Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25942 – Review
A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
An extra enjoyment star as I liked this more than most Saturday puzzles. The grid is sound with one small reservation – the NW and SE corners are a bit isolated, and swapping the lengths of 12 and 13 (and of course 22 and 23) would fix this. There are no placename answers, just a couple of islands in wordplay. There are still arbitrary people – three ladies (Anne, Crystal, Lizzie) and one gent (Gus). There are a few tricky answer words, including 6D and 11A, so their crossing might be a tricky area. Surface meanings are mostly good, and I only found four cases of “surface padding”. Curiously, all the 3-letter answers have a U in the middle, and none of them have to – I don’t know whether this is significant.
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Toughie No 158 by Giovanni
Hints and tips by Tilsit
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Quite a tough puzzle today from Giovanni, but still very enjoyable. Some nice clues to draw you into the puzzle, and then some mind-stretchers to make you think. No really unusual words but good fair cluing providing a good challenge. As usual, all the clues have excellent surface readings and if you aspire to be a setter, studying these will no doubt help you.
Thanks to Giovanni for a thoroughly enjoyable challenge.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25946
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This is an agreeable puzzle with a number of entertaining clues. It contains one word which was new to me, but it’s not too difficult to get it from the wordplay and the checking letters.
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