Toughie No 458 by Elgar
Expert Logophile Generates Amazing Riddles
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
Greetings from my recliner in the Calder Valley! Surprisingly, and contrary to most people’s expectations, I was sent home after five days! I am so grateful to everyone at Huddersfield Hospital for their care, and especially the fantastic Mr Ainslie, my surgeon, who has been simply amazing. Thank you also, to everyone from the blog for the kind wishes and thoughts.
On to today’s gem from Elgar. As usual, we are treated to a mixture of the clever and witty. For those daunted by Elgar there are a couple of nice ways to get into the puzzle today. Lots of musical references in today’s clues, which nicely mislead, and there are the usual wickedly humorous clues, such as 4 down and 26 across (methinks BD will like this!). As well as these, other favourite clues include 2down and the delicious 14 down.
The answers are hidden between the squiggly graphics written with Big Dave’s special invisible ink made from the finest Malvern Onion harvest. To reveal them, highlight the space with your mouse.
Continue reading “Toughie 458”
53.741224-2.014475
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2561
A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment *****
Nothing written next to this one on the day – let’s see what emerges as I write up the explanations. As ever: lots of classy clues, including three special hidden words. And a possible indication that BG has changed his mind about a minor cruciverbal controversy.
A quick plug for a bit of my own work: my second Church Times puzzle, edited by Don Manley, is available here. 14 of the 28 clues are my own, the rest are changed, anything from slightly to completely.
Continue reading “ST 2561”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26396
Hints and tips by Gazza
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Those who actually buy the paper are probably fed up with hearing moans about CluedUp (or whatever it’s called now) but here goes again. Their usual way of signalling that an answer extends over more than one clue is not very good (as in 1a yesterday) but at least there’s usually some indication. Today 1a appears to require just a straight 9-letter answer – I spent ages looking at in vain, left it, only to find at 25a that a second word is required.
This is a typical Giovanni puzzle. Let us know what you thought of it in a comment!
The answers, if you find the hints inadequate, are hidden between the brackets under the clues – just highlight the space between the brackets to reveal.
Continue reading “DT 26396”