Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
Sparks is the name used by Mark Kelmanson for Toughies. He is known elsewhere as Monk (M on K, his initials)
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
Tilsit has been unexpectedly called back to his second home, leaving me to review this superb puzzle from Monk’s Telegraph alter ego. Once again it was the four-letter answers that caused the most grief, especially 12 & 25 across where it took a while to understand the meaning of “fuzzy type” and “court Arthur”, the former raising the biggest smile in the whole puzzle.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Thanks to Sparks for a very enjoyable Toughie which, for me, was a bit less tricky than yesterday’s. I didn’t know what grey-wether was but it certainly sounds like what we’re getting throughout the south of the UK at the moment. Your views, as always, are more than welcome.
Continue reading “Toughie 1135”
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
This is my first chance to blog a Toughie by Sparks and I thought it was pretty enjoyable. There was one clue (13a) where I had to check out the answer because I didn’t know it. The central lines of the grid (both horizontally and vertically) each have two answers which are anagrams of each other – if there’s anything else that I’ve missed I’m sure someone will tell me.
Continue reading “Toughie 1115”
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
This is Sparks’s second Toughie and the first one that I’ve attempted. I made slow but steady progress until I hit a brick wall in the shape of the last clue (27 down). I have finally come up with an answer for it but I’m not convinced by it. I have assigned the stars by considering the puzzle without 27 down. If I were to include 27 down I would add a star to the difficulty and deduct a star from the enjoyment.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from the Calder Valley. Today is a rarity, we have a new Toughie setter, something we haven’t seen for a long while. Welcome to Sparks who has presented us with a fine puzzle, which fits in well with the Friday canon.
This is a nice elegantly-written challenge that suggests we may know Sparks from other publications, such is the quality of cluemanship. If it is a first puzzle, then we do have a talent in prospect here.
I found it a little tricky to get into and started on the right-hand side of the puzzle, gradually working my way left. My solving time was around par for the Friday slot. Couldn’t see a Nina or gimmick going on.