Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
We have a fairly gentle puzzle from Samuel today which produced several smiles (e.g. the privy with no walls and the Lords spouting nonsense). I didn’t have any significant problems although I was very slow to utilise the ‘if all else fails look for a lurker’ rule in parsing 1d.… Continue reading
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
It’s the fourth of July and the puzzle is from a setter who likes to do themes and has worked in the US for the last decade or so. So no surprise that there’s stuff about Independence Day and the USA, past and present. I guess this is a pretty wide thematic range, but I’m still impressed by the 3 very relevant 15-letter acrosses and a grid where the effect of the thematic material is small – the single extra black square in the top and bottom rows. (The 3-word columns at the edges don’t matter as there are only 29 grid entries.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
It shouldn’t take long to spot today’s theme! As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them.
Don’t forget that you can give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.
Peter Biddlecombe’s full review of this puzzle will be published at 12.00 on Friday, 9th July.