Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2471 – Review
A full analysis by Big Dave
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
I never look forward to the Sunday puzzle, and I’m seldom surprised. This is another one that takes quite a while to complete, but leaves you wondering why you bothered. Continue reading “ST Cryptic No 2471 – Review”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25852 – Review
A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
This analysis is the first contribution from Peter Biddlecombe. Peter was Times crossword champion in 2000 and 2007 and is a pioneer in crossword blogging in the UK (see Times for the Times). I gave this two stars for both difficulty and enjoyment, Peter has been rather more generous and upped it to three! BD.
My time for this was about 60% longer than an average Times puzzle, but I made life hard for myself with two dud answers which had to be corrected – ROUGH OUT at 6D, though the weakness of “some golf = rough” should have made me rub this out, and INCITE at 22D. Without these, an ‘average Times’ time should have been possible.
Continue reading “DT Cryptic No 25852 – Review”
Toughie No 98 by Giovanni
Another enjoyable puzzle
+ – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
A better day on CluedUp, so these are a lot earlier than has been the norm recently. When I first looked at the puzzle I wondered just where I was going to start, then one or two easier clues came to light and it all fell into place. As usual, there are several clues where you need to find an answer that satisfies one part of the wordplay and rack your brains to find how on earth it fits the other – 10 across being a good example. There are a few words which are not in the average vocabulary, but the wordplay points you in the right direction.
Continue reading “Toughie No 98”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25856
Today’s hints and tips by Gazza
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Last weeks contribution from Gazza was very favourably received, so he’s agreed to do it again. Don’t forget that Peter Biddlecombe’s review of last Saturday’s DT No 25852 is scheduled to be published at noon today. BD
Today’s effort is fairly straightforward with nothing too challenging, but there is one nice pun at 11 across.
•
Continue reading “DT Cryptic No 25856”