Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating - Difficulty **/*** - Enjoyment ***
I was among those who had the great pleasure of meeting Shamus at Saturday's wonderful birthday bash for this blog, at which he mentioned that today's puzzle would be one of his.… Continue reading
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BD Rating - Difficulty **** - Enjoyment ****
Psst... don't tell the boss, but for the most part I thought this was a lovely puzzle from Excalibur. I like her short clues with their vivid surface readings and imagery, and had fun figuring out the wordplay.
Just checking that you've all booked tickets for Saturday...
BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***
I made steady progress through this puzzle, which contained some trickier clues along with the more gentle ones I think of as typical of Warbler. A pleasant solve - thanks Warbler.
In case you haven't yet, do listen to last week's David Baddiel Tries To Understand Cryptic Crosswords on Radio 4, which is still available via the link below. It's highly entertaining, and the accompanying downloadable crossword, written specially for Baddiel by Arachne and discussed in the programme, is just delightful.
Here's the link (you'll need to copy and paste since WordPress won't let me create a hyperlink): http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04xrl8t
BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***/****
A snappy and entertaining puzzle from Dada. The third star for difficulty is due to a bit of a struggle I had with the top left corner - unable to get 1,2 or 3d, I was left with only two checkers for the cheeky 10a, and it was only when the penny dropped that the rest fell in. A bit more on that clue at the bottom of the review.
BD Rating - Difficulty **** - Enjoyment **
I found this much harder going than most Tuesday Toughies, and wonder whether other solvers thought the same.
BD Rating - Difficulty */** - Enjoyment **
Whatever charm this crossword had was perhaps wasted on me as I'm suffering a heavy cold. I found it run-of-the-mill if I'm honest.
BD Rating - Difficulty **/*** - Enjoyment ***
A fairly typical Tuesday-level puzzle with flashes of Dada playfulness and wit. An extra half-star for difficulty because I made heavy weather (even by my standards) of some clues in the bottom half.
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BD Rating - Difficulty */** - Enjoyment **/***
A regular on these pages who has tens of thousands more puzzles behind her than I ever will (and amazing powers of recall too) emailed me this morning to suggest Chestnuts Roasting as the strapline for today's Toughie review. I've gone for Gift-Wrapped in reference to the four write-in clues around the edge.
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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment **
An unusually lacklustre puzzle by Dada's standards that left me wishing I'd stayed in Africa. Reading this review, you might wish I had too.
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BD Rating - Difficulty * - Enjoyment ***/****
More back-pager than Toughie, but nicely done.