Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
Giovanni is Don Manley, who is also known as Duck, Pasquale, Quixote, and Bradman (all punningly connected with the name Don or Donald), and is the current Friday setter
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
I thought that this was pretty straightforward with not a lot of laughs. Do let us know how you fared.
Continue reading “Toughie 1071”
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment *
A really grumpy old man writes:
Giovanni seems to think that the difference between a back-page puzzle and a Toughie is to throw in some words that are in the vocabulary of just a handful of people. That may well be fine in a barred puzzle where the solver expects to be using a dictionary most of the time, but in a puzzle that should be capable of being solved by the man on a Clapham Omnibus while he is on that vehicle it just doesn’t work.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
Bufo has dislocated his shoulder, but should be back as soon as he can type with both hands! A typical Giovanni puzzle that, once again, didn’t do it for me.
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
I found this very straightforward apart from a couple of words that I didn’t know and had to check at the end
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
Here’s proof that Wrong Envelope Day can work both ways. This one would have slotted neatly on to the back-page, and is certainly not a Toughie. There are some good points – the grid is very open and the clues are, as usual from Giovanni, immaculately constructed – so much so that although 4 down was a new word for me, it was easily constructed from the wordplay with the help of a few checking letters.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
When I arranged to swap this week’s Toughie blogging duties with BD I was anticipating the usual Tuesday stroll in the park. Instead Giovanni has apparently taken it upon himself to expand my vocabulary – there are half-a-dozen words in this one that I didn’t know. It makes one fear for the rest of the week. Amongst all the new words there are a number of good and enjoyable clues.
Continue reading “Toughie 998”
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
There were quite a few answers today (especially in the across clues) which I didn’t know and which I needed to verify with Google or Wikipedia, but as always Giovanni’s wordplay is very precise and I didn’t find the whole thing too difficult (it was made easier by being able to work out the long anagram fairly early on from the enumeration).
Continue reading “Toughie 983”
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
The usual solid puzzle from Giovanni, with the difficulty coming only from obscurities.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
There is a fine line between risqué and smutty. I thought two of today’s clues fell on the wrong side and spoiled this puzzle.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment **
The usual immaculate clues from Giovanni, but for me it lacked any sparkle.