Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26200
Hints and tips by Rishi
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
[This will be the last review from Rishi for a while as he is taking a break due to family and business commitments. I would like to thank him for the enlightenment he has brought to crossword solving over the last few months, and hope that he will be able to return later in the year. Libellule will be in this spot from next Monday. BD]
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.
I especially liked 19a, 3d, 16d and 22d for their excellent surface reading. I also liked 1a, 11a, 17a, 19a, 31a, 2d and 6d for their smoothness.
Some like 25a, 29a and 21d and 25d, we have met before many times if we are veteran solvers.
The answer tucked away under each clue will show up if you highlight the white space between the curly brackets.
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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. Though these blocks are used in the building industry in India, they are not known by that term. At least, I have not heard. 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.
I liked 29a and 26d as they are very smooth in surface reading.
A quibble: 14a reads “Listen to a number cheer”. In real life, would grammar require the use of ‘cheering’ ?
If you want the answer to any clue to show up, highlight the white space within any the curly brackets under the relevant clue.
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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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.
To see any answer, please highlight the white space between the curly brackets under the clue .
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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.
If you are wondering where my answers are, please highlight the white space within the curly brackets under any clue.
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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.
Each of the answers is masked in white. Just highlight the white space within the curly brackets and you can read it. When you must!
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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.
As usual each answer is hidden within curly brackets. Please highlight the white space for it to show up.
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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.
If newcomers wonder where the answers are, they are within the curly brackets underneath the respective clue. Highlight the white space within to behold the answers, whether you say Lo or not.
You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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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.
I got a toehold in the grid with 13a WAG. The first to fall was bottom-half, then top right. Top-left was the last quadrant. One or two answers such as 17a had to be revised in the course of solving. The penultimate clue was 1dn; the last one was 10a.
Very well-crafted clues giving the utmost satisfaction to the solver.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26158
Hints and tips by Rishi
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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.
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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.
The answers are hidden within the curly brackets. They will show up if you highlight the white space. The idea is that when you don’t have the answer to a particular clue when you visit here, you don’t see the solution unintentionally. Pointed tips follow so you can have a further stab at the clues and try to solve the clue yourself and derive the joy of discovery.
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