May 27, 2011 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Toughie 570

Toughie No 570 by Notabilis

q.v.?

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

Greetings from the Calder Valley. Feeling rather under the weather, suffering a nasty dose of cellulitis in my left leg. However, I was cheered when I found that today’s Friday challenge came from Notabilis. We are presented with the usual elegant and mind-bending clues with clever and witty surface readings.

I thought we were in for another Friday pangram but I think we are two letters short.

I’d like to thank everyone who came to the Sloggers and Betters do in London on Tuesday evening. It was an absolutely splendid evening and it was so nice to see so many both from the Blog and the world of crosswords in general. Thanks to the lovely Jane T, John H and Big Dave for their work in organising it. Gossip will be revealed in return for the usual plain brown envelope payments.

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ST 2589

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2589

A full review by Prolixic

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 BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ****

Crypticsue is sunning herself in foreign climes so I have the honour the blogging a Virgilius crossword for the first time.  This was not Virgilius at his most devious but even with his more straightforward crosswords there are the usual penny drop moments, supreme craftsmanship in the clues and all round enjoyment.  Many thanks to him for the Sunday morning treat.

After last week’s triple letter solutions, I was on the look out for any similar themes or devices in the grid but was not able to spot any.

I have highlighted my favourite clues in blue, top of which were the wonderfully misleading 4d and great all in one clue in 11d.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.  You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.

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DT 26563

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26563

Hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

It’s Friday so, as usual, we have an entertaining puzzle from Giovanni. Let us know your opinion of it in a comment.
If you want to see an answer just highlight the space between the brackets under the relevant clue.

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DT 26558

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26558

A full review by Gnomethang

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Morning All! It was nice to meet Cephas on Tuesday evening and I made the comment that puzzles don’t need to be hard to be enjoyable and this one is pretty much like that.

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