Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
A bit harder than usual for me – this one took almost exactly my average time for a Times crossword. That’s not supposed to happen when there are 3 hidden word clues, but I did start rather badly …
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
There’s nothing too frightening in this Giovanni puzzle on Friday the 13th, and it has an enjoyable mixture of clues. We’d love to get a comment from you about it (especially if you’re a regular reader and haven’t yet introduced yourself).
The answers, should you need them, are hidden between the curly brackets under the clues. Just highlight the space between the brackets to reveal one. Continue reading “DT 26318”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
The Toughie provides a range of styles and difficulty levels that cater for many tastes and solving abilities. With a Busman puzzle, you know you will get some very fair clues and usually a gentle introduction to the world of the Telegraph Toughie. Today is no exception. But for 10a and 28a, there is nothing here that would not be out of place in one of the more difficult back page cryptic crosswords.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Afternoon All!. I solved this between a Bacon Sandwich and a round of Golf. When I got back to the ‘blog I saw a number of comments rating it as poor. Having just reviewed it for Thursday I still found it enjoyable (despite some quibbles) and not too hard, but certainly not poor.
Continue reading “DT 26313”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
I nearly wore out the blue highlighter today! Our mystery setter has compiled an excellent puzzle, without resorting to over-difficult clues. “Please, sir, can I have some more?” as someone once said.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment **
I can’t say that I enjoyed this puzzle a great deal. You have to admire the ingenuity and some of the surface readings are really amusing, but 14 of the 30 clues involve anagrams (with some weird indicators), including two-thirds of the down clues. There’s one clue (7d/8d) where I can’t work out the wordplay, so I hope that someone will be able to explain that one.
Let us know what you thought of it in a comment and please don’t forget to click one of the stars below to show how much you enjoyed it.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Another excellent puzzle from the Telegraph’s Wednesday Wizard.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment *
One look at the grid – double unches, isolated corners – and I feared the worst. It was not long before the tooth-sucking began and those suspicions were confirmed.
I offer the wordplay without critique!
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
We have an entertaining puzzle from Shamus today with some nice deceptions. I’ve given it 4* for difficulty because I was held up in the top right-hand corner. Let us have your thoughts on it in a comment.
As usual, the answers, should you need to see them, are hidden between the brackets under the relevant clues. Just drag your cursor through the white space between the brackets to reveal.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Normal Monday service, another gentle start to the week from Rufus. Nothing to complain about (except perhaps the double use of chaos as an anagram indicator), nothing to get particularly excited about either.
On another note, I would like to remember Reg Levy DFC (ex C Flight 51 Squadron) who died a week ago, may he rest in peace.
If the hint does not help, the full answer can be found by highlighting the space between the curly brackets.