May 2019 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Toughie 2238

Toughie No 2238 by Artix

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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

How nice it was to get my hands on a real Toughie, not one of those fluffy offerings found in the early part of each week. Too many excellent clues to pick out a favourite

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.… Continue reading

DT 29065

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29065

Hints and tips by Deep Threat

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

Bonjour from Chateau de l’Epervière at Gigny-sur-Saône, on the last Friday of our stay.

I didn’t find today’s Giovanni as difficult as last week, though I did have a bit of a hold-up in the NW corner.… Continue reading

DT 29060

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29060

A full review by crypticsue

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This puzzle was published on 25th May 2019

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

A very difficult solve –it took me twice as long as an extremely ‘hard’ backpager so I’d really like to award it 8* for difficulty.   Continue reading “DT 29060”

Toughie 2237

Toughie No 2237 by Beam

Hints and tips by Bufo

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

I was bang on the wavelength and stormed through this until there were only 2 or 3 remaining. Then I stalled. I managed to fill in words that fitted but then had trouble justifying a couple of them (7 across and 6 down).… Continue reading

DT 29064

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29064

Hints and tips by pommers

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

Hola from the Vega Baja on a bright and sunny morning.  I’m not certain who today’s setter is but I suspect it’s proXimal the X-man because we have here a pangram apart from it’s missing an X.  I thought it a tad on the tricky side, especially the NW corner, but it was the usual quality entertainment.
Continue reading “DT 29064”

ST 3004

Sunday Telegraph 3004

A full review by gnomethang

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This puzzle was published on 19th May 2019

BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

Morning All! I think that the difficulty level was about right and many clues improved, as I found, when you look to parse them correctly. There were a few that were elusive even though the answer was known.

Continue reading “ST 3004”

Toughie 2236

Toughie No 2236 by Samuel

Hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

There’s nothing too tricky in this enjoyable puzzle, although I’m not sure that I’ve fully understood 3d.

Thanks to Samuel for a fun puzzle.

Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.… Continue reading

DT 29063

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29063

Hints and tips by 2Kiwis

BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ****

Kia ora from Aotearoa.

We’re ‘girding our loins’ for an invasion tomorrow. 15yr old granddaughter Alice is bringing six of her school friends to stay at our place for a couple of days. They won’t actually be staying in our house but in a holiday bach on the property and plan to be fully self-catering.… Continue reading

Toughie 2235

Toughie No 2235 by Donnybrook

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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

Kitty now has a full-time job, so is taking a break from blogging. That means that, for the foreseeable future, this blog will be a safe place for ailurophobes!… Continue reading

DT 29062

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29062

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

 

Hello, everyone, and welcome.  We've got  a nice solid puzzle today, with a few excellent surfaces and nothing super tricky in the wordplay.  Just right for a Tuesday.

Today I'm asking readers and lurkers to respond to a survey addressing a question raised last week by Friday setter Giovanni:  Should crossword setters be named (as in the Toughie) or should they be anonymous (as in most of these back-page puzzles)?  Click on the spoiler box below to open the survey here or click here to open it in a new browser window.  I encourage readers to discuss the question today in the comments below.  I'll present the results next Tuesday.

Click here to open the survey. Click the 'Finish Survey' button to submit your answer.

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Continue reading "DT 29062"