Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31198
Hints and tips by Mr K
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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. Continue reading "DT 31198"
Month: March 2026
DT 31193 (Full Review)
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31193
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 21st March 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A nice, entertaining 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 31193 (Full Review)”
Toughie 3659
Toughie No 3659 by Dharma
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
I was, as ever, at a loss how to rate this for difficulty. I pretty much skipped through it, thanks largely to Dharma’s typically fair definitions – hence the 2 not 2.5. But full parsing took slightly longer because of some original wordplay. I did, however, initially draw a blank up top, having to dot round the grid to find a way in. Once I did, though, it all slotted into place fairly quickly. And the north-west is not, in fact, nearly as impenetrable as it at first (to me) appeared. Dharma effectively gives us 1a on a plate as you have only to delete two letters and add one, so it really should have flown in immediately. Smart stuff – I’m still chuckling about 15d’s “flimsy house”. Outrageous! All yours.
EV 1738 (Solution)
DT 31197
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31197
Hints and Tips by Senf
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ****/*****
A very good Thursday morning from Winnipeg where Winter is proving very reluctant to depart and we are getting some more snow although not significant amounts and probably not as bad as the hailstorm that my Big Sister experienced in Egham yesterday.
For me, etc© (I have to say that for Terence), once again not half of a Dream Team Thursday, Silvanus was on Toughie duty yesterday, but no doubt that this is the work of the Master of Brevity once again. The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and appearances from the Queen and his swEetheart, don’t be confused by the ‘sweetheart’ in 9d (check the hint), appearing in the back pager with an average of 4.94 words per clue. Also, like Dada, Ray T still seems to be making occasional use of a personal thesaurus. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
Toughie 3658
Toughie No 3658 by Silvanus
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Only just a Toughie but the usual excellent Silvanus crossword
DT 31196
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31196
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***/****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the Wednesday back-pager blog. I started fairly quickly with this one but was held up in the NW corner by the cryptic definitions and the Spoonerism, pushing me into 2* time. There are some excellent clues in today’s puzzle, with plenty of smooth surface readings. I had ticks all over the page, but my favourite clue today, and the one that gave me the biggest laugh, was the superb 26d. Many thanks to today’s setter.
Sunday Toughie 216 (Review)
Sunday Toughie No 216 by Light
Review by Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on 15th March 2026 Continue reading “Sunday Toughie 216 (Review)”
ST 3360 (Full Review)
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3360
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 15th March 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. Dada has given us a very lovely enjoyable solve this Sunday and now I present to you a full review of his puzzle. Hope to have your valuable feedback and comments. Continue reading “ST 3360 (Full Review)”
Toughie 3657
Toughie No 3657 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Croeso o Gymru! This week’s travels find me in a very nice cottage on the Bodnant Estate, overlooking the Conwy valley and the village of Dolgarrog. The Present Lady Whybird, Lord Alfie and I are enjoying a few days of downtime following Lady W’s latest sewing retreat, coincidentally situated in the aforementioned village. Anyone would think there was a plan… We’ve had a hefty dose of spectacular early spring weather, but we are now experiencing something more traditionally North Walian. As with the last time I was in this area, several hours over a couple of days in St Mary’s Churchyard, Caerhun, involved plenty of obliging finches (Gold, Green, Chaf) but not Haw. There’s always a next time, and the Roman archaeology is interesting.
Dada, to whom, many thanks, has given us a very enjoyable puzzle today, towards the more straightforward end of the spectrum, I felt, which is especially welcome as I’ve been solving on the iPad rather than my much preferred Dead Tree. Just a couple of pieces of explanations had me scratching my head a little, but nothing too strenuous. I did wonder if Dada had dined on an Atlas given the number of geographical references. My prizes today go to 18a, 19a, 27a with 14d getting an honourable mention
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.