gnomethang – Page 47 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

DT 26258

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26258

Hints and tips by Gnomethang

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

Morning All!

A big thank you to Gazza for allowing me to make use of his chair for the day.

On with today’s puzzle. Giovanni, as you would expect, has delivered some finely constructed clues with very smooth surface readings. I found the difficulty to be greater than last week but really enjoyed the challenge. The tiny niggle I have is at 21a where not only is the answer not widely known (I would suggest) but the solver is left with a choice of two wordplay elements after filling all the checking letters. How many of you had to search to confirm the answer?

Speaking of answers, if you are new to the blog you can, as ever, find them by dragging your cursor between the curly brackets. Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.

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NTSPP – 016 Review

NTSPP – 016 Review

A Puzzle by Bufo

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

Morning All!

During the recent Cruciverbalist’s Convention at the White Horse, Parson’s Green, as well as agreeing to “blog the Thursday Toughie”, Bufo also generously volunteered to throw in a puzzle for the NTSPP series.  And here it is. It is not especially difficult and I plumped for 2.5 stars as there are a smattering of unusual words and some wordplay that is not immediately obvious.

Nevertheless, this should appeal to all solving abilities and is highly recommended.

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DT 26241

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26241

A full review by Gnomethang

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment **

Morning All!

Our usual Saturday setter has given us a bit of a mixed bag. There were a few very pleasant clues (2d and 22a for example) but some others I felt were slightly below par, or at least slightly well worn.

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DT 26235

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26235

A full review by Gnomethang

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Morning All! Following our recent meeting at the White Horse, Parson’s Green (where we were discussing the cutting edge of crossword theory) BD asked if I might like to take on the Saturday review. Working full time precludes getting a review out on the day so this is a perfect compromise as I have 4 days to get the writing done. Thanks to BD for the opportunity (I was going to suggest it anyway!).

Whilst there were a few obscure and abstruse words here they were in general clued sufficiently clearly to allow solving (with maybe a dictionary confirmation afterwards). The two star rating reflects my solving experience as compared to some recent Cephas puzzles but please let us know what you think.

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DT 26222

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26222

Hints and tips by Gnomethang

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ***

[Today we have a new blogger joining the team.  I know you will all recognise him from his proliferation of comments – well now the poacher has turned gamekeeper.  Gnomethang will only be able to participate from time to time, but if his first post is anything to go by let’s hope it is a frequent occurrence.  Thanks also to Gazza for stepping aside today to make this possible.  BD]

Morning All! First of all I must say a big thank you to Big Dave and Gazza for giving me the opportunity to guest this DT review. It has been fun to do and makes you think about every clue.

Now on to the puzzle: As usual from Giovanni we have a series of smooth and fair clues with good definitions and some very nice surface reading. As with the last two weeks I think that these have been from the more gentle side of Giovanni (I am comparing with a few from the beginning of the year) and I was wavering between two and three stars for difficulty but do please let us know what you thought.

You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post. Don’t forget that you can read the answers by highlighting between the curly brackets.

Continue reading “DT 26222”