Sunday Toughie No 201
by Light
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
A Light(ish) Toughie from Light, that took longer to blog than solve. A slightly uneven 14a and 16d clues today, and I have hinted at half. I hope you find the checkers to solve this fine puzzle. I will try and give a nudge or two if I can, but I am off to see Mumford & Sons tonight, so responses may be a bit late.
The featured image of the Matt Cartoon wouldn’t post where it belonged (as a hint to 1a) so I have left it there.
Mama Bee is nagging to go out for coffee so I will schedule this and talk to you later…
Here we go, Folks…
Continue reading “Sunday Toughie 201 (Hints)”
Enigmatic Variations 1723 (Hints)
Order, Order by Kcit
Hints and tips by Gabriel / Jpeg
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
Kcit, AKA Phi (also on offer in this week’s EV) or Pedro, has set us a mostly-orderly puzzle. … Continue reading
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3345 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Wincanton in Somerset. I am here for the wedding of one of my four nieces, the last of the four to ‘tie the knot.’ Wincanton used to be an important stop on the coaching route from London to Plymouth and there were a number of Coaching Inns in the town, some of which are still in existence as pubs and hotels. One of them, now an art gallery, has an ‘unofficial’ blue plaque on the exterior wall stating that Queen Victoria stayed there, in 1825, as a six year old Princess.
My ‘in flight’ reading for my Eastbound flights, courtesy of the Winnipeg Library – the fourth novel in the Marlow Murder Club series.
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada quite friendly, with three long ‘uns, five anagrams (two partial), two lurkers, and one homophone in a very asymmetric 29 clues; with 15 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues.
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Continue reading “ST 3345 (Hints)”
A Puzzle by Buddy
+ - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - + - +
Continue reading "NTSPP 825"
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31097 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by Gazza)
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
We have a special Prize Puzzle today which is a superb tribute to the Telegraph’s Puzzles Editor with all the across answers contributing. Chris Lancaster himself has also written a very moving account of living with the horrible disease that he’s suffering from (MND) – you can read that by following the link contained in this post: https://bigdave44.com/2025/11/29/chris-lancaster/
Continue reading “DT 31097 (Hints)”
As some of you may know, the Daily Telegraph’s brilliant puzzles editor, not to mention compiler, Chris Lancaster was sadly diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND) a while ago. He has written a very moving and detailed, yet humorous account of the challenges of living with this dreadful condition in today’s newspaper.… Continue reading
Toughie No 3592 by Elgar
Hints and tips by Gazza
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
Elgar is a smidgen trickier than he was two weeks ago but there are a host of cracking clues here and I enjoyed the challenge. When writing the hints I did notice the large number of reversals.
Continue reading “Toughie 3592”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31091
A full review by Rahmat Ali
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
This puzzle was published on 22nd November 2025
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. An excellent Saturday puzzle from NYDK that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and significant feedback. Continue reading “DT 31091 (Full Review)”
Toughie No 3591 by Kcit
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Toughie difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
I pretty much flew through this, largely via definitions. A spot of reverse parsing was required, with a couple of synonyms prompting some scrolling – 28a’s “small child”, for one. But it’s all very fair. There is, perhaps, a little vocab, but once you’ve seen 1a you never forget it and, though, botany remains my nemesis, 3d is clearly built. All yours. Continue reading “Toughie 3591”
