Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
Osmosis is Michael Warburton. He is also Scorpion of the Independent and Aardvark of the Financial Times.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
Thanks to Osmosis for what I thought was a proper midweek Toughie with some clever wordplay – I enjoyed battling with it.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ****
I wasn’t making much progress reading through the clues until I reached 15/18a which more or less wrote itself in and provided some very useful checking letters.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
While I enjoyed this much more than the puzzle I reviewed earlier this week, I found several of the constructs could only be resolved after “guessing” the answer from the definition.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
Neither difficult nor enjoyable with a lot of “messy” (for want of a better word) clues.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
Having got all the letters on the top row I was convinced that we were going to get a message round the periphery but nothing more emerged (unless I’m missing something). I made heavier weather of this than I normally do with Osmosis and there are a couple of clues which I’m not sure that I’ve correctly interpreted – so I’m looking forward to your better explanations.
Continue reading “Toughie 1299”
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This otherwise pleasant puzzle was, for me, somewhat spoilt by the inclusion of a second-rate US Politician and, in the wordplay for 17 down, a long-forgotten US actor.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This is the kind of Toughie I like – no very obscure words with the ‘toughness’ being in the wordplay and the clever camouflaging of many of the definitions. Thanks to Osmosis.
Continue reading “Toughie 1267”
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
My progress with this puzzle was stately rather than speedy with the NE corner the last to fall. Osmosis is noted for his complicated wordplay (no complaints from me on that score – I enjoy disentangling it) which means that lots of clues require an amount of thought before one can move on to the next one. Thanks to him for the entertainment.
Continue reading “Toughie 1251”
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This is the first Osmosis puzzle that I’ve had to blog in a long time and I enjoyed it. I made steady progress with only the SW corner causing a temporary halt.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment **
Greetings from Milton Keynes! I’ve survived a horrendous journey down including being stuck in a Portaloo for an hour at Leicester Forest East Service Area and having to be rescued by the Fire Brigade!
I’m at the Open University Students’ Association Conference and am running the Quiet Quiz on Saturday evening as opposed to the Noisy One with balloons and foam!
Osmosis is here today with a puzzle that was tough to solve, but unlike other Friday Toughies, it was pleasant without setting the world on fire. I know our setter likes to make things complicated but sometimes it feels unnecessarily so – 28 across is an example.