April 7, 2011 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Toughie 541

Toughie No 541 by Elgar

Hints and tips by Bufo

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BD Rating – Difficulty ****Enjoyment *****

We had been reliably informed that tomorrow was to be an Elgar day and Big Dave had offered to let me swap to Friday this week so that I could wrestle with an Elgar puzzle. I had turned down the offer because of time constraints tomorrow so it was a bit of a surprise to see Elgar appear today. This was a typical Elgar puzzle full of his usual inventiveness (or do I mean deviousness?) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I completed the top half fairly quickly but needed to take a break (to do today’s Times puzzle) before managing to complete the bottom half.

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DT 26520

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26520

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty ****Enjoyment ****

I always do the Quick crossword first on a Thursday to get a hint as to whether or not Ray T is the setter. I knew what I was up against before I started this one, and, rather surprisingly, it took me five minutes longer than today’s Elgar Toughie.

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