Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27179
Hints and tips by Falcon
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Ottawa where — following a heatwave of mid-summer proportions — we have reverted to more seasonable (or even below seasonable) temperatures. The premature taste of July makes the current conditions all the more unpleasant. There is certainly nothing unpleasant about today’s puzzle from RayT — it was a joy to solve and a delight to review. On my first pass through, I was able to establish a network of solutions spanning the grid. Then my pace slowed markedly as the remaining clues demanded more thinking. However, by systematically building upon the initial structure, I was able to gradually fill in the blanks. I thought that the puzzle edged into three star territory for difficulty, but I suspect there will be a number of readers who feel it stayed in the two star range.
Continue reading “DT 27179”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27161
Hints and tips by Falcon
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from Ottawa where spring seems slow to arrive this year. One may even still see the odd isolated pile of snow in some well-sheltered locations.
This is a DNRT (Definitely Not Ray T) puzzle. I also found it to be a difficult puzzle to rate. To start with, the difficulty level of clues seems to range all over the map. I have set the difficulty at three stars, but some of the British terms may have caused me more difficulty than they will you. I also found it a bit tedious to review — especially the down clues where one encounters charade after charade after charade. I hadn’t particularly noticed this while solving the puzzle as I typically find myself tackling clues in a random order. I tried not to let this factor influence my rating, and gave it three stars for enjoyment as I felt that I had enjoyed the solving experience more than the blogging experience.
Continue reading “DT 27161”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27137
Hints and tips by Falcon
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from Ottawa where spring has arrived. Judging from the UK forecast, conditions here are very similar to those in London – perhaps even a few degrees warmer here. However, we still have a foot or two of snow on the ground – but it is quickly disappearing.
I suspect that you did not get the blogger you were expecting, and maybe not the setter either – I would say that this puzzle has definitely not been fashioned by RayT. On first read through, I thought it was going to be more difficult than it turned out to be. Once I got a foothold established, things started to fall into place.
Continue reading “DT 27137”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27119
Hints and tips by Falcon
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** / *** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Ottawa where snow is piled high everywhere but it is finally beginning to feel like spring is just around the corner.
Today’s puzzle has all the earmarks of a RayT creation — a bit of innuendo and an appearance by Her Majesty. I enjoyed solving the puzzle but when it came to writing the review, I realized that there does seem to be a rather generous dose of anagrams and charades used in the puzzle.
Continue reading “DT 27119”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27095
Hints and tips by Falcon
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Ottawa where we are in the midst of our annual winter celebration known as Winterlude.
Did you find the language a bit blue today – what with oaths, profanity and vulgarity. Not to mention a bit of bodice ripping and touching? Should you have any question about the authorship of today’s puzzle, a quick peek at the first and last clues will dispel any doubt. However, before the RayT-phobes exit the room, let me say that I found it to be rather gentle. This just may be the chance for those who are convinced that they can’t do a RayT puzzle to prove themselves wrong.
Continue reading “DT 27095”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27065
Hints and tips by Falcon
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from a very frigid Ottawa where the temperature is currently -23°C. With this being my regular turn in the blogger’s chair, the schedule has proven to be very fortuitous since – as we recently learned – Pommers is currently recuperating from a rather nasty bit of illness. I am sure he has taken heart from the outpouring of good wishes that have been directed his way. Hopefully, he will soon be well enough to flirt with those pretty Spanish nurses – when Pommette isn’t looking, of course.
Continue reading “DT 27065”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27042
Hints and tips by Falcon
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from frigid Ottawa. Actually the temperature seems to be on a roller coaster lately – one day its close to 20°C and the next its subzero.
After two weeks of Ray T (as I can see from a quick scan of the files), I would say that today’s puzzle is definitely not a RayT.
Continue reading “DT 27042”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27012
Hints and tips by Falcon
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** / *** – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from Ottawa where it was still October 31 when I sat down to write this review which means that it is Halloween, a night when people dress up in scary costumes and children go door to door extorting candy from residents in return for a promise not to do damage (trick or treat). We have also been experiencing the tail end of Hurricane Sandy. Fortunately for us, the storm had expended most of its destructive force by the time it arrived here and we are only getting some moderately high winds and a couple of days of rain.
Today’s puzzle from RayT seems to be rather on the tame side. Having blazed through three quadrants, I was ready to award it two stars for difficulty when I became seriously mired in the southwest corner. As a result, I bumped the rating up a tad. The puzzle is relatively devoid of anagrams so I know some folks will likely be disappointed.
Continue reading “DT 27012”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26988
Hints and tips by Falcon
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** / *** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Ottawa where we have been enjoying some lovely autumn weather. The leaves are just beginning to turn. While they are unquestionably a gorgeous sight, I dread the thought of soon having to rake them.
In today’s offering, Ray T seems to have dialed down the difficulty knob a smidgen while boosting the naughtiness control a notch. You should certainly have no difficulty finding an entry point.
Continue reading “DT 26988”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26970
Hints and tips by Falcon
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** / **** – Enjoyment ****
Welcome from Ottawa where the September weather has alternated between unseasonably cold and unseasonably warm. For the next few days, it seems, we will be in the latter phase of this cycle.Having been reassigned to join Pommers on the Thursday desk, I found today’s puzzle by Ray T to lie a bit toward the more difficult end of the scale. While I managed to complete the puzzle without resorting to the cheat sheet that Big Dave kindly provided, I did make generous use of my electronic aids. As for enjoyment, I think it sits solidly in four star territory.
Continue reading “DT 26970”