Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Bloggers have to keep their wits about them tackling Karla. Not necessarily because of the wordplay – which is very straightforward today – but because he often hides a subtle Le Carré-flavoured Nina in the grid. Well, I can’t really spot one of those. Perhaps you can? But … there is a four-letter word (plus “set” and, possibly, “it”) running diagonally from the top left corner which, when anagrammed with 1a’s second letter, should/could give you summat. I may, of course, be reaching. I briefly thought, on clocking 14d, that Smiley might be making an appearance, but the last three letters of the crossing 18a don’t quite get you there – unless you play with them. We’ve also got a flurry of names – Enid, Charlie, Juliet, Victor, Seal (possibly), Vogue, Oscar and Cindy – but it’s certainly not a band I recognise! The floor, as ever, is yours.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *****
A very good Thursday morning from Winnipeg where thunderstorms are becoming more frequent!
For me, and I stress for me© (I have to say that for Terence), Dream Team Thursday seems to be becoming a distant memory but there is no doubt that this is the work of a very benevolent Master of Brevity with some lateral thinking required. The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and an appearance from the Queen, Ray T’s swEetheart, and the plain sweetheart in the back pager with an average of 4.9 words per clue. Also, like Dada, Ray T still seems to be making occasional use of a personal thesaurus. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ***
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the Wednesday back-pager blog. For me, today’s crossword was the hardest of the week so far, with the SE corner the last to fall – for some reason it took me a while to parse 21d and 26a. Amongst my favourite clues today are 10a, 14a, and the aforementioned 21d and 26a once the penny had dropped, but I’m going for 1a as my clue of the day. Many thanks to our setter.
Sunday Toughie No 226 by Silvanus
Review by Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 24th of May 2026
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This puzzle was published on 24th May 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from Kolkata.… Continue reading
Toughie No 3697 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Well this is a genuine Toughie, no worries on that score. I thought the difficulty level was perfectly pitched for a Tuesday. There is plenty of Dada’s characteristic, quirky clueing and if his name hadn’t been plastered across the top of the page, I would have ventured a few small coins on the setter’s identity and been correct for once. 23a piqued my Inner Pedant, 5d gave it a hard poke, and I’ve abraded the top of my head a little trying to parse 25d. 12a made me smile, I liked 14d’s structure, as well as the solution being a great word, but the clear winner of my Gold Star today is the clever, smooth-surfaced 15d. Thanks to Dada for making the Tuesday morning tea work somewhat harder than of late.
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***
The much needed rain with hopefully cooler temperatures has arrived so the prospect of a decent night’s kip a realistic prospect to look forward to.
I found today’s puzzle a good bit trickier than the usual Tuesday fare & for me at least more difficult than yesterday’s offering. It didn’t have the feeling of an Anthony Plumb production but I’m probably wrong so it will be interesting to see what others make of it. Anyway I enjoyed the solve & thought it nicely clued throughout.
As usual there is a selection of music to enjoy or ignore.
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.
Welcome to June, and to Monday’s Telegraph crossword. We’re back from a week in Herefordshire to go to the Hay Festival (which is a festival about books, not about hay). Talks enjoyed by various members of the family included those by Susie Dent, Elizabeth Strout, Richard Coles, Ian Hislop, and a couple of Beano writers.
