Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
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Toughie No 3765 by Chalicea
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from a soggy-morninged Wirral. I found this to be a curious puzzle. Three-quarters (especially the southern section) were very much at the Floughie end of the scale, but the North-west was almost its own separate mini-Toughie, with some relative obscurities and a bit more head-scratching required; nothing outrageous, though, and very clearly clued as usual with Chalicea. 1a was my stand-out favourite today, with honourable mentions to 5a, 5d and 20d.
Thank you, Chalicea, for a gentle and pleasant start to the Toughie Week
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
Work are sending me off to California at the weekend (it’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it…) so next week you will have Gazza to explain and entertain. Thanks in advance to him for filling in and letting me off the leash!
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** Enjoyment ****
It is just starting to brighten up here in Harpenden after a dull & slightly drizzly start to the day. Hopefully it will stay dry this afternoon for what will be one of my last rounds at South Herts as a member having made the decision to join my local course at Harpenden Common.
For me today’s puzzle was certainly not Typically Tuesdayish & I found it a good deal trickier than yesterday. I usually tune straight into Anthony Plumb’s wavelength but not so today & as I laboured through a bottom ⬆️ grid fill I began to doubt it was one of his productions. Reading back through it post completion I’m still not sure so it will be interesting to see what others think. Either way I thought that there were some great clues & thoroughly enjoyed the solve despite the crumpet requiring a fair bit of early morning scratching.
I had ticks against 20,23,27&28a plus 4,8,14,16&17d. 20a gets my vote as pick of ‘em.
Chalicea is over in t’other place with one of her delightful trademark ‘floughie’ Toughies
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.
Good morning. Welcome to Monday’s Telegraph Crossword. Hints to, explanations of, and pedantry about the clues follow.
Sunday Toughie No 244
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Light has brought a great Toughie today, with some clever surfaces and a bit of investigoogling to check the 3d novelist and 23a cocktail. I hesitate to call it floughie as I was off base last week and there were a few crumpet scratches to get across the finish line.
I hope you find the checkers to cross the line too, but as usual I will try and give a nudge if asked.
Here we go, Folks…
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This is Luxor’s twelfth EV, and I have had the pleasure of doing the hints and tips for ten of them.
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A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where Mother Nature has been giving us some welcome gentle rain.
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada very friendly once I had cracked two or three clues. Six anagrams (two partials), one lurker (not hinted, you are on your own), and one homophone, all in a symmetric 32 clues; with 16 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 3784 by Luxor
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This came as a blessed relief after yesterday’s Toughie – no obscurities (well, Planet Normal was new to me but I didn’t need to know it to solve the clue). This is fairly gentle for a Friday Toughie – thanks to Luxor.
Continue reading “Toughie 3764”