July 20, 2016 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Toughie 1641

Toughie No 1641 by Osmosis

Hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

I’ve been having intermittent Internet problems all morning so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I can publish this. This is a typical Osmosis offering with lots of detailed wordplay (though with more proper names than usual) and it’s what Kitty might call a Goldilocks Toughie – not too soft, not too hard.… Continue reading

Petitjean – John Pidgeon

It is with great sadness that I learned today that John passed away yesterday.  According to the announcement in the Daily Telegraph “he did not have a battle with cancer; he did his best to get along with it”.

We often joked on here, in the words of Gnomethang, “I always consider that I need to put a ‘slightly mad’ hat on in order to solve a Petitjean crossword.”

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DT 28171

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 28171

Hints and tips by Kath

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BD Rating — Difficulty ***Enjoyment ****

Hello everyone. The 2Kiwis are busy this week so you’ll have to make do with me, I’m afraid. I thought this Jay crossword was quite difficult while I was doing it but looking at it again now I can’t quite see why – maybe my brain is just too hot to work properly.… Continue reading