May 3, 2011 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Toughie 555

Toughie No 555 by Beam

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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

Once again we have a Beam puzzle with cleverly concealed definitions and synonyms which stretch the imagination. This was a pleasure to solve, which is more than I can say for the previous couple of Tuesday Toughies.

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ST 2585

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2585

A full review by Crypticsue

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

I don’t know whether our setters knew that we were going to get all this lovely weather but lately the majority of cryptics seem to have been both entertaining and quick to solve, leaving us time to get on with enjoying ourselves. This offering from Virgilius followed the trend with some great clues and wonderful penny-dropping moments so thank you to him once again.

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DT 26542

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26542

Hints and Tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty *Enjoyment **

I was hoping for a Shamus puzzle today but I’m pretty sure that this is not one of his (I’m laying myself open to a big egg-on-face moment here!). It seems to have a North American bias and is one of the easiest back-page puzzles I can remember. I completed it without deriving a great deal of enjoyment and found the surface readings of quite a few clues quite awkward, but on the plus side it should provide the opportunity for a mass escape by members of the Clueless Club.

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