Monday – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

DT 30852

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30852

Hints and tips by Falcon

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ****

Greetings from Ottawa where, as Senf said yesterday, we are experiencing a significant snow event. Following 30 cm or more on Thursday, we received a bit more on Saturday. The snow resumed on Sunday, with another 30 cm or more promised before mid-afternoon on Monday. Senf is also correct that I can’t blame this storm on Manitoba. Like most of our storms, it originated in the western United States. Contrary to what our neighbours to the south believe, most of the nastiness flows north across the border.

I’m not sure if we are seeing Robyn return to the Monday slot after a brief absence or not. Some clues feel like they could be his and others not so much – so I won’t go out on a limb with a guess.

In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.

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DT 30846

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30846

Hints and tips by Smylers

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

Hello to everybody who’s had a go at today’s Telegraph Crossword. If you’re stuck on a clue or puzzled by an answer, the hints and explanations below should help. And remember, don’t apologise or feel bad for looking at a hint: that’s what they are for! If it weren’t for Big Dave setting up this site and bloggers providing hints, I wouldn’t be able to solve cryptic crosswords now. Those dabbling in cryptic puzzles, and those completely baffled, are just as welcome to join in with the comments as the experienced solvers who haven’t required a Monday hint in years. It’s always lovely to receive comments. Please see the etiquette guide to avoid any faux pas.

The definition part of each clue is underlined. The (except this one) blobs are hiding the answers, so despite what they are instructing you to do, feel free to only actually click on them if you wish to see an answer.

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DT 30840

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30840

Hints and tips by Falcon

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Greetings from Ottawa, where Winterlude, our annual winter festival, has got off to a very successful start. For the first time in three years we are actually experiencing winter-like weather – the ice sculptures are not melting and the entire length of the Rideau Canal Skateway is open. Temperatures are on bit of a roller coaster though with the daytime high cycling between -20 C and 0 C on almost a daily basis. To give you a taste, take a virtual stroll down Sparks Street as you watch the ice carvers at work and warm up by a fire while savouring Ottawa’s signature treat, the Beavertail (a delicious sugar-coated, deep fried pastry in the shape of a beaver’s tail).

I thought the puzzle was typical Monday fare although possibly lacking some of the usual sparkle – but perhaps that’s just me feeling a bit weary.

In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.

Continue reading “DT 30840”

DT 30834

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30834

Hints and tips by Smylers

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ****

Hello, from a train hurtling up the East Coast Main Line, carrying a precious cargo of macarons back to Yorkshire from this blog’s Birthday Bash in London at the weekend. At the time this is published I should be somewhere between Peterborough and Grantham, if the service is keeping to schedule. And if the train wi-fi is working, I might even have had time to add some pictures or music to the hints below.

Thank you so much to Sloop John Bee and Elgar for arranging the Bash. It was so lovely to meet people in person. We must do it again sometime.

On to today’s crossword: hints and explanations are below, with the definition parts of clues underlined. Do ask if anything still isn’t clear, and let us know how you found the puzzle and which clues you particularly liked. Comments from lurkers would be as welcome as they are oxymoronic. Check the etiquette guide for house rules.

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DT 30828

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30828

Hints and tips by Falcon

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ****

Greetings from Ottawa where today I am covering my regular shift. Last week I was working Smyler’s shift in return for him having covered for me the previous week. I realize that I neglected to acknowledge this and thank him for agreeing to do the swap, so I will belatedly do so now.

The weather system that Senf described on Sunday is now arriving here although it has likely lost some of its bite en route. Sunday evening, as I write this, it is currently -12C heading for -19C (it will feel like -25C with the wind chill). That is absolutely balmy by Winnipeg standards (Oh, how I love to make our readers in Florida shudder!)

I presume today’s puzzle is the work of Robyn. I was well on the way to a one star finish until I hit the southwest quadrant which took as long to complete as the other three quadrants combined. However, in hindsight, I can’t explain why this should be the case. And I must not neglect to thank the setter for the name check in the Quickie pun.

In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.

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DT 30822

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30822

Hints and tips by Falcon

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ****

Greetings from Ottawa, where a spell of cold weather has enabled a portion of the Rideau Canal Skateway to open – its earliest opening since December 2018. This follows a couple of disappointing years in which it didn’t open at all two years ago and opened only for a very limited period last year. While we are experiencing cold weather, Edmonton – which would normally be experiencing temperatures as low as -50 C – is reportedly enjoying T-shirt and shorts weather.

Who do you think set today’s puzzle? Are we back to Robyn or is this the “another appearance quite soon” promised by X-Type last week. I’m leaning toward the latter, and despite possessing an abysmal record at recognizing setters, I might even venture a toonie on it.

In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.

Continue reading “DT 30822”

DT 30816

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30816

Hints and tips by Smylers

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

Greetings from Ottawa, where the weather has been pretty much as expected, and the locals have been out creating entries for the animal snow sculpture competition.

a rabbit made out of snow, with sticking-up ears and whiskers made from twigs a snow horse, sitting down and with impressive detail in its legs a snow snail, with a massive swirly shell, a smiley face, and twigs for antennae

Hang on, that doesn’t seem right …

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DT 30810

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30810

Hints and tips by Smylers

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

A belated Merry Christmas to everybody who reads this blog, whether every day or just popping in from time to time. I ought to have been the first blogger to offer Christmas greetings, but on December 16th I failed to remember that it was my final hinting before Christmas, so you’re getting it late instead.

It’s a Monday — whether it feels like it or not — so here are hints and explanations for today’s Telegraph Crossword, with definitions underlined. Do comment below with how you found the puzzle, any questions about it, and which clues you like best.

One of our regular between-Christmas-and-New-Year treats is a visit to Saltaire to see their Living Advent Calendar — real windows which have been decorated, a new one being unveiled each day in the run up to Christmas. Worth seeing if you’re anywhere nearby, and especially recommended to fans of cats, which seem to feature in many of the windows. Here are some of our favourites:

a sash window with 9 panes of glass, each decorated with Christmas scenes created from black card silhouettes and brightly coloured patches of tissue paper, including Jesus, Mary, and Joseph; a snow person; robins, and a candle robins cut out from coloured card, each hanging in a separate window pane

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DT 30804

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30804

Hints and tips by Falcon

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

Greetings from Ottawa, where we are enduring a spell of very cold weather. What Senf reports he is experiencing in Winnipeg arrives here a couple of days later, so I can pretty much say “Ditto” to his weather report – although the weather system does arrive here marginally warmer than when it left Winnipeg.

The photo above is of the Christmas Tree in Boston, Massachusetts. Each year since 1971, the people of Nova Scotia have gifted a tree to the people of Boston in thanks for their assistance after the 1917 Halifax Explosion. This gesture commemorates one originally made in 1917, when Nova Scotia had donated a large Christmas tree to the city of Boston in thanks and remembrance for the help the Boston Red Cross and the Massachusetts Public Safety Committee provided following the explosion.

On December 6, 1917 shortly after 9:00 am, a munitions ship collided with a second ship in Halifax Harbour resulting in the largest non-nuclear explosion of all time which severely destroyed much of the city. Boston authorities learned of the disaster by telegraph, and quickly organized and dispatched a relief train around 10 pm to assist survivors. A blizzard delayed the train, which finally arrived in the early morning of December 8 and immediately began distributing food, water, and medical supplies. Numerous personnel on the train were able to relieve the Nova Scotia medical staff, most of whom had worked without rest since the explosion occurred.

Today we are gifted with a seasonally themed puzzle that should not detain you long from preparations for the big day on Wednesday but is, nevertheless, a very enjoyable diversion. It could be the work of Robyn but I also would not be surprised to be informed that our editor has slipped one in. As Smylers will be with you for the next two weeks while I busy myself as a volunteer at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship which is being held in Ottawa this year, I will take this opportunity to wish one and all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.

In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.

Continue reading “DT 30804”

DT 30798

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30798

Hints and tips by Smylers

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

Hello, fellow commoners. If the Telegraph crossword is common, then I certainly have no wish to be anything else. How ridiculous anyway, suggesting that you should decide what to put on your pudding not based not on what you’ll enjoy eating most but on how posh or common some others will judge your choice! But at least the article used the term ‘U’, not often encountered these days outside of crosswords, thereby justifying setters’ continued use of ‘posh’ to indicate that letter.

The Daily Telegraph crossword on Mondays is one of the best places to learn how to solve cryptic crosswords. If over the Christmas period you encounter any students who show any inclination towards crosswords, do let them know they can have a free subscription, including Telegraph Puzzles — and of course make sure they know about Big Dave’s Crossword Blog for help with working out what’s going on.

Today’s puzzle is a treat for those who like putting one thing inside another. Do leave a comment saying how you got on with it.

Here in Ilkley this weekend we had the Rudolph’s Run parade of decorated tractors passing through — illuminated farm vehicles as far as the eye could see. (Our household’s resident statistician counted 213 of them go past.)

a tractor with fairy lights on it driving past a tower block, with another behind it, and more behind that, tailing off into the distance
a tractor outlined with with fairy lights, and more on the inside of its wheels, with reindeer shapes on its front attachment, also illuminated an illuminated tractor lifting a massive model rudolph at the wrong, with lit-up red nose and antlers

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