June 3, 2010 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

DT 26257

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26257

Hints and tips by Tilsit

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

A pleasant enough stroll for a Thursday morning, very friendly for newer solvers, and very reminiscent of the Everyman puzzle from the Observer newspaper, presumably the same setter. Setting these puzzles does require a particular skill, despite what many may think, and our compiler today demonstrates this very well.

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Toughie 365

Toughie No 365 by Excalibur

Vive la différence?

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BD Rating – Difficulty ****Enjoyment *

Bufo is on holiday this week – he is doubly lucky!

Excalibur does seem to be the Marmite of Crosswordland.

Before you read this review I feel that it is only fair to disclose that personally I can’t stand Marmite.

The puzzle was certainly not enhanced by the use of one of the Telegraph’s cornery grids – these should have been consigned to the scrapheap many years ago. Take a look at any Times puzzle and you will see what I mean.  For me the puzzle broke down into those four corners – the North and South East were very easy, but I got bogged down in the other two.

Favourite clues are highlighted in blue!

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post. I will find this particularly interesting today, hence the sub-heading.

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DT 26253

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26253

A full review by Crypticsue

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

Quite often if the Friday Cryptic and Toughie have been particularly testing, the Saturday Prize Puzzle can seem a bit easier in comparison. DT 26,252 and Toughie 362 were splendid examples of the compiler’s art so I started this Saturday’s puzzle expecting a less taxing challenge. How wrong I was, there was a complete range of interesting clues and more exciting for me, as I wasn’t aware of such a thing until I became a fan of Big Dave’s blog, was that the puzzle is a Pangram! Thanks too to Gnomethang for giving me the chance to practice my reviewing skills.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.

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