April 2026 – Page 8 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

ST 3363 (Hints)

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3363 (Hints)

Hints and tips by Senf

A very good Easter Sunday morning from Winnipeg where I have been pondering on the origins of the Easter Bunny.  I sort of assumed that it was a Hallmark Thing conjured up by my Southern neighbours but, apparently, that is not the case. That unimpeachable source Wikipedia suggests that the Easter Bunny is a folkloric figure and symbol of Easter originating among German Lutherans as early as the late 16th Century!  Decorated Easter Eggs, not made of chocolate, go back even further.

For me, and I stress for me,©  I might have been having an off day but somewhat reminiscent of ST 2978 on November 18th, 2018 – four long ‘uns (only one an anagram), five anagrams (one partial), two lurkers (one reversed), and one homophone in a symmetric 28 clues; with 14 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!

Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!

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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Toughie 3664

Toughie  No 3664 by Elgar

Hints and Tips by crypticsue

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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty ***Enjoyment *****

Given the battle I had to solve, parse and blog Elgar’s 300th Toughie, I will admit to being more than a little apprehensive when I printed off his 301st, where the last three Down clues had a whole piece of paper to themselves.   I was both relieved and delighted to find that he had set us his friendliest crossword for many a long year; I did know the hymn and the unknown catalogue was fairly clued; and the whole was most entertaining, my favourites being the brilliant 26a and 12d

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DT 31204

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31204

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty *** Enjoyment ***

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday.  Today we have a fun puzzle with tight cryptic grammar, solid definitions and nothing too esoteric. Continue reading "DT 31204"

DT 31199 (Full Review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31199

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 28th March 2025

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

Greetings from Kolkata. A slightly tough Saturday puzzle from the setter that I enjoyed solving and subsequently writing a review for your kind perusal and valuable feedback. Continue reading “DT 31199 (Full Review)”

Toughie 3663

Toughie No 3663 by Beam
Hints and tips by ALP

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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty ** Enjoyment ***/****

Beam’s back with his usual flurry of synonyms, the Queen, a sweetheart, and – of course – no anagrams. Scant sauce though, so maybe he listened to Jane – of whom I know we are all thinking, especially having seen today’s latest update. Everything crossed.

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