Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 100 (Review)
Happy Anniversary
A Puzzle by Prolixic
(with a little help from his friends)
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Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Prolixic prepared this special puzzle to mark the fact that the best alternative Saturday puzzle in the world has reached no 100. He has set more of these puzzles than anyone else and this time had a bit of assistance with the clue writing from Gazza and Radler who, along with Anax, Bufo and Hieroglyph, feature in the top six of the NTSPP setters table.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26744
A Full Review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
Christmas Eve seems a long time ago but that is when we were treated to this special seasonally- themed puzzle from Rufus. I always enjoy one of his Monday puzzles as they are a good straightforward start to the crosswording week and so it was nice to have this extra Saturday treat, with just the right level of difficulty for a busy day. My only slight quibble would be that it does seem a little heavy on the double definitions.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26749
Hints and tips by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
For the third time this week, Gazza has kindly vacated the hot seat to allow one of his fellow bloggers who doesn’t normally get the chance to do an on-the-day review to have a go. If he had his unaccustomed but well-deserved lie in, he will have missed a superb sunrise which kept distracting me from the job in hand, the review of this very enjoyable Giovanni puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26738
A Full Review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** or **** – Enjoyment ***
The Mysteron puzzle on Saturday the 17th certainly divided opinions on the day. We seemed to be evenly split between the ‘that was easy’ brigade and those like me who seriously felt that their cryptic brain cells had gone into pre-Christmas meltdown. The difficulty rating above reflects the views of both ‘camps’. One thing we did all seem to agree on was that it was very enjoyable.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2618
A full review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty **– Enjoyment ***
Of all the people who commented on this puzzle on Sunday, I appear to have been the only one who found it straightforward to solve; everyone else struggled with the left-hand side, although we all seemed to agree that Virgilius provided us with the usual great Sunday entertainment. My favourites are marked in blue. Continue reading “ST 2618”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26732
A full review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
I do hope Gnomethang negotiated a good rate of overtime pay as he certainly seems to be putting in some very long hours lately. Luckily this week I was prepared for a last minute call for help and had kept my solved grid and made notes just in case, little thinking that I would need them. Looking at his comments on the day, I think he might have given this a higher difficulty rating were he writing this blog, but I have based my assessment on my solving time. I did enjoy this typical Cephas Saturday puzzle, with lots of his favourite anagram indicators and it has been nice to revisit it. Continue reading “DT 26732”
Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 096
A Puzzle by Prolixic
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Another fine puzzle from Prolixic. I have to say that I didn’t spot the triple unches for which he apologises, but then I rarely notice the obvious! Slightly tougher than some of his puzzles, including some clues which were easier to solve than to explain!
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2617
A full review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ***
A different Virgilius this week – not a single hidden word clue, some very long anagrams and the whole thing tougher than usual but as entertaining as ever. Continue reading “ST 2617”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26726
A full review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Just doing Gnomey a last minute favour as he was kept on site until very late on Thursday evening and hadn’t even started this blog. Lucky for him, and you, I can type fast. I found this Saturday Mysteron puzzle quite tricky on the day, but having just had to solve it again to sort out the hints for the blog, can see that it wasn’t just me being tired, it was a tricky one. Continue reading “DT 26726”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26720 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club
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Big Dave is having a well-earned day off from the blog – he has gone to the Sloggers & Betters Convention in Derby. I do enjoy a nice S&B meeting but Derby is just too far away and so I have risen to the challenge and, as is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, an assortment of clues have been selected and hints provided for them.
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