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 ***
We have a fairly straightforward challenge from Giovanni today (what I would call a bread-and-butter puzzle rather than a firecracker). Let us know what you thought in a comment.
As always the answers are concealed between the brackets under the clues – highlight the space between the brackets to make one visible.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Big Dave reckoned that this would be a gentle solve and so it proved. It was a pleasant enough puzzle but far from Toughie standard. There were some answers (10 Ac, 1 Dn, 3 Dn) where I was not familiar with the meanings used, but they were obvious enough from the wordplay.
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 ***
Afternoon All!. We have an archetypal Cephas puzzle with no really difficulties but one possible bone of contention at 24d. Personally I enjoyed it, hence the 3 stars.
Continue reading “DT 26301”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
A mundane puzzle from our mystery setter(s). I can’t see anyone owning up to this one. Nothing really wrong with it, just lacking lustre.
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 ****
Not for the first time I find myself reviewing a Shamus puzzle two days in a row. As Toughies go this is not one of the hardest and I enjoyed solving it a lot though I found the right-hand side quite a bit easier than the left.
Let us know what you thought in a comment, and please remember to grade the puzzle by clicking on one of the stars at the bottom.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
A fairly straight forward mid week offering from Jay, with the usual number of interesting anagrams and a couple of clues to give you pause for thought, hence my awarding it three stars for difficulty. Although it took me the longest to work out, I am going for 23a as my favourite clue today.
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 ****
You never quite know which Giovanni is going to turn up when you tackle one of his Toughies. Having said that, it didn’t take me long to realise that I was in for a struggle today. The usual smattering of religious references and (almost – see 24a) impeccable cluing produced an excellent puzzle.
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 ***
Two clues turned this Shamus puzzle, for me, from a 3* to a 4* for difficulty – 14a which was the last to go in and which I’d have got much quicker if I’d realised earlier that it contained the one letter necessary to turn the puzzle into a pangram, and 30a which I made much more difficult by foolishly writing in 23d as a noun rather than a verb. Let us know how you got on in a comment.
If you need to see the answers, they are hidden between the brackets under the clues. Just drag your cursor through the white space between the brackets to reveal one.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
One of Rufus’ easier crosswords today – I think. If I hadn’t initially put Victoria in at 2d it would have been a “one or two stopper” to quote Prolixic. But that still doesn’t stop it from being entertaining and a fun crossword to do.
If the hints don’t help, just highlight the space in the curly brackets to reveal the answer.
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Another excellent puzzle from Virgilius – enjoy!
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, 30th July.