Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
Petitjean is John Pidgeon – Click here for his entry in Wikipedia
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
A Toughie in which you have to work hard to resolve many of the clues, but lacking in that je-ne-sais-quoi quality that makes it of more than average enjoyment.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
My surprise at finding Petitjean in the Tuesday slot disappeared when I realised that this was one of his easier puzzles. I didn’t need my “slightly-mad” hat today. There is an Olympic feel to a couple of the clues.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Actually I found it quite satisfying to finish though I still haven’t decided whether I enjoyed it or not. I thought I might find the puzzle on the easy side because I instantly made the connection between it and an item I’d heard on this morning’s Today programme. But despite knowing the theme I still found it a struggle and I felt quite exhausted by the time I’d finished it. I then came across an article on page 3 of the Daily Mail which improved my understanding of some of the answers.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This competent but uninspiring puzzle starts off the Toughie week. No favourites – I found it a bit of a steady slog.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
I found this to be a puzzle that was enjoyable even though I struggled with it throughout. The design of the grid means that the puzzle is effectively four minipuzzles linked by the four 3-letter words in the centre. I did these minipuzzles in the order NW/SW/SE/NE and none of them were easy. Perhaps I haven’t yet got back into gear having had a week off last week.
Please 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 ****
No “slightly mad” hat needed for this Petitjean puzzle. How many of you got the wordplay to 25 across without looking it up? I certainly didn’t.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I enjoyed this puzzle from Petitjean and I thought it was pitched at just the right level of difficulty, though its cricketing references may make it a bit trickier for those unfamiliar with the Summer game.
Let us know how you got on and please take the time to signal your enjoyment factor by clicking on one of the stars below.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
I thought this puzzle lacked the sparkle of some of Petitjean’s earlier Toughies.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
I thought this was another pleasant puzzle of genuine Toughie standard. I did struggle on the bottom half because the long answer wasn’t obvious and I decided to wait until I had a fair number of intersecting letters before attempting to solve the anagram.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
This was quite a tough Toughie where a fair amount of thought was needed to unravel some of the wordplay.