Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Hola from the Vega Baja where I’m on double time again. Yep, it’s another public holiday in Valencia (Día de la Comunidad Valenciana)!
I thought this a fairly benign puzzle with nothing to really frighten the horses . There are a couple of clues where either I’m missing something or they aren’t quite right. I’ll be interested to see if anyone can explain further.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where the heatwave is over and the weather has finally turned autumnal. I was going to give this puzzle only 3* for enjoyment but it grew on me while writing the review.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where the heat wave still continues and it’s forecast to get hotter tomorrow and Friday! It’s nice to have a go in my old Wednesday slot for once as I always like a Jay puzzle and this was no exception. Very neat clueing and some humour but it just crept into 3* difficulty for me because I was inordinately slow twigging 6d, d’oh! I don’t suppose you guys will have the same trouble.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where the heat wave continues! With my track record of spotting setters you never know but I’m pretty sure who set this one! It has all the hallmarks of a RayT – Her Majesty, short clues and a bit of innuendo.
Most of the puzzle’s construction is fairly straightforward but there are a few slightly unusual definitions and some obscure synonyms which caused me to slip just into 3* territory. A tip from me would be to start with the downs. I found them considerably more benign than the across clues of which I only got four on first pass! Perhaps it was the slow start which caused the third star as it all fell together fairly quickly once I got going on the downs.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Hola from the Vega Baja. I quite enjoyed this puzzle but I know some of you will disagree. There seems to be more than the usual fiddling about with first and/or last letters and bits of words and a few slightly obscure meanings of words. Still, a pleasant accompaniment to the morning cuppa.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
Hola from the Vega Baja. I’m doing the blog today because archy has gone into a bit of a sulk. The alley cat has forsaken him and went solo yesterday so he’s refusing to jump on the keyboard. Other news is that it was the warmest April in Alicante since 1878. I don’t suppose that these events are in any way connected but . . . ?
On to the puzzle. I’ve not blogged many Fridays (only one I think) but it seemed pretty standard fare from the Don. A bit tricky in places but nothing to really frighten the horses. Some of the clues are much more difficult to hint than they were to solve but I’ll be interested to see what you make of them.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where the weather seems to have taken a turn for the worse. Cold, dark and damp this morning. Still, this crossword brightened things up a bit for me but I know a lot of you will disagree. There’s only one anagram, two other clues that are part anagram, and it’s one of those grids that are a bit like four crosswords in one. Just crept into 3* time for me.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Feliz Navidad from the Vega Baja where it’s a bright and sunny morning but a bit chilly. I hope you have all enjoyed the festivities, have survived the appalling weather, and have recovered from it all a bit faster than I seem to have managed (my powers of recovery are not what they used to be!). Maybe it’s the after-effects of some excessive Christmas cheer that’s slowed me down but this one seemed to me to be a little bit tricky in places, so *** it is. You lot will probably all make comments that it’s only about a 1* (just to make me feel bad) but it will all roll off my back like a duck!
Continue reading “DT 27371”
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where Winter seems to have arrived while I was in the UK last week. At least it’s sunny even if a bit chilly. I enjoyed this puzzle but, while writing the review, I got the impression it shouldn’t have taken as long to solve as it did! As usual the ones I like most are in blue, quite a lot of it today!
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Hola from the Vega Baja where the weather continues to be unseasonably warm. I found this a bit of a mixture. Some real “gimmes” but also some rather obscure definitions. I’ll be interested in your opinions. As usual the ones like like most are in blue.
Continue reading “DT 27317”