Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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This puzzle was published on 29th June 2025
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A lovely, straightforward puzzle from Dada this Sunday that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a full review of his puzzle for your kind perusal and valuable comment. Continue reading “ST 3323 (Full Review)”
Toughie No 3509 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ****
Ouch! This was a bit of a shock to the system this morning. … Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ***/****
It’s a gorgeous sunny day here in Harpenden & not too hot. Unfortunately I’m nursing a sore back so the golf course will have to do without me today. Attending to a multitude of neglected household chores seems like the order of the day though I expect I’ll find ways to put them off.
Today’s Typically Tuesdayish production from the Prof (I assume) is a gentle puzzle that ought to please those who struggled with X-Type’s back-pager yesterday. As ever it very entertaining & full of 26d clueing throughout. As usual there are a selection of tunes for those interested to accompany the hopefully correct hints.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from Ottawa, where we are (depending on one’s point of view) enjoying/suffering from a heat wave with temperatures in the thirties.
I found today’s puzzle to be rather difficult and it took far longer than my normal time to crack (thus no illustrations today). However, that may just be due to me being overtired and not on top of my game.
In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.
Sunday Toughie No 180
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Beam here with quite a friendly Sunday Toughie, all his trademarks are present, and apart from the sailors at 1d, I don’t think this will trouble THE LIST™committee or solvers too much. All the Beam trademarks are present with a fair bit of “ooh er missus” 17a double entendre.
We have a generous 16a and 16d clues, and I have hinted less than half, allowing me to provide a nudge or two if required.
Here we go, Folks…
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where, after almost a week in a Turkish Bath with an occasional thunderstorm, we are forecast to have some sensible low to middle 20s temperatures before we go back into Turkish Bath conditions.
For me, and I stress for me©, Dada less friendly than he has been recently – six anagrams (two partials), one lurker, and three homophones all in a symmetric 30 clues; with a generous 16 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, you should be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. And, remember, my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Candidates for favourite – 10a, 18a, 24a, 5d, 17d, and 20d.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the what I very subjectively perceive to be the more difficult clues have been selected and hints provided for them.
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Toughie No 3508 by Karla
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Karla’s not too tricky today with no obscurities and is very enjoyable – many thanks to him. I can’t spot a Nina – can you?
Continue reading “Toughie 3508”
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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ****
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. Today we have a very enjoyable puzzle featuring ultrasmooth surface readings, faultless cryptic grammar, and a shoutout to a Scottish football team. Thanks to our setter for a great puzzle to solve and to hint. Continue reading "DT 30970"
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This puzzle was published on 28th June 2025
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A brilliant, straightforward Saturday puzzle from NYDK that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and significant feedback. Continue reading “DT 30965 (Full Review)”