Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31050
Hints and tips by Smylers
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BD Rating – Difficulty ★⯨ – Enjoyment ★★★
Hello from Ilkley, where this year’s Ilkley Literature Festival has started. This weekend all four of us saw Gyles Brandreth on AA Milne; Spouse and I saw Stuart Maconie on The Beatles; and Spouse has also seen Rachel Joyce and Emma Freud, and a talk on the material world of Austen and the Brontës. The festival runs for another fortnight, during which time we’ll see Simon Armitage (Poet Laureate), Lady Hale (former Supreme Court Judge), and Jo Hamilton (wrongly convicted subpostmaster), among others less famous. Some events are streamed online, so you don’t even have to live nearby if you’d like to see them.
The festival was founded in 1973, with WH Auden appearing that year, making it the second-longest-running book festival in the UK. Quiz question for you: which is the longest-running?
Today’s Telegraph crossword has a helpful grid and contains no obscure vocabulary, but it took me a while to decode some of the wordplay and cryptic definitions. Hints, explanations, and hidden answers are below.
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A Puzzle by Zebedee
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Continue reading “Rookie Corner 598”
Sunday Toughie No 193
by Light
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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I struggled to get going last night, but I think I can blame the woolly-headedness on the lingering cold that is slooowly releasing its grip on my nasal cavities.
I did like 7 and 8d, but I may be overthinking the archery link
A somewhat imbalanced 16a and 13d clues today, and I have hinted half(ish) I hope you get the checkers to finish, I will give a nudge or two if required.
Here we go, Folks…
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Enigmatic Variations 1715 (Hints)
The Wrong Sort by Wicksparrow
Hints and tips by Gabriel / Jpeg
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A puzzle titled “The Wrong Sort” makes us instantly think of anagrams or, perhaps, of Winnie the Pooh and “The Wrong Sort of Bees.”… Continue reading
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3337 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where I have enjoyed a week of R and R in unseasonably warm Autumn weather.
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada not as friendly as he has been – one long ‘un, 8 anagrams (6 partials), 1 lurker, and 1 (partial) homophone all in an asymmetric 29 clues; with 15 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, you should/might be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. And, remember, my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
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A Puzzle by Chalicea
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Continue reading "NTSPP 817"
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31049 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by crypticsue)
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Toughie No 3560 by Elgar
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
Elgar’s Proper Friday Toughie is a pangram, which may or may not help you finish solving the puzzle. Some nice helpful four-letter solutions together with a few longer ones that did take quite a bit of thought and muttering to parse!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31043
A full review by crypticsue
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This puzzle was published on 27th September 2025
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *****
A splendid Saturday Prize Puzzle
Continue reading “DT 31043 (Full Review)”