October 2022 – Page 5 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Sunday Toughie 38 (Hints)

Sunday Toughie No 38 by Zandio

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

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For me, the trickier end of Zandio’s spectrum but I got there eventually. I understand that some of you may have not got the correct enumeration for 1 across, on the new site it was initially (15) when it should have been (4,3,3,5) It has been corrected now and should be an easyish start and doesn’t cause you to 27a.

14 across and 16 down clues today and I have hinted half. If you require extra hints or have alternative parsings (1d and 5d in particular) I am open to help and advice if required.

Here we go…

 

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EV 1561 Hints

Enigmatic Variations 1561 (Hints)

Thirtieth Anniversary by proXimal

Hints and tips by Phibs

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The Enigmatic Variations series was started by James Leonard (RUSTIC) in 1992. The first puzzle was published on 18th October of that year – entitled GREETINGS, the perimeter of the completed grid contained the message ‘WELCOME TO THE NEW SUNDAY TELEGRAPH PRIZE CROSSWORD’. Leonard edited the puzzle from its inception until his death in 2013, at which point Chris Lancaster (SAMUEL) took over the responsibility. When Chris moved on in 2019, the current editor, Steve Bartlett aka proXimal, took over.

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DT 30118

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30118

Hints and tips by Senf

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

A very good Friday morning from Winnipeg.

The ‘smoothness’ of the clues suggests to me that Silvanus is the red hot odds-on favourite to be today’s setter so I don’t think that Huntsman is going to get much of a return on the five bob that he was prepared to risk yesterday.… Continue reading

Toughie 2939

Toughie No 2939 by Firefly
Hints and tips by Gazza

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

I found parts of this quite tricky (which I can’t blame entirely on the severe case of man flu that I’m currently suffering from) and I can’t fully understand 21a (so any suggestions there would be welcome).Continue reading

DT 30117

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30117

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty *** Enjoyment ***

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Thursday. While I found most of this crossword straightforward, there were a handful of clues which required pondering and a visit to the dictionary. I’m never sure how to assign a difficulty rating to puzzles like that, so I’m going for an average rating of 3*.  Continue reading "DT 30117"