Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
Hints and tips for completing the regular Daily Telegraph Cryptic crosswords
Toughie No 3668 by Luxor
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Welcome to Luxor, a new Toughie setter whose name will be known to those who solve the Enigmatic Variations puzzles. I was a bit apprehensive on seeing the new name but I needn’t have worried; this puzzle is pretty gentle for a Friday Toughie.
Thanks to our new setter for the enjoyment.
Continue reading “Toughie 3668”
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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ****
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. Continue reading "DT 31210"
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This puzzle was published on 4th April 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A bit tough yet entertaining Saturday puzzle from Twmbarlwm that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and significant feedback. Continue reading “DT 31205 (Full Review)”
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ***/****
This seemed quite tricky mid-solve, so I was surprised to look at the clock afterwards – it was actually pretty speedy. I think such contradiction was largely because it took me a moment to find a way in and most of the shorts needed at least one crosser to crack. There is a smidgeon of vocab (12a) and a dollop of religion (12d, etc) but nothing outlandish and all fairly clued. Over to you. Continue reading “Toughie 3667”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *****
A very good Thursday morning from Winnipeg where, yesterday, on the 19th day of Spring we woke up to fluffy white precipitation courtesy of an Alberta Clipper! Fortunately, in my area, there was only 5 to 10 cms and the roads and footpaths are already warm enough that it ‘self cleared.’
For me, etc© (I have to say that for Terence), a puzzle of two halves, North and South, but once again not half of a Dream Team Thursday, Prime on Toughie duty today, but no doubt that this is the work of the Master of Brevity. The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and appearances from the Queen and his swEetheart, don’t be confused by the second ‘sweetheart’ in 1d (check the hint), appearing in the back pager with an average of 5.2 words per clue. Also, like Dada, Ray T still seems to be making occasional use of a personal thesaurus. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the Wednesday back-pager blog. I found this crossword to be just about the right level of difficulty for a midweek puzzle. It took me a while to parse two or three of the clues, pushing me into ** time. Amongst my favourites today are 10a, 11a, 28a and 24d, but top spot goes to the brilliant 7d. Many thanks to our setter.
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ***
A pretty gentle offering today that ought not to present too many difficulties for most. That said I didn’t see the why at 28a & as I’m dashing off to play golf sought assistance so perhaps I’m being a bit cheeky giving it just the single * for difficulty. Fun while it lasted but all over maybe a wee bit too quickly. Thanks to Anthony Plumb, I assume, for another well clued puzzle.
I see Django is over in t’other place so that will be worth a visit.
As usual there is a selection of music to enjoy or ignore.
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.
Happy Easter from Ilkley, where for once the sunrise was actually visible at our Easter Day Son-Rise service by the Cow & Calf rocks:
(Click to enlarge.)
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