Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This is a good solid Toughie with some very entertaining clues and nothing too obscure. I enjoyed it a lot.
For newcomers to the site can I point out that the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets. If you need to see an answer just select the white space inside the brackets.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Rather like last Wednesday’s puzzle, this one is not too difficult but has some well-constructed clues. This could be a good one for all you newbies out there (and you too BigBoab!).
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
There are a number of excellent Toughie setters and Notabilis, aka Kea and Nestor, is certainly one. There is hardly a letter out of place, and this could be given as an example of how a crossword does not need obscure words, girls or boys names or exotic places to be a good puzzle.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
I feel as if I’ve drawn the short straw with this one. There are one or two nice clues, but these are outweighed by a number where the word order has been mangled or extraneous words introduced to try to improve the surface reading of the clue. Throw in a couple of very odd words and some “cryptic” clues which are not very cryptic, and you are left with what, to me, was a very frustrating puzzle.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Another Monday, another outing for our regular setter. As usual, it’s the sort of puzzle designed to be kind to the newer solvers. Sadly, another outing for one of my least favourite grids, with a lot of the answers containing two consecutive unchecked letters, which I personally consider unfair to solvers. However the benign clues help here.
There’s the usual stock of cryptic definitions which either make you smile or wince. Overall, the smile factor is very much in evidence, although a couple don’t quite hit the mark for me.
Black marks to the Telegraph website, I only managed to get in about an hour ago, and the interactive filling is not as smooth as normal. Another black mark to 15 across which should have the number indication 3-3-5,4 rather than 13,4! [This has now been changed to (3,3,5,4) although (3-3-5,4) would have been more accurate. BD]
Anyway, on with the motley and let’s go….. As usual, the solutions are hidden for you to highlight to reveal the answer. Please feel free to leave any comments, but if it’s your first time, it can take a little while for your first post to appear. It just prevents those naughty spammers from invading the board.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Another enjoyable Sunday puzzle, just right for sitting in the garden with a schooner of sherry in one hand and a pencil in the other!
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
For some sadistic reason the price we have to pay for getting an Elgar puzzle every fortnight is one of these on the Fridays in between. While there are some good clues, the whole style irritates me – silly words and phrases and wordplay where the normal order of words is sacrificed in a futile attempt to achieve good surface reading. That it only achieves three stars for difficulty owes a lot to the fact that I have become used to the style. Roll on next Friday!
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I started with the cryptic definition at 26a, and then moved round the crossword solving clues anticlockwise. All in all another very enjoyable and entertaining Friday crossword. Remember – if you want to see the answer, just highlight the text inside the {} curly brackets
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
An extra enjoyment star as I liked this more than most Saturday puzzles. The grid is sound with one small reservation – the NW and SE corners are a bit isolated, and swapping the lengths of 12 and 13 (and of course 22 and 23) would fix this. There are no placename answers, just a couple of islands in wordplay. There are still arbitrary people – three ladies (Anne, Crystal, Lizzie) and one gent (Gus). There are a few tricky answer words, including 6D and 11A, so their crossing might be a tricky area. Surface meanings are mostly good, and I only found four cases of “surface padding”. Curiously, all the 3-letter answers have a U in the middle, and none of them have to – I don’t know whether this is significant.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Quite a tough puzzle today from Giovanni, but still very enjoyable. Some nice clues to draw you into the puzzle, and then some mind-stretchers to make you think. No really unusual words but good fair cluing providing a good challenge. As usual, all the clues have excellent surface readings and if you aspire to be a setter, studying these will no doubt help you.
Thanks to Giovanni for a thoroughly enjoyable challenge.