Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from my lakeside retreat near Ottawa, where I have enjoyed a beautiful late summer weekend. Sadly, my time spent here will soon come to end and I will close it up until spring.
Once again, we have a gentle, fun puzzle to warm up the little grey cells to face the challenges headed our way later in the week. I’ll be checking Bluesky in the morning to see if it is the work of the setter I suspect.
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.
Silvanus was here for the Friday backpager, with a great Nina to honour the “Mutch Admired” Jeremy Mutch AKA Jay. I thought we were starting along a tribute to the equally admired Mr Manley AKA 1a, but that is as far as I got with setter spotting. A couple of former PM’s appear but don’t be fooled by the former Chancellor; it isn’t Rachel in 4d
I am finding Silvanus with his Sunday Toughie hat on quite tricky to parse, but that is as it should be with toughies. 7a and 2d in particular, and I have given my best guess in the hints. As a consequence, some other quite tricky constructions have hit the cutting room floor, so I will try and give a nudge if asked
The mental image of George proposing to Daisy at an Elizabethan-themed ball will live in my mind for some time, so 7d gets my COTT
Here we go…
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This is Kruger’s 82nd EV puzzle, and his third of the year, following one about Little Bo Peep and another about Peter James’ detective Roy Grace. Perhaps this time around we can expect Little Boys in Blue…
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A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where today accounts for the third blogging milestone I began talking about at the end of June – this is my 500th Sunday blog, not counting the first Sunday Toughie – 93 puzzles by Virgilius (Brian Greer) and 407 by Dada (John Halpern).
You may not have received a blog notification e-mail this morning; that would be because of an aberration between me and my laptop on Friday evening (UK time). We have spoken to each other and we promise that it will not happen again, at least not until the next time 
For me, and I stress for me,© after a slow start, Dada quite friendly. Five anagrams (three partials), one lurker, and two homophones (in successive clues, neither of them hinted!), all in a symmetric 30 clues; with 15 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, all BRB verified where necessary, you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand! You might even need your favourite e-search ‘assistant’!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
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Toughie No 3756 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
I must have been on form this morning because I completed this with less difficulty than I normally experience with Osmosis. Re-reading the clues when writing the hints reinforced how well the puzzle was constructed with no obscurities in sight. Many thanks to Osmosis.
Continue reading “Toughie 3756”
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BD Rating - Difficulty **** - Enjoyment ***
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. I needed my reference materials this week to confirm a few answers. Continue reading "DT 31342"
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This puzzle was published on 5th September 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A nice, lovely 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 31337 (Full Review)”