January 2025 – Page 8 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

DT 30817

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30817
Hints and tips by Huntsman

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

I usually find Anthony Plumb’s puzzles a tad trickier than Monday but this one was certainly more straightforward than the X-Type offering yesterday. Having misjudged the difficulty rating last week there is a reluctance to risk a telling off from Brian so have played it safe with 2 *s. I’m prepared to risk a small wager that it’ll get more favourable comment from him than last week. As ever concisely clued & a very pleasant solve.

It’s looking like a rain free day so another lengthy walk around Harpenden Common & Rothamsted looks the best option given that the golf courses are still sodden & mine remains closed.

In the following hints, definitions are underlined, indicators are mostly in parentheses, and answers are revealed by clicking where shown as usual. Please leave a comment below on how you got on with the puzzle.

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DT 30816

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30816

Hints and tips by Smylers

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

Greetings from Ottawa, where the weather has been pretty much as expected, and the locals have been out creating entries for the animal snow sculpture competition.

a rabbit made out of snow, with sticking-up ears and whiskers made from twigs a snow horse, sitting down and with impressive detail in its legs a snow snail, with a massive swirly shell, a smiley face, and twigs for antennae

Hang on, that doesn’t seem right …

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Sunday Toughie 154 (Hints)

Sunday Toughie No 154

by Dada

 

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

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Another Newbie to the Sunday Toughie, I was quite surprised to find Dada as the compiler today. Once I got over the surprise I found this a floughie toughie and I don’t think horses have any concerns either here or in the backpager. I haven’t had time to tackle Senf’s Dada yet but I have spotted some similarities.

Dada has brought a slightly “25a ungenerous” 14across and 13down clues today on what I call the H4 grid (from the dark blocks along the sides of the grid). I will plump for the crafty 9d today but the precarious 16a ran it close before falling at the last.

I counsel you “15d” to be aware that the red pencil has been active this weekend with just a few 1a remaining of Christmas Comestibles

Here we go, Folks…

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EV 1676 (Hints)

Enigmatic Variations 1676 (Hints)

Snack Time by The Ace of Hearts

Hints and tips by Phibs

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A very happy New Year to all EV solvers. As of next Sunday, a new EV blogger will make their début, sharing duties with me on an alternating basis. I will let them introduce themselves when the time comes, but this is the moment to say a huge ‘thank you’ to the Numpties, who got these hints off the ground back in September 2020 with Chalicea’s The Beagle Has Landed (EV 1451), wrote all the blogs until June 2022, and then took turns with me until the end of last year – in the process covering something like 150 puzzles. Suffice to say that the existence of these hints is a direct result of their enthusiasm and effort.

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ST 3298 (Hints)

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3298 (Hints)

Hints and tips by Senf

A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where after warmer temperatures (relatively speaking and by Winnipeg standards) over Christmas and New Year it has gone back to being taters with minus 20s until Thursday at least.… Continue reading