Big Dave's Crossword Blog » Rishi

DT 26200

Rishi — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 07:00:51 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26200

Hints and tips by Rishi

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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***

An easy outing! Actually I solved this crossword while travelling in a public transport known as autorikshaw on public thoroughfares here in Madras that is Chennai, India, to fulfil a private engagement in a different part of the city away from my home.

DT 26194

Rishi — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 08:00:27 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26194

Hints and tips by Rishi

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

This week I was held by a couple of the long answers for a few more moments than usual. Take 8d for instance. Living in the tropical region, I didn't know of that device, though I know the two words that go to make up the phrase. In 28a, I had to disabuse my mind that William = Tell before the answer stuck to me. As for 7d, well, we in India too have bond, and, oh yes, bind ("Gita, what's it? Wait a minute...") but it may not be band, it is 'thali' which only women wear round their neck to signify that they are married and the man has nothing to show! In 12d, I had to decide that the word outside is CHINAS, not CHINA.

I enjoyed solving this crossword despite a couple of clues that we have seen in the same or almost similar form (e.g., 13d, 16d) in the past.

DT 26188

Rishi — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:00:28 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26188

Hints and tips by Rishi

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

Today I finished the bottom right quadrant first and then the other three in an anticlockwise direction from there.You can guess how it happened. The eye landed on the last Ac. clue which is an anagram. Reading the Dn. clues for each of which a crossing letter had been obtained got more. And so the whirlijig went.

Usually some reservations are expressed by commenters on this blog about four-letter words but in this crossword most of them should pose no difficulties.

DT 26182

Rishi — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:00:09 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26182

Hints and tips by Rishi

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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***

In this neat and gentle crossword by our Monday Maestro I first secured bottom left corner and then bottom right. The very last to go in were 9a, 10a, 3d and 7d. For excellent surface reading I like 31a and 20a. If there is a clue that I don’t like it’s 10a. Please see comment at appropriate place below.

DT 26176

Rishi — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 08:00:07 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26176

Hints and tips by Rishi

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

This crossword was certainly not on the ‘easy’ side. Let me unabashedly confess that I had a slow start and at one stage I had the following clues yet to go: 1a, 11a, 14a, 25a, 29a and 31a and 2d, 3d, 7d, 21d, 22d and 27d. You will notice that among these are some anagram clues! In the notes below I will try to say what gives a twist of hardness to some of these. I generally say that the Monday crossword gives a gentle start to the week. This time it may not have been so gentle, but let me assure you that it is a very pleasant solve and we marvel at the superb cluemanship of our Monday Maestro.

DT 26170

Rishi — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 08:00:27 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26170

Hints and tips by Rishi

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

A gentle, pleasant start to the week.

DT 26164

Rishi — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 08:00:47 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26164

Hints and tips by Rishi

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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***

None-too-difficult crossword.

Of the clues that may hold you for a while are 9a, 18a and 21a and 3d, 4d and 23d. Did I say ‘hold you for a while’? Sorry, I should have said they were the latter ones that I solved. For, the experience of each solver differs according to his/her interests and I daresay RU fans would have got 4d quicker than I did. Do tell us in the Comments section whether the final answers of yours were different from those mentioned above.

NTSPP – 001 Review

Rishi — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 16:00:59 +0000

NTSPP - 001 Review

An Independent Puzzle by Anax

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I didn't have much difficulty nor did I take much time with this puzzle. For me this was a 'toughie' in the sense that in some four or five instances the annotation didn't come immediately upon getting the answer from all or part of wordplay. As for 1d, I had to go looking for the confirmation of the definition 'useless'. So my engagement with the crossword extended for a while after completing the puzzle in fully interpreting the stubborn clues.

DT 26158

Rishi — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:00:33 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26158 Hints and tips by Rishi + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment *** A none-too-difficult puzzle except for a couple of clues such as 31a and 16d that require a literary background and 2d and 4d that are from ancient history. As usual answers are within the curly brackets and to see them you have to drag the cursor across the white space. 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.

DT 26152

Rishi — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 08:00:51 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26152

Hints and tips by Rishi

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BD Rating - Difficulty ***/**** - Enjoyment ***

I am giving three-and-a-half stars for difficulty rating to this crossword by our Monday maestro as wordplay in many clues is decidedly not-so-easy.

DT 26146

Rishi — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:00:24 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26146

Hints and tips by Rishi

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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***

Neat, clean, delectable - some words to describe today’s offering from our Monday maestro. Most of the clues are easy. Some have slightly tricky bits of play.

At one stage I had six clues to go. They were: 28a, 30a and 8d, 21d, 26d, 27d. Of these, the very last to go in were 30a and 26d.

The clues that I liked most are: 9a, 11a, 18a, 5d, 15d, 20d, 25d - all of which have smooth surface reading.

DT 26140

Rishi — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 08:00:53 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26140

Hints and tips by Rishi

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BD Rating - Difficulty ** - Enjoyment ***

A gentle start to the week. With 1a, one plunges into the crossword.

At one stage I had these to go: 15a, 18a, 19a; 4d, 7d, 15d, 20d, 23d.

The very last were 4d, 7d, 23d.

DT 26134

Rishi — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 08:00:12 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26134

Hints and tips by Rishi

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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***

A crossword that is mostly easy but also with some half-a-dozen clues which may hold you up for some minutes until you see light. Among the last to go in were 23a, 28a and 31a and 8d, 16d, 18d,21d and 27d. Do enter a comment to say if one man’s poison was another man’s (or woman’s) meat.

DT 26128

Rishi — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 08:00:26 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26128

Hints and tips by Rishi

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

A crossword with some excellent clues but also some which raise questions or don't satisfy me completely.

To see the answers, highlight the white space between the curly brackets.

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.

DT 26122

Rishi — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 00:01:23 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26122

Hints and tips by Rishi

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

Today’s crossword by our Monday Maestro is mostly easy but there are also a few difficult clues that yield themselves only after we consider them for a while.

As usual, the answers are whitened. If you want to see any, please select the space within the curly brackets. Wordplay is explained in such a way that, if one wishes, one might work out the answer oneself before proceeding to uncover the solution.

DT 26117

Rishi — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 00:01:41 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26117

Hints and tips by Rishi

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Today’s crossword from our Monday Maestro posed some difficulties which I had to surmount before completing the puzzle. At one stage, after the initial flurry of quick fills, I had ten to go: 10a, 14a, 28a, 29a, 30a and 7d, 18d, 19d,21d and 26d. Luckily these fell one by one: why the bottom left corner held on till the end was because of my own mistake in writing wrongly the second word in the long phrasal 11d. I got wise to it only after some crossings wouldn’t gel.

Clues I liked especially: 20a, 1d.

DT 26111

Rishi — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 00:01:41 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26111

Hints and tips by Rishi

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

An enjoyable outing on Monday morning.

DT 26105

Rishi — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:01:06 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26105

Hints and tips by Rishi

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A pleasant start to the week with a crossword by our Monday Maestro.

I was held up for some minutes by fewer than half-a-dozen clues. The last to go in were 1a, 9a and 5d and 7d.

As usual each answer is hidden within the curly brackets so that it doesn't hit your eye. If you want your eye to hit it, just select the white space.

DT 26099

Rishi — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 00:01:27 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26099

Hints and tips by Rishi

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A satisfying puzzle from our Monday Maestro. Just one clue, 29ac, may perhaps hold you up if you haven't come across the ploy before.

DT 26093

Rishi — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:01:02 +0000

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26093

Hints and tips by Rishi

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

I enjoyed solving this crossword from our Monday Maestro. The grid is cyclically symmetrical, that is, the pattern is the same whichever way you turn.

Clues 1a and 31a, in symmetrical positions in the grid, belong to a type known as &lit, which I think is short for ‘and literally so’ [we also use the term all-in-one for these BD] – for definition of the word required, we have to reread the clue in its entirety. Both these clues lead to words from the world of professions – one teaching lines to children and the other making locomotives run on lines.

For me the Clue of the Crossword is 3d – all components in this charade are from roads and “by-pass” is a noun in the surface reading but a verb as definition for word required.

The last to go in was 13a – for non-UK solvers it’s always place names that are the bugbears.

As usual the solutions are whitened; please highlight the space within the curly brackets and they will show themselves.

Please do leave a Comment to record your experience with this crossword.