March 23, 2009 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

DT Cryptic No 25883

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25883

Today’s hints and tips by Tilsit

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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ***

Tilsit joins us for the first time today.  As I mentioned on Saturday, he will already be known to avid followers of fifteensquared, and his credentials include answering questions on Crosswords, as his specialist subject, on Mastermind.  The standard DT Cyptic should be very easy for someone like him, but he faces sterner stuff when he does battle with a Toughie later in the week. BD

Thanks to Big Dave for his introduction.  I hope these blogs live up to the high standard that he and the rest of the gang have set.  Because of my other activities within the crossword world, I often get requests from solvers about the best way to start solving cryptic puzzles and my answer is invariably the same.  Start with Monday’s Telegraph and Guardian puzzles, you rarely go wrong.   That’s because they are usually set by one of the doyens of the black and white squares – Roger Squires.  Roger  (aka Rufus in the Graun) provides some of the most accessible and solver-friendly puzzles and amongst his talents, he is a master of a type of clue known as the Cryptic Definition, of which there are a few in this puzzle.

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