Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
Since the beginning of 2010, Wednesday’s regular setter is Jeremy Mutch who has visited the blog as Jay. During 2009, Jay set almost all the Thursday puzzles.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
I presume that this one is by Jay, but I have to say that I didn’t derive as much enjoyment from it as I normally expect from his creations. It certainly seems to have a fair share of charades, together with a goodly dose of deletion-type clues – but lacks any real “Aha!” moment.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
Buenas Dias from a gloriously sunny Cheshire, I seem to have brought the Spanish weather with me!
Maybe it’s just me having an off day, after spending 7 hours driving here from the far end of Cornwall yesterday afternoon, but I’m not at all sure that this is a Jay puzzle. I certainly found it a lot trickier than recent Wednesdays and it doesn’t seem to me to have the usual flair we’ve come to expect from Jay. I’ll be interested to see what you guys think of it.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Pommers is flying to the UK today, so I am filling in for him. Another fine puzzle from Jay, which I enjoyed as much as ever.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Hello from sunny Spain where Spring seems to have sprung in the last couple of weeks. Thankfully no panic this week, just the usual Wednesday wizardry (presumably from Jay) which I’m sure you will enjoy as much as I did. There’s a good mix of clues and the usual couple of tricky ones to keep us all on our toes.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Apologies for being a little late this morning but there has been something of a panic in the pommers household! I got the clues for this last night but not the grid. Telegraph puzzles wouldn’t let me in this morning so I started trying to solve it ‘cold’! Managed about half before Gnomethang came to the rescue so many thanks to him! I’d never have got some of these without the checking letters. Then to cap it all I lost my internet connection for about half an hour!
The usual excellent Wednesday puzzle (presumably from Jay) which I can’t say I’ve done justice to because of the problems.
I’m sure you will enjoy it more than I did – think I’ll go for a lie down now!
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Today we get a good solid offering from Jay (I presume), one which (if I may borrow a phrase) could be described as a Goldilocks puzzle – not too easy, not too hard, but perhaps just right (depending on how you like your porridge, of course). While there are no clues that really stand out, there are no stinkers either. However, there is a rather hearty serving of charades.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
The usual Wednesday Wizardry from Jay. I found it a quicker solve than last week’s as there aren’t any 13 letter anagrams and the ones that are here dropped out neatly this morning. So 2* for difficulty but 4* for enjoyment. I toyed with the idea of giving 5* but next week’s may be even better and then what would I do? I don’t think there’s a poor clue in this puzzle but my favourites are highlighted in blue.
As has been said before, some of these clues are much harder to write hints for than to solve!
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Once more unto the breach dear friends! Another nice Wednesday puzzle, presumably from Jay, with the usual couple of tricky clues to make one think.
While I was solving this one I thought 2* but looking at my time I have to give it 3*. There are a couple of long anagrams which aren’t hard clues to crack but they always slow me down so perhaps the 2* is more accurate. Be interested to see what others think.
Thanks again to the Technical Director for the photos and funny video.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
[The latest addition to our blogging team is someone who should already be well-known by all. No less than pommers, ably assisted in the technical department by pommette, faces, as he described it yesterday, his “baptism of fire”. He really had no need to worry, as I’m sure you will agree when you have read his review. BD]
Woke up this morning a bit nervous as it’s my debut in the Land of Blog!
All sorts of questions – What happens if I can’t solve the crossword? or don’t understand some of the wordplay? or worse – the DT crossword editor has an aberration and accidently publishes an Elgar Toughie as today’s cryptic! Aargh!
I needn’t have worried as the Wednesday Wizard has come up trumps once again!
A nice mix of clues and some which make one think a bit. I’ve given it 3* for overall difficulty (based on my solving time) but there are a few clues definitely in the 4* category. I’ve marked my favourites in blue.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
While I enjoyed this puzzle and was able to complete it fairly readily, I found it considerably more of a challenge to review. I found that the clues ran the gamut – from quite simple to very tricky. For a while I thought it might merit 2* for difficulty, but a few clues whose wordplay left me scratching my head for quite some time caused me to rethink the rating.