Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
Hints and tips for completing Daily Telegraph Cryptic crosswords
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
If this is the level of difficulty for Wednesday then I won’t be envying Tilsit by the time we get to Friday! I thought that this Toughie was great but pretty hard. Let us know how you got on, especially if you found it a doddle!
Please remember to demonstrate how much you enjoyed it by clicking on one of the stars below.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja. This puzzle is living proof that it doesn’t have to be hard to be enjoyable. It’s one of Jay’s easier offerings but I had a great time solving it and there’s quite a lot of blue today!
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *
Same old grid, same old clues, same old …….
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I really enjoyed today’s challenge from a Mysteron. How about you?
To reveal an answer just highlight the space between the brackets under the clue.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Thanks to Libellule for covering for me on Friday. I’m reciprocating today which gives me a rare opportunity to review a Rufus puzzle. I thought that this was pretty gentle and rather enjoyable – how about you?
The answers are hidden between the curly brackets under the clue. Just drag your cursor through the white space between the brackets to reveal one.
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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the more difficult clues and provide hints for them.
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Hieroglyph makes a welcome return to the NTSPP pages with an engaging crossword that should not leave you tearing your hair out. I thought that this crossword was much better than his last with more variety in the cluing. Favourite clues have been highlighted below in blue.
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Welcome to the latest in our series of weekly puzzles.
This week we have another delightful puzzle from Hieroglyph.
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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, and provide hints for them.
Feel free to let off steam about the continuing, non-lightning-strike related, problems on the site and the lack of recompense or honest explanations.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
Greetings from the Calder Valley.
Our Friday Fiend today is Firefly and I found this a curate’s egg of a puzzle. Some nice clues, but a number that made me suck my teeth. For most setters, the clue at 1 across is usually one of the most important clues in the puzzle as it draws you into the puzzle and I can see how today’s looks to be a really clever one that possesses the necessary pulling power. However, for me, it doesn’t quite hit the mark. I actually wondered whether this was Firefly as some of the clues seemed to be in the style of one of the other setters.
I am still unsure as to how the last across clue went together. I suppose I ended up feeling that some of these clues were a bit too clever for their own good. It’s something that causes me considerable personal pain when I feel this way about puzzles, but I also feel my role here is to explain honestly how I feel. As I write the blog for this I am becoming more unhappy with the puzzle. It’s a shame as I really like Firefly’s puzzles in other publications such as the Listener Crossword.