Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ****
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. Today’s puzzle is a very enjoyable solve with nothing to obscure or technical involved in the clueing. I hope that our setter drops in later to claim it. Continue reading "DT 31228"
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This puzzle was published on 25th April 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A nice and brilliant Saturday puzzle from the setter that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and significant feedback. Continue reading “DT 31223 (Full Review)”
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****/*****
Great fun from Karla today. Pretty friendly, I’d say, for a Thursday and no harm in that on a beautifully sunny day. Nowt that’s remotely obscure – the only arguably less-than-everyday 5d is served up on a plate. Smart, gettable wordplay and some well-worked, credible surfaces. Very enjoyable. All yours.
Continue reading “Toughie 3679”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31227
Hints and Tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ****
Today’s puzzle is just one letter short of a pangram which is a strong hint as to the setter. Thanks to him for a very enjoyable challenge.
Continue reading “DT 31227”
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. I found today’s puzzle to be about the same level of difficulty as yesterday’s, with some general knowledge required, but everything fairly clued throughout. As usual there were many excellent clues today. Amongst my favourites were 1a, 10a, 3d and 5d, but I especially liked the hapless president in 15d and the brilliant 9d. Many thanks to our setter.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Ottawa, where spring has finally arrived – about a month later than the calendar would have one believe. In Canada, spring is Stanley Cup Playoffs season, the competition for the championship of the National Hockey League. I can now well empathize with those on the blog who have lately been bemoaning the fate of their favourite football clubs. The hockey team I root for, the Ottawa Senators, had a dismal start to the season falling to near the bottom of the league. The second half of the season was the polar opposite – the team had one of the best (if not the best) records in the league allowing them to barely squeak into the playoffs. However, that was the end of the fairy tale season and they fell in four straight games in round one.
Today’s puzzle provided a fairly gentle mental workout to prepare us for the more demanding offerings we will undoubtedly encounter later in the week. UK solvers likely had a bit of an edge on me as it took a few extra minutes to sort out the character from the British children’s novel with whom I was not familiar. As for the setter, the Monday rotation appears to be Weatherman twice a month (on Smyler’s shift) with Heron once a month and the remaining position (today) filled by a mystery setter or setters.
In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.
Sunday Toughie No 222
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A cracking puzzle from Light today. I wish I could have hinted more. The brilliant 1d gets the nod from a classy Spoonerism and 17a ran them close.
14a and 14d clues today, and I have hinted at half. I hope you find the checkers to finish, and as long as you remember your H. Rider Haggard novels and what Zanzibarians speak, you shouldn’t have too much trouble. I will try to give a nudge if asked.
Here we go, Folks…
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It’s probably fair to say that in my four years of doing EV hints a significant majority of the puzzles have been beyond an imaginary halfway line in terms of difficulty.
