March 2020 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Toughie 2410

Toughie No 2410 by Chalicea

Hints and tips by The Man with No Name

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ****

Good Morning. The sun is shining here in Downtown L I. It is still deathly silent so we can hear the mice in the attic going about their business (Not for much longer they won’t be) Our twelve rehomed hens are becoming more normal as each day passes. When we first released them into their five-star luxury coop they stood stock still not knowing how to be chickens. What a difference freedom makes. What a friendly bunch they are. Continue reading “Toughie 2410”

DT 29325

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29325

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

Hello, everyone.  Tuesday seems to be going through a spell of rather straightforward puzzles.  Today's offering was an enjoyable solve with no obscurities or convolutions and only a few words needing hyperlinks.  I look forward to reading what the commentariat thought of it.  Continue reading "DT 29325"

DT 29324

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29324

Hints and tips by pommers

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Hola from the still locked down Vega Baja. It’s not been too bad so far because the weather has been cold and wet for the last three weeks so one doesn’t really feel like going out.  A trip to the local bar would be nice though.

Today’s crossword was all set to be a one star difficulty when I got all but three of the acrosses on first pass but there’s a couple near the bottom that held out for a while so I’ve gone for two stars.  I count seven clues involving anagrams so I know some of you will be pleased.  Two of them are fourteen letters so you get a lot of checkers. Continue reading “DT 29324”

ST 3049

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3049

Hints and tips by Senf

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A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg, where in several jurisdictions, as in the UK, liquor stores (off licences) have been declared essential businesses, cheers everyone, hic! :wink:

Seriously, and once again, wherever you are in our cruciverbalist world, stay safe everyone – it’s going to get a lot worse before it even starts to get better. … Continue reading

DT 29323

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29323

Full Hints and Tips* by crypticsue

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BD Rating – Difficulty *Enjoyment ****

*As the Prize Puzzles have been paused, this review follows on from Tilsit’s Hints and Tips earlier on today. I have left the solutions hidden and not given full explanations in case people still need just a little bit of help with clues for which Tilsit had not provided a hint so that they can finish off the crossword.… Continue reading

Toughie 2409

Toughie No 2409 by Osmosis

Hints and tips by Dutch

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

Did you notice? I didn’t see it coming, which I think makes it all the more clever of Osmosis. A superb grid fill, with two symmetrically-placed names, using reasonably normal words and avoiding words like SYZYGY.… Continue reading

DT 29322

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29322

Hints and tips by Deep Threat

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

Good morning from an eerily quiet South Staffs. I hope the coronavirus is keeping its distance from you all.

It’s not often that I award **** for difficulty to a back page puzzle, but this one took me into that time bracket.… Continue reading