October 2026 – Page 2 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Sunday Toughie 247 (Hints)

Sunday Toughie 247

by Silvanus

Hints & Tips by Sloop John Bee

The sixth Sunday Toughie from Silvanus was a pleasure to solve, but I am going to have to rush this blog a bit as I am going to the Ilkley Literary Festival to a talk about a crossword-related crime mystery that Smylers mentioned on Monday

I will add nudges and comments afterwards90. Alys Cummings & Tom Hindle: The New Golden Age

Here we go…

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ST 3391 (Hints)

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3391 (Hints)

Hints and tips by Senf

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A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where, on some mornings this week, the mercury has started dipping below zero!

For me, and I stress for me,© Dada about the friendliest he gets again.  Some guessing required and an unindicated German word.  Five anagrams (no partials), two lurkers (not hinted, so don’t forget the ‘if all else fails look for . . .’, and one homophone, all in a symmetric not great value for money 26 clues; with 13 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, all BRB verified where necessary, 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! You might even need your favourite e-search ‘assistant’!

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 3776

Toughie No 3776 by Elgar

Hints and Tips by crypticsue

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

I read all the clues; I wrote in the solution to 25d and then I stared at the rest of the clues for what seemed like ages before slowly and surely the grid began to fill.  Although this was a proper Elgar Toughie, it wasn’t as difficult as I first thought it might be

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DT 31367 (Full Review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31367

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 10th October 2026

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

Greetings from Kolkata. A nice, interesting Saturday puzzle from Chris Lancaster that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and significant feedback. Continue reading “DT 31367 (Full Review)”

Toughie 3775

Toughie No 3775 by Django
Hints and tips by ALP

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

Typically elegant, albeit über-gentle for a Thursday Django. Not that I’m complaining as I have about a million way trickier fish to fry today! I enjoyed it. Over to you.

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