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)
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
Sparks set the toughest of Toughies, but it is so cold outside, what else were you going to do with your Friday morning? Continue reading “Toughie 2996”
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Some things I didn’t know, but all fairly clued of course. I found some of this hard but there are quite a few easier clues sprinkled about the grid.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *****
Brrr, getting cold and raining. Poor dogs are shivering too, they had a haircut yesterday. Now that they can see, they are being silly and leaping around all over the place, just the distraction you need when blogging.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ****/*****
Sparks often has a Nina or gimmick, but I haven’t seen anything yet – maybe one of you will
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment *****
Sparks gives us a fun pangram today
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
1a Head of Playboy almost sacking cover model? (5)
PEARL: The first letter (head) of Playboy plus a 6-letter word meaning almost without the outer letters (sacking cover)
4a Hitter hit fans of a Cardinal (9)
THIRTIETH: An anagram (fans) of HITTER HIT.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
A nice puzzle from sparks with some ready entries but also quite a few that had me puzzling a while. I’ve had laptop frustrations today, so no pictures, i’m afraid.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
It’s been some considerable time since I had the pleasure of blogging a Sparks production so I was delighted to find him appearing on a Thursday. Thanks to him for the enjoyment.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Dutch has become unexpectedly unavailable to blog today and CrypticSue (you can see Crypticsue’s blog below – BD) has suffered a power cut.
Regular commenter Halcyon has kindly provided the following hints and tips
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ****
A few answers I was not familiar with and the parsing of 13a took me just over 3* time. Sparks often has a Nina of some kind, but, despite being intrigued by the double-unches, I didn’t manage to see anything – perhaps you will (ah, see comment 2 by Fez!)… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
A gentle offering today from Sparks. Just as well, I started this a bit late. Sparks often has a Nina of some sort but I have not yet spotted anything
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.… Continue reading