NTSPP – 199
A Puzzle by Gazza
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Month: November 2013
DT 27349 (Hints)
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27349 (Hints)
Big Dave’s Crossword Club
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Still no news on the fate of Telegraph Puzzles. Surely we deserve more than the bland message “Many apologies for the Telegraph Puzzles website being unavailable. The link has now been updated and some quick hints follow.
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.
Toughie 1093
Toughie No 1093 by Elgar
A nice end to a sad week in Crosswordland
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment *****
A nasty lurgi has taken over Tilsit Towers, so young Tilsit has produced a doctor’s note to excuse him from blogging and I am dancing solo today. Get well soon.
Having had one of those weeks where setters and I weren’t entirely on the same wavelength, I approached the Friday Toughie with some trepidation. However, it would appear that someone must have given Elgar some new fluffy slippers for his recent birthday as I didn’t have much trouble solving this one, although the time taken to parse a couple of clues moved it up to a 3.75* Toughie difficulty rating. I will be interested to see how many people agree with me.
DT 27348
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27348
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
I’m temporarily back in my old Friday stamping ground and if I didn’t know that Friday means Giovanni I don’t think that I’d have recognised this as one of his. I found it pretty easy and it was possibly heading for a 1* for difficulty before I had a bit of a hold-up in the NE corner. There are a number of entertaining clues and only one religious reference.
Continue reading “DT 27348”
DT 27343
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27343
A full review by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
A strange solving experience this week as the Saturday Mysteron’s prize puzzle took me longer to solve than any of the preceding week’s Toughies (which weren’t properly tough, but you get the picture).
Toughie 1092
Toughie No 1092 by Busman
An easy ride
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Thanks to Gazza for covering for me last week. I swear that I didn’t know it was to be an Excalibur puzzle when I declared my unavailability. I raced through today’s Busman puzzle apart from stalling briefly in the NW corner. I don’t know why I stalled because everything was fairly straightforward except for 1 across.
DT 27347
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27347
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
A fine but not too difficult puzzle from the Thursday Mysteron.
ST 2718
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2718
A full review by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Another fine Sunday treat from Virgilius, no special favourites this week, just great all-round entertainment.
Toughie 1091
Toughie No 1091 by Beam
Jaunty Jolly Japes
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Beam is continuing with his no-anagram policy (that’s fine as far as I’m concerned). We’re treated to some entertaining clues, although some of the surface readings are not terribly smooth.
Continue reading “Toughie 1091”
DT 27346
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27346
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Today’s hints have been hastily prepared as I was unable to get today’s puzzle to Scchua in time. The usual pleasant solve from Jay.