Rahmat Ali – Page 31 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

ST 3103

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3103

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 11th April 2021

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

Greetings from Kolkata. I now have the pleasure of writing the review for a puzzle of the Sunday Telegraph. While going through 12a, I really started looking back to the good old days of my childhood of 1967 when I got double promotion to a higher class for the second time. The new books had already been bought when, one day, within the first week of the commencement of our class, I was taken from my class on the ground floor to a room on the first floor where Mrs. Wainwright, our School Principal, began to put me to various types of tests and from there, after some time, I was taken to Class II on the first floor itself. A new list of books to be purchased was handed over to me. But I did not discard my previous English book. It had the rhyme, “Jack Sprat could eat no fat. His wife could eat no lean …” with a big cartoon showing a lean Jack Sprat pushing a cart in which his fatty wife with chubby cheeks, occupying almost the entire space, sat facing him. At home, I used to open that book quite often to have a glimpse of those ‘strange’ chubby cheeks. Continue reading “ST 3103”

DT 29646

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29646

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 10th April 2021

BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Greetings from Kolkata. First of all, I would like to state that C.G. Rishikesh Sir of Chennai, one of the bloggers of Big Dave’s Crossword Blog, passed away just two days ago (on the 14th). The last time I met him was at the Grand Finale of the Indian Crossword League (IXL) at Bengaluru in December 2018. Incidentally, that was the first time we sat together for lunch. He asked me about my family members and I answered him. He was a very soft-spoken person. But again, incidentally, it had been only a matter of months when I happened to click on ‘Meet the Bloggers’ here for the first time to discover his name (Rishi), although I had been participating in the Monthly Prize Puzzle Contests since 2014. Had I known then, I would have asked him at the Finale to share his experience with Big Dave’s Blog. Now that he is no more, I pray to the Almighty for his peaceful, eternal rest. Continue reading “DT 29646”

DT 29583

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29583

Hints and tips by Rahmat Ali

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

Greetings from Kolkata.  We have, of late, passed a moment which we could have celebrated in some way but it came and went in the twinkling of an eye.  However, the moment had a long list or name, whatever you may call – 21st century, 21st year, 21st day, 21st hour, 21st minute, 21st second.  But that is past and I am now concerned with the present and feel it a great moment to have just finished writing the Hints and Tips for the second time which I hope you will enjoy. Continue reading “DT 29583”

DT 29577

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29577

Hints and tips by Rahmat Ali

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

Rahmat Ali has provided reviews for two of last year’s MPP puzzles, but this is his first time in the hot seat. BD


Greetings from Kolkata, the City of Joy and a Happy, Healthy and Harmless New Year 2021 – a year having both the concatenation of consecutive integers 20 and 21 and the product of two consecutive primes 43 and 47. Happy, exciting, adventurous and memorable holidays to the 2Kiwis. This is my first venture at the Hints and Tips and I have the pleasure of writing the same for this Wednesday, so I may please be enlightened if there happen to be any error. In the hints below, the underlining identifies the precise definitions and cryptic definitions, with indicators wherever required.
Continue reading “DT 29577”

MPP 099 – Review

Monthly Prize Puzzle 099 – Review

August 2020

Faulty Keyboard 2 by Alchemi

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[Regular MPP solvers may recognise the name Rahmat Ali. He has won once (December 2019), but enters nearly every month. He sent me this review, which I am happy to publish with only very minor changes. BD]

Congratulations to KiwiColin for winning this month’s prize competition. …….
Continue reading “MPP 099 – Review”