Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31370
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. I found today’s puzzle to be the most challenging of the week so far – an excellent Wednesday workout. There are some very clever clue constructions: I especially liked 9a, once I’d worked out what was going on, and I thought 7d was ingenious. 25a might divide opinion, as it requires some cricketing general knowledge, but it makes it onto my podium as well. Many thanks to our setter.
Continue reading “DT 31370”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31364
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. For me, today’s puzzle was fairly gentle for a Wednesday – about the same level of difficulty as yesterday’s and Monday’s crosswords. One of the answers was a word I hadn’t come across before, but was fairly clued.
Amongst my favourite clues were 9a, 29a and 23d, but tying for first place are 22a (a lovely word) and 28a, which brought the biggest laugh of the day. Many thanks to our setter.
Continue reading “DT 31364”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31358
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty */** Enjoyment ***
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. For me, today’s crossword came between Monday’s and yesterday’s puzzle in terms of difficulty, with one or two clues needing some general knowledge, and a couple more where the parsing eluded me for a while. I counted five famous women, including three TV chefs and two world leaders. Amongst my favourite clues today were 19a, 28a and 20d. Many thanks to our setter.
Continue reading “DT 31358”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31352
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. Today’s puzzle was one of the hardest Wednesday puzzles that I can remember. I had a very sparse-looking grid after my first pass at the across clues, but fortunately the down clues came a bit more easily. There are some very smooth surfaces and a couple of well-disguised lurkers. It’s almost impossible to pick a favourite from so many fine clues, but the one that I enjoyed most was the plucky naturist in 17a. Many thanks to our setter.
Continue reading “DT 31352”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31346
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. Today was a definite step up in difficulty from the previous two days, with some excellent misdirection and one or two clues requiring some general knowledge. My favourite is the cat-sitting Reverend in 1a. I also enjoyed the Quickie pun. Many thanks to our setter.
Continue reading “DT 31346”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31340
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. For me, this was the hardest puzzle of the week so far, but not too tricky for a Wednesday. Amongst my favourite clues today were 9a, 12a and 20d, but first place goes to the Northampton cobblers in 8d. Many thanks to our setter.
Continue reading “DT 31340”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31334
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. I found today’s puzzle quite challenging – an excellent Wednesday workout. My favourite from a plethora of fine clues is the naked president in 22a. I also enjoyed the Quickie pun. Many thanks to our setter.
Continue reading “DT 31334”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31328
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. I found today’s puzzle to be a step up in difficulty from the previous two days, with one or two more obscure words and a reasonable amount of general knowledge required. Amongst my favourite clues were 1a, 10a, 12a and 2d, but the one I liked best was 14a, which made me laugh once the penny dropped. Many thanks to our setter.
Continue reading “DT 31328”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31322
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. I found today’s puzzle to be the hardest of the week so far, but everything is fairly clued. I didn’t know the definition in 1a, or the little ‘un in 22a, which has put me off certain dairy products for life! My favourites were 13a, 28a and 11d. I also liked the Quickie pun. Many thanks to our setter.
Continue reading “DT 31322”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31316
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty */** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. I got off to a flying start with today’s crossword, aided by the linked solutions in the first and last rows, but paused over the grass in 6d and Tracey’s coupling in 12d, although both answers are fairly gettable from the wordplay alone. My favourite clues today are 8a, the aforementioned 12d, and 16d. Many thanks to our setter.
Continue reading “DT 31316”