weather is forecast to return to a more seasonable state today.
I got off to a very slow start with the puzzle today. In fact, on my first read through, I solved only a single across clue, that being the final one (27a). However, the down clues came to the rescue and in the end I managed to complete the puzzle in a reasonable time. I have no idea who the setter may be.
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.
Daily Telegraph Vintage No 21
Hints and Tips by Rossophile
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** Enjoyment ***
Back in the hot seat. Back to normality and forward gear after yesterday’s challenge. Big thanks to Deansleigh. A pleasant solve today with a few tricky parsings. I’ve had to guess a couple. Delighted to be enlightened
Continue reading “DT Vintage 21”
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Almost forgot a pre-amble, An even 14a and 14d clues and I have hinted half. I hope you find the checkers to finish.
I will provide a bonus nudge if needed, not that I expect you will. This tripped off the laptop in a rather brisk fashion.
Here We Go…
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I felt it was time to give ChatGPT a chance to shine, so I asked, “A themed crossword puzzle called Two Domains requires us to move letters from the main grid into a row above it and a row below, which, we are told, are the two domains, and contain ‘appropriate items’. What might these be?”