Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31118
Hints and Tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ****
May I take this opportunity to wish everyone a Very Happy Christmas.
I know that today can be a mad rush to get everything ready for the big day but I hope that you’ll have time between wrapping the last-minute present and preparing the sprouts to tackle this entertaining puzzle and let us know your thoughts on it. I enjoyed it a lot – many thanks to our setter.
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Toughie No 3605 by Donnybrook
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Welcome to the Toughie Week, one and all. Summer is on its way! Let’s just hope it isn’t travelling by train…
One of the benefits of the dark mornings is that the local tawny owls are heading home to roost at a relatively civilised hour, which fits with my normal walk with Lord Alfie. I’ve managed to see them twice at close quarters in the past week, and been alarmed by nearby, loud hooting.
I must confess I was expecting something rather more festive on the crossword front this morning. What we have is the complete opposite, and whilst I did not enjoy the gloomy (not to say apocalyptic) theme early in the day, this has grown on me as I’ve dug around a bit more. Not being very clued up on Saints’ Days, it was only when I started ferreting, that I discovered that 27th Dec is the feast day for St John the Divine. The theme is therefore suitably seasonal, in a cryptic sense entirely suited to the medium! The puzzle is very clever, and there are a couple of clues I thought were great. There are a few “gimmes” to get the ball rolling, and a few obscurities to significantly raise the difficulty level. 10a and 27a get honourable mentions, 14a sneakily gets into second, but my prize today goes to 26d by a fair distance.
Thanks to Donnybrook for the challenge and the learning opportunities.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31117
Hints and tips by Huntsman
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ***
A Typically Tuesdayish bit of Plumbing (I assume) that I’d rate pretty much on a par with X-Type’s puzzle yesterday in terms of difficulty. No particular favourite clue for me but as ever I thought it nicely clued throughout and perfectly enjoyable. For any looking for a stiffer challenge Donny is in the chair in t’other place & I’m sure Whybird would appreciate comments. As it’s my last blog before Christmas may I take the opportunity to wish all associated with the site festive greetings.
As ever there are an assortment of You Tube tunes & some Fawlty Towers to view if inclined.
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.
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Sunday Toughie No 203 by Zandio
Review by
Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 14th December 2025
I hope this isn’t out a day early – Gazza has assured me that this puzzle closed for entries at 9:00am.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3347
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 14th December 2025
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A pleasant and gentle puzzle from Dada this Sunday that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a full review of his puzzle for your kind perusal and valuable comments. Continue reading “ST 3347 (Full Review)”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31116
Hints and tips by Falcon
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from Ottawa where rain this past week has washed away most of the accumulated snow but a fresh dusting overnight has restored a bit of the Christmasy feel to the landscape.
Today’s puzzle does not feel to me like the work of any of our regular contributors (but, then, I have a dismal record in identifying setters). In any event, it is sure to be loved by those who delight in lurkers and anagrams.
As this will be my last appearance here this year, I would like to wish one and all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.
In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.
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A Puzzle by Faz
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Continue reading “Rookie Corner 609”
Sunday Toughie No 204
by Dada
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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Well, it is not the first time we have had Dada here and in the other prize Sunday slot, as no one has yet claimed yesterday’s SPP, maybe he has had a trifecta!
A slightly less than normal 13a and 13d clues today, and I have hinted less than half. The 6d 22a combo fooled me and I had to ask for help (thanks Lie-In-King). I am still not 100% convinced by my answer so the mythical is yours today.
Here We Go…
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Enigmatic Variations 1726 (Hints)
Gripping Yarns by Luxor
Hints and tips by Phibs
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I asked Claude, “A themed crossword puzzle has the title ‘Gripping Yarns’. On the basis that this title is unlikely to refer to riveting tales, what might the theme of the puzzle be?”
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3348 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
OK, let me try this again! A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where approximately five hours after this blog is published the Winter Solstice will occur marking the start of astronomical winter and the beginning of increasing daylight hours for six months.
On Thursday, we experienced blizzard conditions, with winds gusting to over 55mph and temperatures in the minus 20s before the mythical ‘feels like’ was taken into consideration, resulting from an Atmospheric River that originated somewhere over the Pacific Ocean reinforced by an Alberta Clipper once it had crossed the Rockies and ‘running into’ a Polar Vortex over Saskatchewan and Manitoba.
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada quite friendly, with four long ‘uns, six anagrams (one partial), two lurkers (one reversed), and no homophones in a symmetric 32 clues; with 16 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
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!
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