Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
I started this very slowly, getting 10a, 9d and 18a as straightforward, and then started to struggle. Then I realised what I was dealing with and things got a bit easier. If you hadn’t already noticed, the only vowel used in this crossword is a U.
There is one thing that bothers me, I wonder what MynoT is going to do next?
As usual please feel free to leave a comment.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Regular solvers will recognise the style of today’s setter, and as usual he has provided a good variety of clues and a few smiles.
As always the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets to prevent your seeing them accidentally – just select the white space inside the brackets if you want to reveal one.
Your comments are warmly welcomed, and we specially want to hear from those who have not yet left a comment – pluck up your courage and introduce yourself. We are a friendly lot and won’t bite – and it doesn’t matter whether you’re a complete novice trying your first cryptic crossword or you’ve been doing them for years.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Many thanks to Gazza and Libellule for looking after the blog this weekend while I was away in Cheltenham.
I don’t know if it was because I was recovering from the excesses of the weekend, but I found today’s contribution from the Monday Maestro to be a fair bit harder than usual (cue complaints from the usual suspects!). The cryptic definition at 1 across was one of the best in a Monday puzzle for a long time and I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge that Rufus has set.
Another minor landmark – this is the 500th post on the blog (and the 5,000th comment was added last week).
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.
Continue reading “DT 26057”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
A pretty straightforward one this, with quite a few unsurprising breakdowns of words. But then I knew the funny word at 27 from years of Times solving, and as mentioned below, this setter is feeding other little bits of Times xwd culture into his Telegraph puzzles, which is fine with me – I’m all for shring the tricks around rather than having parochial specials. As ever from this setter, this easy puzzle has lots of good clue-writing in it and there are good surface readings achieved without resorting to dodgy practices like perverse word ordering.
Continue reading “ST 2504”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
I sometimes wonder about the affect this blog is having on the setters. Firefly, known elsewhere as Glow-worm, was the first to leave a comment on the blog, way back in February (Toughie 92) and his puzzles do seem to be getting steadily tougher. This is the first one of his to get close to making me lose my bonus points on CluedUp! While I enjoyed the puzzle there were a number of instances where I had to guess an answer from the checking letters and then pick my way through the wordplay afterwards.
Feel free, as ever, to leave a comment and don’t forget to give us your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
It was all a bit like groundhog day. There was I, relaxing over a late breakfast and wrestling with today’s Toughie, when I got a message from Libellule saying that his communication problems have resurfaced so that he could not do the review. So I’m afraid that you’re stuck with me again.
Not that reviewing a Giovanni puzzle is ever a chore – it’s well up to his usual standard, so that means some excellent surface readings with a number of smiles, not to say guffaws.
We’d be delighted to get your comments as usual.
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment **
Last week we were treated to a hugely enjoyable puzzle which contained references to that well-known character Big Dave. This week we came back down to earth with a bump and while we don’t talk about solving times as part of the blog, let’s just say that cooking two hard-boiled eggs might have taken me longer.
Most of the Saturday papers tend to reserve their toughest or most elegant puzzles for a Saturday, but the Telegraph I think tends the other way, with a friendly none-too-taxing challenge, which generates lots of entries for the prize. In that respect, it ticks all the boxes. However, I prefer a puzzle that does offer a bit of a challenge. The grid was pretty awful as well, with lots of “double unches” (double unchecked letters) and a lot of four letter words which are clued rather uninspiringly. Compare with the Wednesday puzzle where the four-letter answers were clued with a bit of imagination and care.
The other slight issue was that the clue at 10 across was clued differently on line than in the paper. Luckily the answers were the same, otherwise there might have been a bigger problem.
Here are the clue explanations:-
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
An interesting challenge today which I found quite tough in parts and blindingly easy in others. I particularly struggled with the bottom left corner. As I solve the puzzle on line, I usually play guess the setter until I can contact a chum who takes the paper. I have to say I wouldn’t have guessed today’s was Giovanni, it didn’t feel like one of his puzzles. However, it was the usual enjoyable mix of witty but scrupulously fair clues. Aspiring setters should always take time to study Giovanni’s clues as they are an absolutel model of perfection.
Recently it was announced that ITV are to be allowed to infest their already dreary programmes with product placement, and I thought this had arrived early in Crossword-land today as 6 across required you to know the name of a leading motor-oil brand (other leading brands of motor oil are available) to help you solve the clue. Some curious answers today including the name of a Cultural Colossus (see yesterday’s Crossword blog).
Off we go, and remember your home is at risk if you put a tin containing petrol in your microwave and turn it on….
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Libellule was due to review this puzzle, but he is unable to get on-line at the moment, so I’ve taken it on at short notice – hence the late posting, for which I apologise.
This one is certainly easier than yesterday’s, but it still has one new word and one new meaning for me. The answers as usual are hidden inside the curly brackets – just highlight the white space inside to reveal all.
All comments are welcome.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
After yesterday’s divertissement we’re back on track today with a good solid Toughie, which seems to have a theme relating to religion, retribution, the occult and horror. It has some good surface readings with a few smiles along the way.
Please let us know your opinion via a comment.