Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Sitting in the garden with a long cool drink on a hot Summer’s day and doing gentle battle with a cryptic crossword – what more could you ask for? I thought that the clues in this one got better towards the end, with the last few down ones being excellent – or was it that the contents of my long cool drink were gradually taking effect?
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Another pleasant start to the week from the Monday Maestro. Nothing terribly demanding and the usual mix of clues to encourage the newer recruits to the Cryptic World. I feel the puzzle gets off to a bit of a shaky start with the first few clues, but then gets into its stride and delivers what we expect on a Monday.
The spaces between the curly brackets hide the answer, and highlighting that space will reveal it. As usual, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the puzzle. Don’t be afraid, you’re among friends! If it’s your first time posting, it can take a little while for your post to appear, as first posts are always moderated to prevent spammers, but don’t let that put you off.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
An altogether better puzzle this week, albeit a little easier than last week. The handful of proper nouns are clued reasonably well, and I quite liked the unusual grid.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them. Peter Biddlecombe’s full review of this puzzle will be published at 12.00 on Thursday, 4th June.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
When you see Elgar’s name you know you are in for a difficult time. This one is certainly no exception. There were a mere handful of relatively easy clues, and some where, despite getting the answer, I have struggled to get all of the wordplay. If you have seen anything that I missed, please add a comment.
Elgar was at the Sloggers and Betters evening last week, but he didn’t warn me that this one was in the pipeline.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
A nice easy start with simple anagrams at 1a and 2d and then it got a bit more complicated… it also helps if you get 13a early on, as the “four cornery” feel to the crossword, needs the checking letters from this one to make life a bit easier. Otherwise, some excellent clues, and a well thought out and crafted crossword.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
A very straightforward puzzle with only a couple of points to delay experienced solvers. One new answer for me, and only a few puzzling clues. Grid grumbles: none! A bit of a geography exam, but I doubt these entries caused serious trouble.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
A pleasant puzzle that wouldn’t have been out-of-place as a daily cryptic.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Categorising a puzzle as difficult or easy is problematic, in that one which is easy for a veteran solver who knows all the conventions and has probably seen variations on many of the clues before, can be very difficult for a novice. So the “BD Difficulty Rating” at the top of all our reviews is not meant to be an absolute judgement but is a personal opinion of how this puzzle compares with an average one in this category.
I found this puzzle to be slightly easier than the normal Telegraph Cryptic (and therefore an ideal one for someone starting out), but with many well-constructed and entertaining clues – but that’s just one opinion – leave us yours via a comment!
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
This is a very enjoyable Toughie with some excellent and amusing clues. Some of the wordplay is tricky and it’s a good idea to claw your way into it by picking off an easy clue (like 24d) or an obvious anagram (like 27a) first, in order to get as many checking letters as possible before you start on the harder clues.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
It has been long established that the Telegraph, with occasional exceptions, used the same setter each week for any given day. Recently it has been obvious that this no longer applies – I cannot believe that this puzzle was from the same source as last week’s travesty. This one is not only easier than a week ago, but much more enjoyable.