January 14, 2024 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Sunday Toughie 103 (Hints)

Sunday Toughie No 103

by Robyn

 

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

 

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Robyn with an enjoyable Grammar and Geography lesson today. We have that horse garment again! but also a nice theme for which you may need a gazetteer or Google Maps

14a and 14d clues today and I have hinted half

A laptop that is stuck in an update loop and a broken mouse have put me behind today so I am dashing a bit to get this blog out    A dab of glue and a slap on the battery and it’s sorted!

Here we go…

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EV 1625 (Hints)

Enigmatic Variations 1625 (Hints)

Rogue by Karla

Hints and tips by Phibs

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I write these notes under the watchful eye of a chameleon (not a real one, I hasten to add) who stands on top of my printer and whose name is Karla. The setter who shares that moniker is a new one to me – I think it unlikely that their choice of pseudonym is connected in any way to Culture Club or my low-maintenance pet, but it might perhaps have something to do with John le Carré’s rarely seen but often mentioned Soviet Intelligence Officer, the main reason why George Smiley dismally failed to live up to his emoji. Another namesake is the ex-ballerina in Jacqueline Susann’s Once Is Not Enough, played in the film by Melina Mercouri and described as ‘reclusive, mysterious and beautiful’, adjectives which apply to most, if not all, crossword setters. Along, of course, with ‘modest’ and ‘delusional’…

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ST 3247 (Hints)

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3247 (Hints)

Hints and tips by Senf

A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where winter precipitation has arrived!  Around 20cms, maybe more, which was soft and powdery enough to be blown around by strong winds.  But we are avoiding the worst of a Polar Vortex which is creating havoc to the West of us with, for example, in Edmonton a ‘high’ temperature of minus 32 degrees ‘reduced’ to minus 41 with wind chill. … Continue reading