September 13, 2012 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Toughie 841

Toughie No 841 by Shamus

Hints and tips by Bufo

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

It was nice to have a challenging puzzle on a Thursday and I enjoyed it even though a lot of the clues are rather convoluted. I thought it was going to be a pangram but I failed to find the Z. This is somewhat surprising because a Z could easily have been incorporated by using the alternative spelling at 14 across. Perhaps Shamus had this originally but found it too awkward to clue.

Continue reading “Toughie 841”

DT 26970

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26970

Hints and tips by Falcon

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

Welcome from Ottawa where the September weather has alternated between unseasonably cold and unseasonably warm. For the next few days, it seems, we will be in the latter phase of this cycle.Having been reassigned to join Pommers on the Thursday desk, I found today’s puzzle by Ray T to lie a bit toward the more difficult end of the scale. While I managed to complete the puzzle without resorting to the cheat sheet that Big Dave kindly provided, I did make generous use of my electronic aids. As for enjoyment, I think it sits solidly in four star territory.

Continue reading “DT 26970”

ST 2655

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2655

A full review by Gnomethang

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

Morning All! I solved this in pretty much record time and having reviewed it I thought that a lot of the clues followed a fairly similar form but the surface readings added a lot to the enjoyment.

Continue reading “ST 2655”