Daily Telegraph
No 31174
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****
I’m standing in for Mr K so I’m afraid there will be no cats. I remain traumatised by them after watching Doctor Who getting chased through London’s sewers by giant rats back in 1977. Our old tom was equally terrified and promptly pounced on my head before coughing up hot milk all over me. Happily, there are no such horrors today, simply smart but fair wordplay and fizzy surfaces. Just no cats! All yours.
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Toughie No 3643 by Silvanus
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ***/****
Largely light, and scrupulous. There’s a spot of Scots vocab (6d), botany (7d) and geography (15a) but Silvanus is, of course, typically fair. The grid did prompt me to look for a Nina, but I certainly couldn’t spot one! Over to you.
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Toughie No 3639 by Kcit
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****
Highly enjoyable shenanigans from Kcit today with a smidgeon of tricky vocab (e.g. 16a’s “age”) and a pleasingly classical feel. There was, happily, no need to know about models of mobile phones popular in New Zealand this time out but I suspect not many of us (with two notable exceptions!) will be overly familiar with 20a’s definition. Still, it’s all fair – and fun. Over to you.
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Daily Telegraph
No 31165
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Huntsman’s away on his jollies so I’m afraid you’re stuck with me. We have the usual Tuesday fare – typically fair and suitably gentle with credible surfaces. Over to you.
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Toughie No 3635 by Dharma
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Typically sharp but fair definitions from Dharma with some knotty wordplay. For some reason, I found this slightly harder to break into than usual but once the top fell, it was a brisk-ish solve. All yours.
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Toughie No 3631 by Beam
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ***/****
Standard Beam fare – a sweetheart, a queen and an imaginative, tight word count … but no lavatorial humour today. Who could he have been listening to?! Over to you.
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Toughie No 3627 by Django
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
I always enjoy a Django: fun definitions and smart wordplay. Very gentle from him today, kicking off with a straight-in Spooner that rather set the tone. No bad thing – I’ve long suspected that setting a gentle but entertaining puzzle is even harder than setting a tough one. Over to you.
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Toughie No 3623 by Silvanus
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Silvanus on a Thursday is always welcome. He’s returned with a typically toothsome number that has only a whisper of GK – money that I needed to spellcheck, a bird (that even I’d heard of!) and a Caribbean island probably better known for its eponymous liqueur. But there’s nothing too outlandish. Fun and fair. All yours.
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Toughie No 3619 by Kcit
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Parsing 28a ***** – Enjoyment ***
Fairly straightforward Lego from Kcit today, bar one spot of parsing (28a). I had to dredge up some A-level vocab for 1a and 6d’s “amount of work” but the definitions largely jumped out. All told, a pretty brisk solve. Pondering over the mechanics of 28a easily took as long (for me, anyroad) as the entire puzzle! All yours.
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Toughie No 3615 by Beam
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
The usual synonym work-out from Beam who has dreamed up more alternatives for “run” than I would have thought possible! Sweetheart and Queen both make a welcome re-appearance. Some lateral thinking may be required but it’s fairly straightforward. All yours.
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