Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
Hints and tips for completing Sunday Telegraph Cryptic crosswords
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Afternoon All! This week’s Sunday puzzle was in my opinion very straightforward – I can’t remember a faster solving time for a Virgilius puzzle. It still had all the fun in solving that we have come to expect though!.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Afternoon All! I really enjoyed solving this puzzle on Sunday, containing as it does a couple of terrific hidden words and a great &Lit. No hidden themes but with puzzles of this quality you don’t always need them. I have given it two stars for difficulty although a few of you struggled a bit. I suspect, though, that you are all improving in this regard!
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****
One of the many ways my crosswording life improved after I ‘found’ Big Dave and his blog was that I became a regular solver and then a fortnightly reviewer of the Sunday puzzle. This week’s offering was another candidate for best puzzle of the week, containing the excellent clueing, trademark hidden words and a few d’oh moments too. My top favourites are marked in blue.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
The usual Sunday mix of excellent clues, trademark hidden words, great d’oh moments and even the possibility of a theme – well there were two London railway stations in the answers. Thanks to Virgilius once again for a splendid start to Sunday morning.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Morning All! I got the impression form comments on the day that people found this quite tricky. I also struggled in place but as gazza pointed out “I think it’s a mark of a great puzzle if you struggle to get some answers but, when you’ve finished, you can’t understand why it took you so long because the answers are so obvious.”. Specifically here I think that the excellent surface readings diverted people nicely away from the real meanings
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Afternoon All!. We had a fairly standard (not to say that it wasn’t extremely high quality) puzzle from Virgilius this week – no frills or gimmicks but the usual solid cluing, a couple of &Lits and very solid surface readings.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***/****
This excellent Sunday Virgilius just sneaks into 3* difficulty territory because of the problems I had with why the solution to 6d was what it was (I wasn’t alone!) and the slightly longer solving time, not to mention one application of Tippex! I still can’t make up my mind whether it’s 3* or 4* enjoyment but it was definitely a great start to Sunday morning however many stars it gets.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Another splendid start to Sunday from Virgilius – I had a bit of a mental block with 12a but once I had worked it out, thought it should join my list of favourite clues, all highlighted in blue.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
The usual Virgilius excellence again this Sunday. The standout clue for me was the &Lit at 8d.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Afternoon All!. Last week Crypticsue was bemoaning the fact that I seem to get the themed Virgilius puzzles. Despite the tantalising “HIDDEN SKETCH” running along the bottom I have been unable to find four Yorkshiremen, any dead parrots nor even a scrap of cheese. I hope I haven’t missed something whilst just presenting a review of another excellent puzzle from Brian Greer.