Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
I look forward on a Thursday to getting a Ray T puzzle, but one look at the Quick crossword confirmed that today is not his turn. Instead we have this puzzle, probably from Petitjean.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
I really enjoyed this puzzle, although I thought it was fairly mild in terms of difficulty. Osmosis quite often hides Ninas in his puzzles but I can’t find any today – let us know if you can!
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where it’s pretty chilly but the sun’s just come over our back wall so it might warm up a bit soon.
The usual excellent stuff from Jay today which I really enjoyed solving. Perhaps a bit more than usual because I actually met Jay at the Sloggers and Betters in Derby last week and a very nice chap he is! It’s a bit more personal when you can put a face to the setter! Based on my solving time I’ve gone for 2* difficulty but having written the hints I think there are a few tricky ones here so I won’t be surprised if people disagree.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *
Today marks 25 years of crosswords like this by, and I quote, “one of the stars of the crossword world“.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
It could be that I’m just feeling out of sorts this morning but I didn’t enjoy this puzzle very much. There are lots of anagrams and also many clues where you have to cut out individual letters as part of the wordplay. Let us know your opinion.
If you want to see an answer just highlight the spaces between the brackets under the clue.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Pretty straight forward stuff today from Rufus, but still as entertaining as ever.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
Greetings from the Calder Valley and not from the NHS controlled part of it! I came home yesterday and although I feel a bit drained, things are on the way to sorting themselves out although I will have to go through things a few more times before I’m clear.
It’s been a bit of a rum week in The Toughie World (I still struggle to get into the Telegraph site) and the hospital newspaper seller only carried a couple ‘as there was no demand’, so luckily some chums sent me copies. Disliked Tuesday’s intensely, Wednesdays and Thursday’s were fine and today we have Elgar who is back to being King of the Tough Toughies with this ferocious beast.
There’s a theme to the puzzle which will become obvious as the blog unfolds. We have the usual mix of difficult definitions and great surface readings and laugh-out loud moments. Days like this are a joy and the sense of achievement when you finish is amazing. Do try and persevere. Thanks to Elgar for a cracking challenge and one that will live in the memory.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Afternoon All! This week’s Sunday puzzle was in my opinion very straightforward – I can’t remember a faster solving time for a Virgilius puzzle. It still had all the fun in solving that we have come to expect though!.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Thanks to Giovanni for an entertaining puzzle today (which I must say I enjoyed a lot more than his Toughie yesterday). Let us know what you thought.
If you want to see an answer just highlight the space between the brackets under the clue.
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Don’t worry, your eyes are not deceiving you! Snow will be falling on the blog until after Christmas (for the third year running).
In return for Crypticsue’s preparation of last Saturday’s hints, I offered to write the full review. I hope you enjoyed being looked after by someone else for a change!