January 2015 – Page 3 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

DT 27701

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27701

A full review by crypticsue

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

This puzzle was published on Saturday, 17th January 2015

An improvement to recent Saturday prize puzzles –  an enjoyable solve with a couple of clues needing extra thought  – I actually circled three clues I ‘liked’ which is a rare event for a back page puzzle.   Typing the review, I do seem to have typed ‘anagram’ and ‘double definition’ quite a bit but I’m going to stick with the enjoyment rating I selected post-solve/pre-drafting.

Continue reading “DT 27701”

ST 2778

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2778

A full review by gnomethang

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

This puzzle was published on Sunday, 11th January 2015

I had a couple of sticky-outy clues which pushed this into *** territory but there were a couple of crackers here! Continue reading “ST 2778”

DT 27704

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27704

Hints and tips by Kath

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BD Rating — Difficulty **Enjoyment ****

Good morning everyone from a chilly Oxford. What a funny week it’s been – Monday felt like Tuesday with gazza doing the hints, yesterday felt like Monday and I haven’t really decided what today feels like yet.… Continue reading

Toughie 1329

Toughie No 1329 by Warbler

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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***

I made steady progress through this puzzle, which contained some trickier clues along with the more gentle ones I think of as typical of Warbler. A pleasant solve - thanks Warbler.

In case you haven't yet, do listen to last week's David Baddiel Tries To Understand Cryptic Crosswords on Radio 4, which is still available via the link below. It's highly entertaining, and the accompanying downloadable crossword, written specially for Baddiel by Arachne and discussed in the programme, is just delightful.

Here's the link (you'll need to copy and paste since WordPress won't let me create a hyperlink): http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04xrl8t

 

Continue reading "Toughie 1329"