Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
As well as a trademark Geography lesson, today’s rather easy puzzle from Cephas features kitchen utensils in the wordplay.
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 ***
Shamus has given us a good workout today with a slightly more difficult puzzle than his usual fare. Of course, that’s just my opinion, and whether you agree or disagree we’d love to hear your views.
As always the answers are present, but hidden, inside the curly brackets under each clue. Just drag your cursor through the white space between the brackets to reveal.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
[In case you missed Crypticsue’s first appearance last Thursday, she has joined the team as our first lady blogger. Other commitments mean that she will only be able to contribute occasionally, and Libellule has stepped aside today to allow her to take advantage of the Spring Bank Holiday. She will be back on Thursday with a review of last Saturday’s puzzle and is then off on holiday (lucky her!)]
Ten days ago, I was just Sue, a long time fan of the DT cryptic (40 years which apparently equates to over 10,000 puzzles, even allowing for time off for good behaviour), when following an email approach by Big Dave to confirm whether his detective work was right and I would be too busy to be a reviewer (he was), I couldn’t resist a challenge and am now Crypticsue, the first lady reviewer on his blog, here with my comments on today’s puzzle. Despite my long experience, I was quite nervous this morning but needn’t have worried, Rufus has given us all, novice reviewer, experienced and non-experienced puzzle solvers alike, a very nice Bank Holiday puzzle, with a good mix of clues, some straightforward and some needing a little deliberation.
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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A few hints to get you going.
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.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them. A full review of this puzzle will be published on Thursday, 3rd June.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment *****
Another tour-de-force from Micawber. Perhaps not as difficult as he can sometimes be, but as inventive as always with some cracking clues. I loved it – let us know what you thought of it!
A very big thanks to Gnomethang, languishing on his day off somewhere in the Middle East, for looking out the visuals for me and also for sorting out the wordplay on 7d.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *****
More easy but classy clues this week, in a grid that gives you every word-length from 4 to 12
Continue reading “ST 2537”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***– Enjoyment ****
Giovanni rarely disappoints, and this one certainly doesn’t with beautifully constructed clues. Let us know your opinion of it in a comment.
As usual the answers are hidden between the curly brackets under the relevant clue. If you need to see one, just highlight the space between the brackets.
I’m afraid that you’re going to get a double helping of me today. Since both Anax and Big Dave are away in London, I’ll be back later with a review of the Toughie (and in case you’re in two minds about whether to try the Toughie, I thoroughly recommend it – it’s not as difficult as some of Micawber’s, but it is just as entertaining).
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
After the puzzles of two weeks ago (too easy) and last week (too obscure) I had hopes that Kcit would pitch it just right. I wasn’t disappointed. I got becalmed with 4 answers to go but eventually got moving again.
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 ***
[Today I would like to welcome Crypticsue to the review panel. She becomes our first lady blogger, and will be appearing from time to time, other commitments allowing. Her next post will be Monday’s daily cryptic.]
This Saturday’s puzzle was just right – not too difficult, a couple of tricky ones if you didn’t spot such things as the placing of a comma or a capital I (20a and 26a) and even the chance to learn a historical word (20a)
I am torn between a 3 * or 2* for difficulty (after 40 years I may find some puzzles easier than those with less experience) but definitely a 3* for enjoyment.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***– Enjoyment **
I quite enjoyed the crossword when I did it, but when I started writing it up and realised just how much first and last letters are used, and the fact that there are 12 anagrams in 30 clues I began to change my mind… The Thursday crosswords seemed to be getting better over recent weeks, this one seems like a step backwards. Anyway feel free to leave a coment.
Hopefully the hint should give you all you need to get the answer, but if you still have a problem highlight the space between the curly brackets.
Continue reading “DT 26251”