August 2009 – Page 6 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

DT 25999

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25999

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

This enjoyable puzzle is only spoilt a little by the dodgy anagram indicators.

You can add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.

For new viewers, the answers can be seen by  selecting the space between the curly brackets – we do this so that you can look up one or two answers without seeing all of them.  The first time you leave a comment it will need to be moderated before others can view it – this is to prevent the site being overrun by spammers; over 800 have been intercepted so far!

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Toughie 192

Toughie No 192 by Giovanni

Giovanni gives us an easy ride

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ****

Last time we had a puzzle from Giovanni, it was a tough time.  This time he has been a lot kinder to us.  A smattering of new / lesser known words, but altogether the same excellent standard that we have come to expect.

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DT 25998

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25998

Hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ****

We can be pretty certain that there will be no discussion today about whether an answer should be hyphenated or not, since one of the trademarks of this setter is that all the answers are single words. Another trademark is that all the clues are beautifully constructed and often amusing. I was thoroughly entertained by it – what about you? Please take the time to click on one of the stars at the bottom of the review to vote for the entertainment factor.
As usual, the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets – select the white space to reveal them.

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DT 25997

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25997

Hints and tips by Tilsit

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

The sun beats down on the tropical Calder Valley (Griff Rhys Jones missed us out with his river tour and went across the Pennines via Huddersfield last night!)  and here we go with another week of crossword challenges.  As usual, the Monday Maestro gives us a nice gentle start to the week and I’m pleased that this week we have a more balanced set of clues after last week’s abundance of cryptic definitions.   Today’s workout should give the newer solver a broader introduction into cryptic crossword clues, although the old hand may have seen a few of them before.

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ST 2495 – Hints

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2495 – Hints

Selected hints by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ****

This is a crossword for those who love crosswords.  Comparitively easy, so it should be within the reach of most solvers, it has some excellent clues.  I have given hints for those which I think will cause the most problems.

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.

For the weekend prize crosswords I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them.  A full analysis of this puzzle will be available at 12.00 next Friday, 7th August.

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ScrewedUp News – Aug 01

ScrewedUp News – Aug 01

Edition 21

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03-08-2009 – As Libellule reports, this was corrected at some time today.

The site has been relatively well behaved in recent weeks, apart from an occasional glitch with the numbers on Codewords, the random presentation of the wrong grid which is corrected when you try again and the ever-present poor performance which becomes intolerable at certain times of the day.

Today Libellule reports that the Quick GK – No. 106 provides the clues but no grid.  This applies to both the playable and printable versions.

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DT 25996 – Hints

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25996 – Hints

Selected hints by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment: ***

Once again we are presented with an easy prize puzzle.  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, 6th August.

Continue reading “DT 25996 – Hints”