The Judge Sums Up

The Judge loves language and loves to show off by writing about the tricky clues in our contest crosswords

The Judge will also point out where you went wrong! You will find the wise words of The Judge in each issue of BIG, Colossus Crosswords, MEGA! and Collection magazines. If there are any clues you'd like explained The Judge is the one to ask – get in touch here.

Wishful thinking – April BIG contests

 If you are feeling ‘Nostalgic’ (Demon 3dn) you are feeling WISTFUL. Nostalgia comes from two Greek words meaning ‘returning home’ and ‘pain’ to signify the pain a person feels when he/she wishes they were home. WISHFUL is not quite the same; wistful is wishful plus yearning or longing.
Our Demon looks just a little stout [more…]

Demon knows his hose! – March BIG contests

According to John Ayto in his book 20th Century Words the term ‘panti-hose’ first appeared in the New York Times in 1963 – panties being an American word for women’s briefs and hose, an Old English word for stocking. In the UK they are known as tights.One clue over at 12ac ‘Body build’ [more…]

Gold leaf trumpets! – February BIG

We had quite a few enquiries about clue 135ac in The Demon of our February BIG Crossword. And we agree this was a devilish clue – but we know you expect nothing less of us.
At 129dn ‘Gold leaf’ needed to be GILT and not GILD and at 124dn ‘Lingered (on)’ was DWELT, as in [more…]

Boy Scouts prepared for jobs! – Colossus No.119

In Colossus 119 the Baffler started off with a fantastical sounding word – BOONDOGGLE. It sounds like it should be something much more fun than a ‘Doomed but expensive project’. It seems to have started out as a Boy Scouts braided lanyard – decorative but not terribly useful. In 1935 a New York Times [more…]

Pardon me, boys; Is that the Mega Mix clue choo? MEGA 56 Contests

The Mega Mix is proving more popular each issue as you get used to Christine’s mix of general knowledge, straight and cryptic clues. She enjoys compiling it, so is very pleased you all enjoy solving it. A small number of errors were noted by our judges in entries in MEGA! issue No. 56.
‘The choo [more…]

Four-letter word stinks! Colossus 118 Contests

In the ‘new’ computer world there is hardware, software, spyware and shareware but long before that there was glassware, earthenware, silver­ware and cookware. They all have in common that little four-letter word ware, a noun meaning commodity.
In the Stinker at 94ac ‘Market goods’ needed the answer WARES but quite a few entries had SALES [more…]

A Demon in the lab – January BIG contests

The Demon is a devilish chap and took you back to the school science room with clue 136ac ‘Laboratory measuring tube’. “PIPETTE!” went up the collective cry and pencils and pens happily filled in this answer.
Trouble later arose when tackling 124dn ‘Unfertilised plant seed’. Some thought they knew this, while others hunted it down [more…]