March 18, 2011 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Toughie 530

Toughie No 530 by Elgar

Fatal Distraction!

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

Greetings from the Calder Valley! We finish an absolutely brilliant week of puzzles with one of Elgar’s crackers. I thought that following the dazzling Dada debut would be tough, but Elgar has managed it with a puzzle that contains lots of really fine clues. Because there are two long answers that spread round the perimeter, they provide you with quite a solving foot in the door. There’s also a sort of sub-theme with a lot of the answers being of a Gallic nature.

Continue reading “Toughie 530”

ST 2579

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2759

A full review by Gnomethang

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ****

Another classic Virgilius puzzle that really does tick all the right boxes – It was even better when reviewing than when solving as I had cause to break the clues down and consider the merits. Apart from some well signposted tricky words I think most people found it relatively straightforward.
Continue reading “ST 2579”

DT 26503

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26503

Hints and tips by Gazza

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

A not-too-challenging puzzle from Giovanni today with his usual nice mixture of clues but, unusually, no religious references at all. Let us know how you fared in a comment.
To reveal an answer slide your cursor through the space between the brackets under the clue.

Continue reading “DT 26503”

DT 26498

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26498

A full review by Crypticsue

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty *Enjoyment ***

Although there was some muttering from the grumpy corner about this crossword, I quite like a gentler Saturday puzzle – why shouldn’t the old cryptic grey matter have a day off after a week of tussling with Toughies and the like, so thank you to Cephas. This crossword came with the added bonus of being a Pangram.

Continue reading “DT 26498”