April 9, 2010 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

ST 2530

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2530

A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe

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

Four-letter words scuppered me in this one – at 1D I wrongly had SHED when the large number is “shed load”, and at 23D I missed LEFT as one of the possibilities for ?E?T, and gave up with WENT, BELT and RENT all fitting only half of the clue. Both my fault, though helped by a fear/loathing of 4-letter words with common checking letters. Also helped by not realising that one apparent double definition was actually triple.

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Toughie 334

Toughie No 333 by Notabilis

Sheer Elegance!

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

A terrific end to the week from one of my favourite setters and a puzzle that actually is worthy of the title of Toughie. Some delicious clues to make your mind go into overdrive, but all extremely fair. I also encountered a couple of new words that I was unfamiliar with and needed a check in Chambers to make sure.

If you are around tomorrow, the Saturday website puzzle is one of my own creations and I hope that you’ll all give it a try.

[Tilsit has done this review as Anax is away this week in Italy.  BD]

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DT 26210

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26210

Hints and tips by Libellule

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

Absolutely superb stuff from Giovanni today. Some brilliant clues and some real laugh out loud moments.
I have really enjoyed doing this crosword and then writing the blog. I will be back on Monday (I hope) to tackle my first Rufus blog, until then please feel free to leave a comment.

If the hints are not enough to allow you to derive the answer, just highlight the space between the curly brackets!
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