Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26306
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
We have a fairly straightforward challenge from Giovanni today (what I would call a bread-and-butter puzzle rather than a firecracker). Let us know what you thought in a comment.
As always the answers are concealed between the brackets under the clues – highlight the space between the brackets to make one visible.
Toughie No 396 by Shamus
A Surfeit of Scribbling
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Not for the first time I find myself reviewing a Shamus puzzle two days in a row. As Toughies go this is not one of the hardest and I enjoyed solving it a lot though I found the right-hand side quite a bit easier than the left.
Let us know what you thought in a comment, and please remember to grade the puzzle by clicking on one of the stars at the bottom.
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26303
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
Two clues turned this Shamus puzzle, for me, from a 3* to a 4* for difficulty – 14a which was the last to go in and which I’d have got much quicker if I’d realised earlier that it contained the one letter necessary to turn the puzzle into a pangram, and 30a which I made much more difficult by foolishly writing in 23d as a noun rather than a verb. Let us know how you got on in a comment.
If you need to see the answers, they are hidden between the brackets under the clues. Just drag your cursor through the white space between the brackets to reveal one.
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26300
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
If last week’s Giovanni was a pussycat then this one has considerably sharper teeth. It may not be a lion but it’s at least a cheetah. But it is a well-behaved cheetah with Giovanni’s usual impeccable clueing. Tell us what you think of it in a comment!
As always the answers are hidden between the brackets under the clues. Highlight the white space between the brackets to reveal.
I’m posting this a little earlier than usual because I’m keen to get to grips with the Toughie to find out what Elgar has provided for us on this auspicious occasion.
Toughie No 392 by Notabilis
A Mohican in Barnet?
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Notabilis has given us a thoroughly entertaining puzzle with a good sprinkling of “aha” moments. As always with Notabilis, there seem to be two stages involved in solving the puzzle – firstly finding the answers, and then for a number of clues working out why. Let me know in a comment if you enjoyed both processes as much as I did.
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26297
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***- Enjoyment ***
We have a pleasant solve from Ray T today – possibly a shade easier than we’ve come to expect from him (but still not as easy as today’s Toughie!). Let us know what you think by leaving a comment, and please don’t forget to click on one of the stars at the bottom.
For those who need some answers, they are hidden between the brackets under each clue. Highlight the space between the brackets to reveal.
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26294
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Today’s Giovanni is a bit of a pussycat (of course you may disagree, and if you do please feel free to say so in a comment). But as we’ve said so often in the past puzzles do not have to be difficult to be entertaining, and this one has some very enjoyable clues.
The answers are hidden between the curly brackets under each clue. Just highlight the space between the brackets to reveal one.
Toughie No 388 by Monsieur Busman
Let’s Parler Franglais
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Zut alors! Bearing in mind the date Busman has donned a beret and lit up a Gauloises to give a Gallic motif to today’s puzzle. I suspect that solvers will either love it or hate it. I found it enjoyable as a one-off (though the theme does impose restrictions), so full marks and merci beaucoup to Monsieur Busman for trying something different.
A large number of the clues refer to 18, which is 18d. If I tried to write all the hints for these clues without disclosing what 18d is it would be laborious to write and tedious to read, and since I can’t believe that anyone has got this far without knowing the theme, I’m going to use “French” in the hints rather than constantly referring to “the language of the person defined in 18d”.
Were you enchanted or irritated by it? Let us know in a comment!
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26290
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I was on the point of retreating to the garden (it’s another beautiful day in Devon) when Libellule contacted me to say that he’s lost power and can’t get on-line. So I’ve written this in a bit of a rush (that’s my excuse if you find any errors!).
I thought that this was a bit trickier than the usual Rufus puzzle, with some nice clues. Leave us a comment telling us if you agree or not, and please remember to grade it by clicking on one of the stars below.
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26288
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
It’s not the easiest Giovanni today, but it’s entertaining as usual. Let us know what you think of it in a comment.
As always the answers are concealed between the curly brackets under the clues. Drag your cursor through the white space between the brackets to reveal.
Toughie No 384 by Firefly
Bog Snorkelling
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
I enjoyed this one. It was worth getting bogged down in the top left-hand corner for the “aha” moment when I got 1d. I do wish that CluedUp could manage to print the full enumeration for a multi-part answer against the clue, rather than making you hunt around for the various bits, but this has improved since the days when it didn’t even tell you against the clue itself that it was multi-part, so I mustn’t grumble too much.
As always we welcome your comments, and please don’t forget to show how much you enjoyed it by clicking on one of the stars at the bottom.
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26285
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **- Enjoyment ***
Ray T must have taken pity on us this week because this puzzle is not as tricky as his usual offerings. The downside is that, amongst the clever and amusing clues, there are several cryptic definitions which are a bit weak. As always we’re keen to hear your views, so let us have a comment.
The answers are hidden between the curly brackets under the relevant clue. Just highlight the space between the brackets to reveal.
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26282
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
We have a typical Giovanni today with a good mixture of clues. It took me longer to solve than an average Giovanni, but looking back on it, I couldn’t really see why because, as always, his clues are very fair. Let us know what you thought of it in a comment.
For those who are still baffled after reading the hints, the answers are concealed between the brackets under the clues. Highlight the white space between the brackets to reveal.
Toughie No 380 by Osmosis
Not so Glum
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
This is my second Osmosis puzzle this month and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. There’s less of the very complicated wordplay that we’ve had from Osmosis in the past (in particular, not as many reversals), but there are some delightfully quirky clues. There are also lots of references to people and places, but I think that they’re all reasonably well-known, except possibly for the footballer who may not be known to younger solvers.
As always we’d love to get your views, so please leave a comment.
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26279
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***- Enjoyment ***
We have a pleasant workout from Shamus today, with several homophones and a visual clue. Let us know what you thought of it in a comment, and please remember to vote to indicate how much you enjoyed it by clicking on one of the stars at the bottom.
For new readers wondering where the answers are, they’re concealed between the brackets under the clues. Highlight the space between the brackets to reveal one.
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