The First All England RNIB 3D Crosswords Cup
August 6th 2011, The Midland Hotel, Cheltenham
Report by Eric Westbrook
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This unique tournament was won by Sue and Andy Wallace in the Pairs category. They completed the fiendish 3D spinning jigsaw puzzle (and half the buffet) noting the anniversary of the last Queen concert with associated ‘She’s a Killer Queen’ theme in the recorded time of I hour 37 minutes just pipping ‘2 min 53 sec Times Ace’ John Henderson by 10 minutes. Dr Henderson won the Singles event as well as every single item in the Crossword Tombola! John promptly put all items into a raffle boosting proceeds from the event substantially. The email section was won by Jim Pennington of Aberdeen who completed the puzzle in 2 days 8 hours 18 min. Marianne Cantley and Torqui of Malvanua, Pacific Ocean, came a very close second in this section with a time of 2 days 9 hours 38 min.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2602 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them.
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NTSPP – 080 (Review)
A crossword by Prolixic
BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ***
Another fine offering from Prolixic, albeit one I found at the more difficult side both to solve and to work out the explanations for the review. I definitely think he’s getting tougher but his puzzles are still very entertaining. My favourite in this one is 5d for the laugh-out-loud-at-the-vision-it-created.
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Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 080
A Puzzle by Prolixic
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Welcome to the latest in our series of weekly puzzles.
This week we have another excellent puzzle from Prolixic!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26636 (Hints)
Big Dave’s Saturday Crossword Club
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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, and provide hints for them.
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Toughie No 618 by Firefly
Crossword TV by Tilsit and Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from the Calder Valley! I’m demob-happy and off on my jollies to the Lakes tomorrow, and as I have to run around getting things sorted out for me to thrive up there, today’s blog will be a two-hander with BD helping out with the Downs. Thanks to our host for helping out when I realised there aren’t enough hours in the day.
Today we have a puzzle from Firefly which is similar to one I set in the NTSPP puzzle slot a while back in that it is based on a type of puzzle called Theme and Variations, where there is a theme, often not to be found in the puzzle and then a number of answers that relate to the theme in different ways, which means there’s usually no definition in those clues. These require a little solving readjustment as the clue as a whole is actually either made up of indications. And so it is here today with Firefly’s enjoyable puzzle which has eight answers where as you solve it you will find there are four that are one interpretation of the theme and the remainder another. I did spend a bit of time trying to put the answers into pairs as I solved them, but realised I wasn’t barking up quite the right tree.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2601
A full review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
After two weeks of puzzles with messages and themes, Virgilius returns to a straightforward yet beautifully crafted example of a Sunday prize puzzle. Didn’t take me long but I did enjoy myself, my top favourite being 19d although my ‘also-rans’ are highlighted in blue too.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26635
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Today we have the usual entertaining puzzle from Giovanni (I presume, although it’s a bit low on the trademark religious references and the answer to 1a could conceivably be a hint to a different setter). Let us know how you liked it in a comment.
If my hints leave you frustrated and you still need to see an answer just highlight the space between the brackets under the relevant clue.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26630
A full review by Big Dave (and mainly Prolixic but not Gnomethang)
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Toughie No 617 by Shamus
Hints and tips by Bufo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This week I wasn’t on the setter’s wavelength and so struggled more than I should have done.
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