Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2556
A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment *****
Solved on the way to the pub meeting with Brian Greer and various setters and solvers – the first of a batch of puzzles on the train journey. Very little scribble on the copy so anything I say after this is added after I write the explanations below.
It’s the usual – a couple of those all-in-ones he just can’t stop producing, and a good mixture of answers, elegantly clued. No epic hidden word so I’ll expect one at least 13 letters long next week.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26366
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Gazza is still recovering from the name check he received in yesterday’s puzzle!
Typical Friday Fare, with the usual faultless wordplay (as long as you are prepared to forgive the homophone in 24a) – although I’m sure that a few of you will have tripped over on the answer to 15a.
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Toughie No 437 by Busman
Hints and tips by Bufo
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment **
I sailed through this one, so much so that I’m only giving it one star for difficulty.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26361
A Full Review by Gnomethang
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
It was very nice to catch up with Cephas, amongst others, last weekend at the Bree Louise. Saturday’s puzzle contained the usual Cephas clues with some very gentle cryptic definitions and also some very excellent wordplay and surface readings.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26365
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
If you were wondering what had happened to Ray T when he failed to put in an appearance last Tuesday, now you know the answer. He has become Captain Scarlet, on a mission to repel the Mysterons! I’m sure he will be along later to confirm, but today’s Quick crossword has his trademark single word clues.
Gazza was tickled pink with 2 down – a pity that he is not doing today’s review
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Times Crossword Championship – 2010
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This weekend several of us will be in Cheltenham on Saturday afternoon at the Kemble Brewery Inn, 27 Fairview St, Cheltenham, GL52 2JF and later at the nearby Curry Corner 133 Fairview Rd, Cheltenham, GL52 2EX. I hope to be there at about 4,00pm.
The following day I will be cheering (very quietly) for Peter Biddlecombe, John “Elgar” Henderson and Peter “Cephas” Chamberlain at the Times Crossword Championship. which are being held this year at Cheltenham College Junior School, Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, GL53 7AB. If you’re a gambler, however, put your money on Mark “Mr Magoo” Goodliffe.
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Toughie No 436 by Giovanni
A Game of Two Halves
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I breezed through the bottom half of this but had more trouble in the top half. It has a nice variety of clues (with only three anagrams, hurrah!) and (for me) two new words. I enjoyed solving it, and, as always, I’d like to hear your views.
Please don’t forget to register your liking or otherwise for the puzzle by clicking on one of the stars below.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26364
Hints and tips by Falcon
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This is the second occasion that I’ve had the honour to sit in the reviewer’s chair, so I am still a bit of a rookie – at least in this forum. Interestingly, the previous puzzle that I reviewed was DT 26346 and when Big Dave sent me DT 26364 this time, I had to do a double check to make sure I was working on the correct one.
Overall, I would say that this is a typical puzzle in terms of both difficulty and enjoyment. After quickly finding a starting point and making rapid progress through about half the puzzle, I felt that it would likely rate two stars for difficulty. However, the remainder of the puzzle proved more challenging and caused me to up my rating to three stars.
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Toughie No 435 by MynoT
A Night with the Marx Brothers?
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
There is usually a theme behind MynoT’s Toughies, and today we have a number of clues, some interlinked, about musical events and venues. One major complaint: references to some, but not all, clue numbers are followed by across or down – I don’t mind what convention is used, but it should be consistent [I believe the Times has strict editorial rules on this].
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26363
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Well it’s Ray T’s turn today but I’m not totally convinced that this is one of his because it seems different from his normal style. He’s normally very good at dropping in to let us know, so let’s hope for a visit today. Meantime, your views, as always, are appreciated.
If you need an answer, you’ll find it hidden between the brackets under the clue. Highlight the space between the brackets to reveal it.
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