Mr K – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Author: Mr K

DT 30412

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30412

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty **** -  Enjoyment ***

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. I found today’s puzzle distinctly chewy, with many passes though the list of clues being required to get a completed grid.  In hindsight there’s nothing too exotic in the wordplay, so I don’t know why that happened – the wavelength thing perhaps?  Lots of fun lurking in the clues, but I felt it was a step up in difficulty from what we’ve seen on recent Fridays .  Continue reading "DT 30412"

DT 30406

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30406

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty ** -  Enjoyment ***

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday.  This week’s Telegraph Puzzles Newsletter told us that this week’s celebrations to mark the first birthday of the new Telegraph Puzzles site would “wrap it all up with a suitably celebratory Cryptic Crossword on Friday”.  That information didn’t help much with the solve, and once I had a completed grid, I searched for anything beyond the obvious 1a/4a combination that might be referencing the new site, but to no avail. Did anyone out there spot anything else birthday-related or anything that could be a comment on the new site?  The anagram-rich puzzle itself felt more straightforward than recent Friday puzzles and it delivered quite a few smiles.  Continue reading "DT 30406"

DT 30394

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30394

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty *** -  Enjoyment ****

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. I found lots to like in today’s puzzle, with a few instances of cunning misdirection that required a little thought to unscramble the word play. I hope that our setter drops in later to take a bow. Continue reading "DT 30394"

DT 30388

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30388

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty *** -  Enjoyment ****

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. I thought this puzzle was not as tricky as some we’ve seen on Fridays recently, but it came packed with smile-inducing penny drop moments. Continue reading "DT 30388"

DT 30370

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30370

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty *** -  Enjoyment ***

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the first Friday blog from the new site location. My solve today proceeded faster than usual because a few answers leapt out at me from their definitions, leaving the wordplay to be parsed afterwards. But there were plenty of clues that worked the other, and IMHO more satisfying, way around, where the non-obvious answer emerges from following the wordplay instructions and generates a big smile.  Continue reading "DT 30370"

Site Update (Updated)

by Mr K  

Site Update

Update (August 2nd) We have asked for the site to be moved at 4pm today (Wednesday). It’s possible that the site may appear to be offline for some readers while the new location of the site propagates across the internet. If that happens rest assured that the interruption will be temporary, and https://bigdave44.com will soon be back online.

Original Post: Big Dave’s family, in particular his sister Carol, have very generously made it possible for caretakers crypticsue, Gazza, Mr K, and Prolixic to keep BD’s site operating so that the community he created will live on and so that current and future cryptic crossword solvers can benefit from the wonderful resource he created.… Continue reading

DT 30364

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30364

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty *** -  Enjoyment ****

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday.  I rated today’s puzzle highly because it was a smoother solve than some Fridays and it induced an above average number of smiles.

… Continue reading