Big Dave's Crossword Blog – Page 1063 – Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English

DT 26721

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26721

Hints and tips by Libellule

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

This crossword from Rufus gets five stars for enjoyment because it is 25 years since his first Telegraph crossword was published. So I would like to add my congratulations to what I suspect will be many.

Continue reading “DT 26721”

NTSPP – 094 (Review)

NTSPP – 094 by Chaz

An accident waiting to happen

– + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + –

Chaz returns to entertain us with another crossword that reveals his reading habits!  Favourite clues are highlighted in blue.  Let us what you liked and disliked in the comments below.

Continue reading “NTSPP – 094 (Review)”

NTSPP – 094

Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 094

A Puzzle by Chaz

  + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

Welcome to the latest in our series of weekly puzzles.

This week we have a puzzle from old friend Chaz, back again after a three-month break.  There is a bit of a theme running through this one.  It was new to me but I managed to work it out.

Continue reading “NTSPP – 094”

DT 26720 (Hints)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26720 (Hints)

The Saturday Crossword Club

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

Big Dave is having a well-earned day off from the blog – he has gone to the Sloggers & Betters Convention in Derby.  I do enjoy a nice S&B meeting but Derby is just too far away and so  I have risen to the challenge and, as is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, an assortment of clues have been selected and hints provided for them.

Continue reading “DT 26720 (Hints)”

Toughie 674

Toughie No 674 by Firefly

History Lesson

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

Greetings from the Calder Valley. Firefly is back with what I consider to be a real improvement on his last couple of challenges. Not the hardest of puzzles but one which brought about a bit of head-scratching and a reach for the history books.

Like Gazza earlier, I have been having real problems with the Telegraph website. I haven’t been able to access the site much this week and have been lucky that chums have sent me copies of the puzzles scanned from the papers. There are issues known around midnight, but as far as they are aware it should be OK at other times. I know that Phil McNeill, the Puzzles Editor, will usually take note when people mention having difficulties here. Of course if you have a problem that needs to be resolved, or want to register that a problem has occurred so that they know about it, you should contact Telegraph Customer Services via the site.

Continue reading “Toughie 674”

ST 2615

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2615

A full review by Gnomethang

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ****

Afternoon All! I really enjoyed solving this puzzle on Sunday, containing as it does a couple of terrific hidden words and a great &Lit. No hidden themes but with puzzles of this quality you don’t always need them. I have given it two stars for difficulty although a few of you struggled a bit. I suspect, though, that you are all improving in this regard!

Continue reading “ST 2615”

DT 26719

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26719

Hints and tips by Gazza

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

I eventually (on my twenty-seventh attempt) managed to get into the on-line site this morning and printed out the puzzle, but the effort of doing that obviously tired it out so it sulked for the next hour.
I thought that this was a pretty entertaining puzzle with a number of smiles. Let us know how you found it.
If you want to see an answer just highlight the space between the brackets under the clue.

Continue reading “DT 26719”

DT 26714

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26714

A full review by Crypticsue

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating –Difficulty *Enjoyment ***

The Saturday Mysteron’s turn to entertain us this week and he didn’t disappoint.   A very entertaining mix of clues, complete with a nice example of relevant  back page product placement for those of us who still solve using the newspaper version.  Favourites are, as usual, marked in blue.

Continue reading “DT 26714”

Toughie 673

Toughie No 673 by Petitjean

Hints and tips by Bufo

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

I was surprised in the middle of the morning to receive an email from BD about today’s puzzle. It hadn’t occurred to me that it was Thursday today and hence my Toughie day. However I soon got my brain into gear and found the puzzle to be yet another non-too-taxing Thursday offering. My only problem was with 22 across but this was caused by my carelessly writing in –ANT at the end of 3 down instead of –ICE.

Continue reading “Toughie 673”