Toughie No 614 by Micawber
Dear Telegraph Crossword Editor…..
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
Dear Phil
I know I haven’t been kind to you in the past with one or two less than positive reviews, but I speak from the heart as a passionate solver and try to let you know how I feel about my experiences. I don’t see the point in being untrue about a puzzle I can’t get on with. This week I was nearly sticking pins in a doll of you, when access to the site has been all over the place but ultimately it isn’t your fault, so the pins were returned to the sewing box (my modelling skills produced a doll that looked more like Mick Hucknall than you anyway!).
But I am being spoiled something rotten on a Friday. Elgar is a regular and the last two Friday slots have been Notabilis and today Micawber, three of the finest setters around and they have all produced wonderful amazing puzzles. Today’s Micawber gets a five star rating all-round. A puzzle full of stunning invention, wit and topical stuff. Bravo and it is great to see you encourage this younger talent that makes me feel the future of the black and white grid is in very safe hands. This week’s Dada was a fine puzzle too.
Now if you can just make the site behave……
Continue reading “Toughie 614”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2600
A full review by Gnomethang
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Afternoon All!. As usual Virgilius does not disappoint with his puzzles and this was a special one to nod to the fact that is puzzle number 2600 in the ST series. Continue reading “ST 2600”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26629
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Good morning from a drizzly North Devon – where’s Summer gone? Luckily there’s a very entertaining puzzle from Giovanni to cheer us up. I look forward to reading your comments (can I just emphasise that the bloggers do read all the comments, though obviously not all need a response).
If you need to see (or check) an answer just drag your cursor through the space between the brackets under the clue.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26624
A full review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
A slightly trickier than usual offering from the Saturday Mysteron this week which caused problems for quite a few posters (and quite a few lurkers too judging by the number of visits to the hints page). Analysis for this review has revealed lots to make me smile and I have highlighted my favourites in blue.
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Toughie No 613 by Giovanni
Hints and tips by Bufo
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
I must have been on Giovanni’s wavelength this morning because I breezed through this with no problems (except that I had to convince myself that the definition in 1 across is OK)
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26628
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****
For me this was one of Ray T’s easier puzzles. As usual you need to think out-of-the-box for some of the answers
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Toughie No 612 by Dada
Money Talks
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Today we have a welcome return by Dada with a very entertaining puzzle. It’s full of his usual inventive and witty clues but not as tricky as he can be. I have a feeling that he’s being slightly constrained, but I’m quite happy with that as long as he stays in the Wednesday slot. 
As usual your comments are welcome and please take the time to register your approval rating by clicking on one of the stars below.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26627
Hints and tips by Falcon
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Today we have the usual enjoyable offering from Jay – one that I thought tended toward the less difficult end of the scale.
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Toughie No 611 by MynoT
Something fishy!
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
When you see MynoT as the setter there is usually a theme in the offing but, apart from a few fishy references, there doesn’t seem to be anything today. [Wrong again! Thanks to Qix for pointing out that the theme is a work from a series by Edith Sitwell.]
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26626
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment **
This is a pretty gentle puzzle for a Tuesday. My problem with it is not its relative ease, but that the compiler seems to have put all his/her effort into getting the wordplay right without paying too much attention to the surface readings. As a result the surface in a number of the clues is clunky or meaningless. Do you agree or disagree? – let us know in a comment.
In the unlikely event that you need to see an answer just drag your cursor through the space between the brackets under the clue.
Continue reading “DT 26626”