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Welcome to Big Dave’s Crossword Blog
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You have reached the world’s biggest and best crossword blog. If you are looking for help with the Daily and Sunday Telegraph cryptic crosswords or the Enigmatic Variations advanced cryptic, a total of 13 puzzles a week, then you have come to the right place.
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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 This gesture commemorates one originally made in 1917, when Nova Scotia had donated a large Christmas tree to the city of Boston in thanks and remembrance for the help the Boston Red Cross and the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.
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Rookie Corner 558
Sunday Toughie 152 (Hints)
Sunday Toughie No 152
by Zandio
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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My last blog before Santa Clause Comes to Town It isn’t terribly Christmassy so I will decorate the blog with a few Christmassy bits and pieces.
We have 14a and 14d clues and I have tried to limit hints to half, but a few bonus hints may pop up here and there
Here we go…
EV 1674 (Hints)
Enigmatic Variations 1674 (Hints)
Bang! by Chiffchaff
Hints and tips by Phibs
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Firstly, I would like to wish all EV solvers a very happy Christmas. ‘Tis the season when the sort of ‘jokes’ that I tell all year round are briefly back in fashion (of a sort). Oh yes, I know that Good King Wenceslas likes his pizzas deep pan, crisp and even; that snowmen go to the greengrocer’s to pick their noses; and that when Santa tried to sell Dancer and Prancer on eBay there were no takers because they were two deer…
ST 3296 (Hints)
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3296 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where we are on something of a temperature roller coaster; minus 20s in the week just completed, forecast to ‘warm up’ to minus 1 by ‘the day’ on Wednesday, and cooling down again for the start of 2025 with, of course, occasional sprinklings of the fluffy white stuff.… Continue reading
NTSPP 776
DT 30803 (Hints)
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 308037 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by crypticsue)
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As this is my last on-the-day blog post before Christmas Day’s Toughie, I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas
Toughie 3396
Toughie No 3396 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
We can rely on Osmosis to give us a proper Toughie and I always enjoy the challenge he offers. There are no anagrams and no obvious gimmes (except 2d) here and each answer needs to be prised out. Thanks to the setter.
DT 30802
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30802
Hints and tips by Mr K
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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ****
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. Today we have a very enjoyable puzzle combining precise cryptic grammar, smooth surfaces, and a shoutout to a Scottish football team, ingredients which likely identify today’s setter. I hope he drops in later. Continue reading "DT 30802"
DT 30797 (full review)
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30797
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 14th December 2024
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata.… Continue reading