Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
Kcit is Paul Henderson. He is also known as Phi
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Another pretty gentle Toughie from Kcit. There is, I suppose, a spot of vocab (13a, 7d) but it’s very generously clued. I briefly flirted with adding an extra half on for difficulty but almost immediately recanted – it is, after all, Thursday. The floor is, as ever, yours to say I was right wrong!
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment **/***
Pleasantly straightforward. 1a is arguably the trickiest clue but, having seen “birdwatching” used in a similar way recently, it flew in. Otherwise it will need checkers and/or some lateral thinking. A quintessentially Kcit puzzle, I’d say: all his usual traits are here and I can’t imagine (m)any problems. Still, you’ll be the judge of that! The floor is yours. Continue reading “Toughie 3687”
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****
Highly enjoyable shenanigans from Kcit today with a smidgeon of tricky vocab (e.g. 16a’s “age”) and a pleasingly classical feel. There was, happily, no need to know about models of mobile phones popular in New Zealand this time out but I suspect not many of us (with two notable exceptions!) will be overly familiar with 20a’s definition. Still, it’s all fair – and fun. Over to you.
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Parsing 28a ***** – Enjoyment ***
Fairly straightforward Lego from Kcit today, bar one spot of parsing (28a). I had to dredge up some A-level vocab for 1a and 6d’s “amount of work” but the definitions largely jumped out. All told, a pretty brisk solve. Pondering over the mechanics of 28a easily took as long (for me, anyroad) as the entire puzzle! All yours.
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
I pretty much flew through this, largely via definitions. A spot of reverse parsing was required, with a couple of synonyms prompting some scrolling – 28a’s “small child”, for one. But it’s all very fair. There is, perhaps, a little vocab, but once you’ve seen 1a you never forget it and, though, botany remains my nemesis, 3d is clearly built. All yours. Continue reading “Toughie 3591”
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
A surprisingly gentle Thursday Toughie from Kcit, though 16d’s GK certainly had me Googling. Always grand to learn summat new. All yours.
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
An interesting mix of smart wordplay and generous definitions from Kcit made for a fairly speedy solve.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Surprisingly gentle for a Thursday Toughie, pleasingly musical and studded with Kcit’s seemingly trademark one-letter deletions (and additions).… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***