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.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja. Another treat from Jay which I found both tricky and amusing in places. A 2* solving time (but very close to 3*) but the variation in difficulty between the clues is quite large, similar to last week’s puzzle.
There seem to be quite a lot of “take the first and/or last letter” type of clues this week but no substitution clue.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja. This is a great puzzle today but it’s Jay at his trickiest for quite some time I reckon. There’s a bit of a theme in here based on today but I didn’t notice it for ages – stupid or what? I struggled for a bit but I got there when I twigged what day it is (those north of Hadrian’s Wall will probably think it’s obvious and give it only 2*). I’ve had to go for 3* because of my time but maybe it’s doing it in the middle of the night and not being Scottish that’s caused me the trouble.
I found it very enjoyable and with a good mixture of clues ranging from a couple of simple ‘gimmes’ to a couple of Toughie standard D’oh’s when the pennies finally drop. My opinion is that this is Jay at his very best – what do you think of it?
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from blustery Ottawa where we are currently in the midst of a blizzard. Today’s puzzle is a fairly typical offering from Jay – if perhaps a bit less difficult than usual – with lots of clues where one must either strip the outer letters from words or eviscerate words.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Maybe it’s just me but I thought this was a fair bit trickier than recent Wednesday puzzles and I found the right hand side a lot harder than the left! Some excellent clues, as usual, but there are a couple that I think don’t quite work. It will be interesting to hear what others think.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Hola and a Happy New Year to one and all. This is a good start to 2012 from the Wednesday Wizard with the usual mix of clue types and smooth surfaces. I thought for a while we were going to be in 1* territory but I stalled a bit on the last 3 or 4!
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja. Well, I managed to survive Benidorm more or less unscathed and have got home to find this excellent puzzle from the Wednesday Wizard – deep joy! For the most part it’s really only a 2* difficulty but a couple of clues had me scratching the head a bit so I drifted over into 3* time. It will be interesting to know what others think.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja. Phew, I think Jay must have missed the memo about being easy on us solvers this week! I found this to be a bit tricky in places! Perhaps it’s just me! Enjoyable tussle though.
I’ve gone for 3* but my time was getting very close to 4* again. As is often the case with a Jay puzzle I’d recommend starting on the downs. It’s abit light on anagrams so I know some of you will be disappointed.
Continue reading “DT 26741”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from Ottawa where we are having a run of unseasonably mild weather – it may be shaping up to be a green Christmas. Today Jay delivers his typical offering of solid, well constructed clues. I gave it two stars for difficulty as I completed it with minimal outside assistance (despite there being a couple of new British terms for me).
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where it’s pretty chilly but the sun’s just come over our back wall so it might warm up a bit soon.
The usual excellent stuff from Jay today which I really enjoyed solving. Perhaps a bit more than usual because I actually met Jay at the Sloggers and Betters in Derby last week and a very nice chap he is! It’s a bit more personal when you can put a face to the setter! Based on my solving time I’ve gone for 2* difficulty but having written the hints I think there are a few tricky ones here so I won’t be surprised if people disagree.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Ottawa where we are experiencing rainy and unseasonably mild weather (rather British-like, I suppose) after a snowfall last week. Today, Jay gives us an entertaining puzzle with a theme appropriate to the date. I breezed through the bottom half but struggled a bit with the top half (in particular, the northwest quadrant). Perhaps my Scottish ancestry influenced the enjoyment factor.