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 ***
One of the better Saturday Prize puzzles today – as long as you ignore the surface readings of a number of the clues!
Continue reading “DT 26104”
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
The other day Giovanni commented about the grading system on Clued Up, and once again we have a puzzle here that I am sure most of you will feel is worthy of more than the grading on that wretched site (currently two stars and three smiles). Part of the problem is that the description gradings are somewhat ambiguous. “Downright infuriating” doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad puzzle, yet that presumably awards it one star.
Today’s puzzler by Busman is certainly worthy of a higher grade than it has on Clued Up and is a good challenge for those looking to make the leap from Daily Puzzle to Toughie.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
I don’t think this is as difficult as we normally find on a Thursday, so I hope the rest of you find it a bit easier (especially the CC). But we do have the usual good mixture of clues (although perhaps too many anagrams) and good surface readings. Enjoy.
Did any of you notice that 26a and the bottom and top lines of the crossword read Universal Declaration (of) Human Rights? It was on this day, December 10, 1948 that the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (Well spotted Gazza and Prolixic!)
The answers can be found hidden between the curly brackets. Please let me and J. know what you thought by leaving a comment.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Micawber always produces beautifully crafted clues and today is no exception. This is what a Toughie should be – challenging but very fair, with several good laughs and a minimal number of obscure words. There are no cricket references today, but there is a rugby one.
I look forward to reading your comments.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Not the hardest puzzle in the world, but a good example of how you can make a puzzle enjoyable with good fair cluing and good accurate surface reading.
My favourite clue is 5 down, followed by 26 across. It is also refreshing to see the cryptic definition used prudently rather than overdone to death.
Thanks for an enjoyable puzzle, and I hope you find it fun too!
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
I will be returning to the Tuesday Toughie blog for a while as Libellule is currently unable to devote enough time to do this and the Thursday daily cryptic – he is, I believe, the only one of us blogging crosswords on the day of publication that also holds down a full-time job!
I just loved this puzzle from Giovanni, and have “borrowed” from Anax the idea of highlighting my favourite clues in blue. One of the advantages of reviewing a puzzle is precisely that – you re-view and get a chance to enjoy it all over again. OK, there were one or two minor niggles, but as I explained last week the object of doing a puzzle is to enjoy solving it, and this one achieved precisely that.
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 ***
It’s Ray T’s turn this Tuesday and we have a typical puzzle from him, but with perhaps more cryptic definitions than usual. I didn’t think that it was too difficult, though I did initially write in Footsie for 7d.
Let us know your opinion of the puzzle, and please take the time to cast a vote by clicking on one of the stars under the review.
As usual the answers, should you need them, are hidden inside the curly brackets. Just highlight the white space inside the brackets to reveal them.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
A pleasant start to the week with a crossword by our Monday Maestro.
I was held up for some minutes by fewer than half-a-dozen clues. The last to go in were 1a, 9a and 5d and 7d.
As usual each answer is hidden within the curly brackets so that it doesn’t hit your eye. If you want your eye to hit it, just select the white space.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
This was harder than the average Sunday Prize puzzle but as enjoyable as ever. Some of the wordplay was a bit tricky, which tipped the difficulty from three to four stars in my book.
Sorry I’m a bit late today, but it took the whole of the morning to recover from yesterday’s session in London. There were too many people there to name all of them, but from a Telegraph perspective Elgar, MynoT and Notabilis were present and I was particularly pleased to meet, for the first time, Derek Harrison from The Crossword Centre – see the link in the sidebar.
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.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them.
Peter Biddlecombe’s full review of this puzzle will be published at 12.00 on Friday, 11th December.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
All being well I hope to be meeting up with other cruciverbalists in the White Horse on Parson’s Green, London this afternoon – feel free to drop in if you live nearby. I’m sure my fellow bloggers will look after you in my absence.
One of the better Saturday Prize puzzles today – I’ll gloss over the girl’s name at 1 down!
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.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them. A full review of this puzzle will be published on Thursday, 12th November. 10th December.