Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26017
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
This pleasant puzzle shouldn’t give those grey cells too much exercise this morning (but you can always do the Toughie!). A couple of minor issues will be covered in the review.
Following the accidental success of Monday’s placeholder posting, I have added this while still preparing the review – feel free to discuss via the comments.
You can add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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Toughie No 204 by Micawber
Experientia does it
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I always look forward to a new puzzle from Mr Micawber, and this one certainly didn’t let me down. I would usually complain when there are a number of clues of similar construct, but I would cheerfully accept a whole puzzle full of Micawber’s charades.
[Experientia does it is Mrs Micawber’s misquote of Experientia docet – One learns by experience – in Charles Dickens’ novel David Copperfield.]
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26016
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This puzzle provides a good workout, though some will not like the large number of place names and girls’ names. As usual the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets – select the white space to reveal the answer if my hint proves inadequate!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26015
Hints and Tips by Tilsit
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Time for another battle with the Monday Maestro. I have a feeling that those who find him to be extremely easy might have had a surprise today. There were one or two clues that caused me to scratch the old noggin and raise a few sparks. Overall quite a nice balance of clues, where some weeks we seem to have a preponderance of one type or another.
As usual, I’d be interested to hear your thoughts and welcome your contributions. A couple of things to remember, first time posters take a little longer to appear purely as they are vetted just to make sure they are not spammers being a pain in the rectum. There’s also a star rating facilitiy at the end of the blog and you can click on that to show your rating the puzzle. It’s purely for fun.
Oh, and for those who haven’t seen this in today’s papers!
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2498 – Hints
Selected hints by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
There are some really excellent clues, yet again, today. I’m a little puzzled by the part played by “wanting” in the homophone at 21 across – if you have any ideas, please add a comment but, as Basil Fawlty might have said, “Don’t mention the Word”.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26014 – Hints
Selected hints by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment: **
The girls are back in town – or at least one of them – and you still need to keep your atlas handy for this Saturday puzzle. The grid is one of those dreadful ones that only the Telegraph, among quality dailies, still allows. This is four puzzles in one, joined only by the two long answers.
If you are using CluedUp today, then check the printable version for the correct wording of 9 across. This problem has now been fixed! Just why this site can’t handle accented words and randomly drops apostrophes is a mystery.
Don’t forget that you can give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them. Peter Biddlecombe’s full review of this puzzle will be published at 12.00 on Thursday, 27th August.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2497 – Review
A full analysis by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Yet another winner from our Sunday Setter.
At the bottom of the post you will see an array of five stars – use these to give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.
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Toughie No 203 by MynoT
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Last time I reviewed a Toughie from MynoT I said it was “difficult in places, but overall very enjoyable” – this one is very much the same. Some of the difficulties are described below, and if you can help then please leave a comment.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26013
Hints and tips by Libellule
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Beware of what you ask for. After last Friday’s gentle stroll, today’s crossword is certainly not a walk in the park. Today we have a much more difficult crossword, although that does not detract from its enjoyment. (Even if the grid is a bit cornery).
Please take some time to enjoy the excellent surface readings.
As usual feel free to leave your comments.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26008 – Review
A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe
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A puzzle of moderate difficulty and the usual Saturday mixed bag of clues …
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