Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26793
Hints and tips by Digby
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
“Happy Eightieth to Roger Squires” was the round-about nina in NTSPP 106, and the event was well and truly, if a few days prematurely, celebrated in the Shropshire village of Ironbridge on Saturday. Rufus’s sleight of hand with a deck of cards is reflected in the wordplay demonstrated in today’s puzzle, and clearly he has lost none of his wit and dexterity, for this is a reprint of his very first DT cryptic puzzle that first appeared on November 28, 1986.
Has it stood the test of time? Please share your views, but join me in wishing the sly old fox all the best for Feb 22nd, and heartfelt thanks for the untold hours of entertainment that he has provided.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2627 (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 more difficult clues and provide hints for them.
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Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 106
A Puzzle by Omnia
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This week’s NTSPP was a special one – some of our favourite setters, and a couple new to the NTSPP series, collaborated as ‘Omnia’ to mark the 80th birthday of Rufus (Roger Squires). I found it a reasonably straightforward solve, with a couple of headscratchers just to make you think, and had fun trying to work out who set which clue (see the end of the post for the answer).
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Rufus (Roger Squires) at his surprise party to mark his 80th birthday. He does not know about the NTSPP yet!
Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 106
A Puzzle by Omnia
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Welcome to the latest in our series of puzzles, which have now been running every week for over two years.
By the time that you read this I will be at a party for a very special person. If you want to know who and why then you will have to solve this excellent puzzle, which is a joint effort from a number of people: A Clue A Day, Alchemi, Anax, Arachne, Bufo, Elgar, Gazza, Hieroglyph, Prolixic, Qix, Radler and last, but not least, Tilsit who has put the whole project together. A special welcome to A Clue A Day and Arachne as this is their first appearance in this series of puzzles.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26792 (Hints)
Big Dave’s Crossword Club
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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, have been selected and hints provided for them.
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Toughie No 722 by Myops
Caledonian Charivari
(aka Salmond Chanted Evening….)
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BD Rating – Difficulty *****2 – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from the Calder Valley! Time to renew acquaintance with our Scottish setter Myops. Today is not so much a Wee Stinker (his other regular crossword) as a *&*&^^^%! Stinker, in fact probably the Toughest of the Toughie puzzles series. This was a ferocious beast that took an awful long time to crack and I suspect this is not going to please most solvers. There are some cracking clues, but the use of a great many obscure words with obscure definitions add to the solver’s woe. Normally when I have been wrestling with Elgar or Osmosis, I have a feeling of satisfaction but that didn’t seem there today. Thanks to Crypticsue for a couple of pointers as well.
Subscribers to Another Newspaper’s Crossword Website are treated to a monthly prize puzzle which is at this end of the scale with obscure words. This puzzle would have sat nicely in that series.
Can I put in an early recommendation for tomorrow’s NTSPP puzzle by Omnia (Who? All will be revealed!) Without giving the game away, it’s something a little special.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2626
A full review by gnomethang
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Afternoon All! This week saw a slightly gentler puzzle that was no less enjoyable and very well crafted as we have come to expect from Virgilius.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26791
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Last week I gave the Giovanni two stars for difficulty and provoked a lot of disagreement. Undeterred, I’m awarding this one the same – do you agree this week? It’s got some very good clues and I enjoyed it.
If you’re stuck for an answer even after reading the hint just highlight the space between the brackets under the clue.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26786
A full review by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Before I started to solve this Prize Puzzle, I couldn’t remember if it was the turn of Cephas or the Mysteron – a count of the anagrams soon convinced me that it was definitely a Cephas puzzle, as usual an enjoyable Saturday morning interlude.
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