March 2011 – Page 6 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

DT 26495

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26495

Hints and tips by pommers

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

Once more unto the breach dear friends! Another nice Wednesday puzzle, presumably from Jay, with the usual couple of tricky clues to make one think.

While I was solving this one I thought 2* but looking at my time I have to give it 3*. There are a couple of long anagrams which aren’t hard clues to crack but they always slow me down so perhaps the 2* is more accurate. Be interested to see what others think.

Thanks again to the Technical Director for the photos and funny video.

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Toughie 523

Toughie No 523 by Cephas

As tough as a comfy pair of old slippers!

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment **

Once again Tuesday brings us a Toughie of difficulty comparable with the regular back-page cryptic. A couple of little-known definitions were relatively easy to work out from the wordplay.

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DT 26494

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26494

Hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

We have an enjoyable and not too taxing puzzle this morning – I presume that it’s by one of our mystery setters. Let us know how you liked it in a comment.
To see an answer highlight the space between the brackets under the clue.

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DT 26493

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26493

Hints and tips by Libellule

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

We have had a bright and sunny weekend here in the Touraine, so lots of gardening chores have been done. The weather is still bright and sunny today, although cold. As for the crossword – it presented no major problems today, all in all – simply a pleasant solve.

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NTSPP – 056 (Review)

Not The Saturday Prize Puzzle – 056 (Review)

A Puzzle by Prolixic

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

Looking back at the notes I made when I test solved this one, I did find some of it slightly trickier than usual, but it was still very enjoyable as it has a number of Prolixic’s trademark clues – you can always imagine the twinkle in his eye when he set them! Thanks to him for another great Saturday afternoon diversion – can’t wait for the next one.

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NTSPP – 056 (Comments)

Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 056

A Puzzle by Prolixic

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Welcome to the latest in our series of weekly puzzles.

A speedy return for Prolixic – one or two tricky clues but a puzzle that’s well worth the effort.

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Toughie 522

Toughie No 522 by Myops

Not for the faint-hearted!

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

We have waited since last October for this latest magnum opus from Myops – and it was well worth the wait. Tilsit is back in hospital so has missed out on this truly magnificent Toughie.

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ST 2577

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2577

A full review by Crypticsue

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Big Dave’s introduction on Sunday said it all “Not a difficult puzzle, more a film quiz.” It was essential to read the editor’s note first – “In this Oscars Special, some answers include figures. A figure 1 should be input as the letter I”. Only three answers actually contained numbers, and in one of those the numerals were Roman.

Virgilius’s alter ego Brendan set a similarly themed crossword in the Saturday Guardian, the wordplay of which would have taken some working out, so I was a little apprehensive when starting to solve this one. However, with my love of cryptics and the amount of useful/less(?) trivia I remember, I had no problems at all apart from sorting out the ‘numberals’. Thanks to Virgilius from me and the (relatively few) others who enjoyed solving this one, especially Barrie!

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