Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
For the weekend prize crosswords I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them. A full analysis of this puzzle will be available at 12.00 next Friday, 29th May.
Some hints to get you started:
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
Peter Biddlecombe’s full review of this puzzle will be published at 12.00 on Thursday, 28th May.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *
After yesterday’s brilliant Toughie we come down to earth with a bump today. This is the 151st Toughie and I’ve done nearly all of them, and this is my least favourite of the lot. There are a few nice clues but these are overwhelmed by many with poor wordplay and/or surface reading.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
Another relatively tricky Friday crossword. With a mixed bag of clues, some good some bad.
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Peter Biddlecombe and I will be among those present in the Edgar Wallace pub in London from 5 – 8 pm. Drop in and have a drink with us if you are in town today. Full details can be found here:
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Another mixed bag of a Saturday puzzle for me. The grid is rather perverse. Combining 14-letter answers with the two 15-letter acrosses is a nice idea, but done a bit hamfistedly, making double unches (start of 7D, end of 17D), and although the 3 of 7 checking letters in these answers were uncommon enough to make these answers pretty clear, the double unches are not impressive. We also get four 5-letter answers with 2 letters checked, though again the checking letters for them are relatively helpful. The clues are generally good – I seem to be grumbling less than usual below – though the last one was disappointing.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Hebden Bridge! I have now moved to my new flat and am settling in well. It was nice to pick up a crossword after a couple of days’ break and this Toughie was certainly one that merited the name, and was extremely enjoyable. Apologies for being late with today’s blog, a combination of unexpected visitors and workmen, conspired to make me run late.
Micawber is one of my favourite setters from elsewhere and this puzzle contained all the hallmarks of his puzzles. There were some lovely surface readings and clues to make you laugh out loud, although I am a bit puzzled about 2 down and there is a slip in 6 down.
Clue answers are contained inside the squiggly brackets, so highlight inside to see them. As usual, I am always pleased to read your thoughts, and many of the setters also visit here to see what you have to say and appreciate your feedback.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This is a good, solid puzzle with some nice surface readings. I always think that if you are amused by the first clue across, which was the case for me here, then you are pre-disposed to like the whole puzzle.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
I got 1a and 1d immediately and thought that the whole thing was going to be a doddle – how wrong can you be? Nearly every clue after that needed to be winkled out, and even after getting the solution to some of them (notably 7d) I struggled to work out the wordplay. But it was an enjoyable challenge, with some nice surface readings.
