November 18, 2025 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Toughie 3585

Toughie No 3585 by Dada
Hints and tips by Shabbo

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Good morning, fellow puzzlers.

Dada is being fairly gentle with us this morning, in an enjoyable and reasonably accessible Tuesday Toughie. My ticks were for the confused directors at 7a, the winter coat at 26a, the discarded drink at 3d and the primate at 5d.

In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons.  Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.

Many thanks to Dada and to the DT Crossword Team.

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DT 31087

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31087
Hints and tips by Huntsman

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

Distinctly nippy in these parts but it’s sunny & dry so looks like the last chance for a decent walk before the forecast rains tomorrow.

I’m sure most will make much lighter work of today’s AP puzzle than I made of it. I usually solve the puzzle shortly before midnight so that all I then have to do is get up & write the blog. Unfortunately for whatever reason the puzzles were not loaded onto the app until early this morning, which I could have done without after a lousy night’s kip. Added into the mix a fire alarm went off at about 8am in our small block of 6 apartments so 30 mins of mild panic & investigation ensued. Still none the wiser as to why but I’m fairly confident I’m not in danger of being burnt to a crisp 🤞.

I thought today’s dose of Plumbing as enjoyable as ever. Maybe a tad trickier than usual but we’ll see what others make of it.

Error free hints last week but I fear it’s odds against a repeat performance this.

In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.

Continue reading “DT 31087”