Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
Hints and tips for completing Daily Telegraph Cryptic crosswords
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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them.
Don’t forget that you can give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.
Peter Biddlecombe’s full review of this puzzle will be published at 12.00 on Friday, 13th August.
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There will be no NTSPP puzzle today. Negotiations are in hand to try to get a new one soon. Please accept my apologies for any disappointment.
Many thanks to Anax for providing a puzzle while I was in London watching the Spurs beating Fiorentina 3-2.
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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them.
Don’t forget that you can give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.
A full review of this puzzle will be published on Thursday, 12th August.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
I found this a bit of a struggle. I don’t know why because there’s nothing impossibly obscure in it. I did find it a rather odd puzzle in that I couldn’t decide whether I’d enjoyed it or not.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *****
A bit trickier than some Sundays. As I start to write this I’ve forgotten the puzzle experience and didn’t write anything about it on my copy – just the wordplay structures. More after I’ve written these up below (so to speak).
First thought: good solid grid – he says after only having to set up 14 numbers each for acrosses and downs. Those 14-letter answers in the middle hold it all together very well. Not much more to say after writing up the clues – “just” another easy but very classy Sunday puzzle.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
I described last week’s Giovanni as a “bread and butter” puzzle. Well this one is a bit more exciting with a glorious clue at 6d which is worthy of 4* for enjoyment in its own right. Let us have your views in a comment.
As always the answers are hidden between the curly brackets. Just drag your cursor through the white space between a pair of brackets to reveal one.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Having done the other three groups of signs in previous puzzles, most of us were expecting that MynoT would be concentrating on the water signs today, and we were not disappointed. Themed puzzles tend to be a bit easier if you latch on to the theme.
Many thanks to Crypticsue who has helped me out on a busy day by providing the hints for the down clues as Bufo is doing tomorrow’s Toughie.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
I enjoyed this Saturday’s offering from Cephas. It took me a little longer than usual to solve, thanks to some clever clues which took a while to work out and my trying to overcomplicate matters (see 2d below).
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Regular readers will know that I usually find Thursday’s “mystery” puzzle to be uninspired, but I am pleased to say I enjoyed this one. The setter has provided a good mix of clue types, which is a pleasant change.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
This is one of those puzzles where, having toiled to get through it, I wondered why it had taken me so long. All the clues are very fair and there’s a welcome absence of very obscure words. There’s also a Nina associated with the number of the puzzle (if you can’t spot it see the end of the review).
As always, we’d love to get a comment from you.