Toughie No 3581 by Weatherman
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
Whybird is away for a couple of Tuesdays and I have been entrusted with the responsibility of filling in for him. This is my debut on Toughie blogging duty, so please be gentle with me. I don’t know whether the DT uses different grids for Toughies, but I have never blogged a puzzle with only 24 clues. Sadly this and the lack of a Quickie Pun will weaken my negotiating position when I approach Gazza for a pay rise!
I got the four long answers first and then made reasonably steady progress until grinding to a halt in the SW corner. 17a, 16d and 18d delayed me for far too long but with hindsight, of course, they probably shouldn’t have done. It’s a good job the blogging deadline for Toughies is 14.00 and not 11.00!
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.
Many thanks to Weatherman and to the DT Crossword Team.
Continue reading “Toughie 3581”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31075
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
Don’t worry, you haven’t lost a couple of days. I can confirm that it is definitely Tuesday today. Huntsman has kindly agreed to swap blogging days this week, as I am away on Thursday.
I really enjoyed this puzzle. I found it to be a straightforward solve, but it has some lovely smooth and humorous surfaces, proving once again that a puzzle does not have to be difficult to be enjoyable. My ticks are for 12a, 1d, 3d, 18d and 25d, but I could have listed many more. Which clues did you like?
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.
Many thanks to our setter and to the DT Crossword Team.
Continue reading “DT 31075”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31071
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Good morning, fellow puzzlers and greetings from North Norfolk where we are enjoying our biannual week staying in an apartment overlooking Wells harbour. The weather has been remarkably kind to us, despite a little bit of rain yesterday afternoon.
Today’s plans include completing today’s blog and then a bit of birding at dusk followed by dinner with friends in the Wells Crab House. Any travel to the east will depend on a burst water main on the A149 having been repaired overnight. Fingers crossed. No real surprises on the birding front so far, but a couple of juvenile gannets and a red-breasted merganser at Titchwell on Tuesday are worthy of note.
Today’s puzzle doesn’t feel like Silvanus and it is definitely not RayT, so I will leave “Guess the Setter” in your capable hands, dear reader. I found it to be a bit tricky in parts, but an enjoyable solve. I will go along with the early commenters in making the very amusing 11a my CoD.
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.
Many thanks to our setter and to the DT Crossword Team.
Continue reading “DT 31071”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31065
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
Ray T entertains us again this Thursday with a fine puzzle. The Queen and the sweetheart are there as ever, with brevity of clueing at a miserly 5.25 words/clue. The jury is still out as to whether Ray’s self-imposed brevity and single word answers limit the opportunity for humour in his puzzles.
I will be blogging from North Norfolk next week, with fingers crossed that today’s storm will have well and truly blown over by then!
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.
Many thanks to our setter and to the DT Crossword Team.
Continue reading “DT 31065”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31059
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
A perfect Thursday puzzle, in my opinion. Just enough head scratching required to make it a satisfying and most enjoyable solve. Having said that, I got off to a very poor start by biffing “hairgrip” for 1a. Yes, I know it doesn’t make any sense, but I thought I would make the solve a bit more challenging by making a complete Horlicks of the first clue.
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.
Many thanks to our setter and to the DT Crossword Team.
Continue reading “DT 31059”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31053
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
RayT at his most benign, adding fuel to the fire of those who think that the DT may have abandoned their policy of starting the week gently and gradually increasing the level of difficulty as the week goes by.
No doubt as to our setter today, with the Queen and sweetheart making appearances and the words per clue standing at a fraction over five. From the Quickie Pun, we now also know that Ray hails from somewhere north of Watford Gap.
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.
Many thanks to our setter and to the DT Crossword Team.
Continue reading “DT 31053”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31051
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
I’m on Tuesday blogging duty today, as Huntsman is away for a few days’ golf on some of the excellent courses on the beautiful North Norfolk coast. If the weather up there is as good as it is here, he is in for a lovely few days.
I found this a bit trickier than normal for a Tuesday, or maybe it’s just me being a bit slow out of the blocks this morning? It was a bit disconcerting when 1a took me ages to parse, but in retrospect, it shouldn’t have done. There is an unindicated Americanism which might irk RD, but as it is in the Quickie Pun, I think our setter is off the hook!
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.
Many thanks to our setter and to the DT Crossword Team.
Continue reading “DT 31051”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31047
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
I really enjoyed this delightful puzzle, which induced plenty of smiles and a couple of laughs along the way. My ticks are for 18a, 21a, 25a, 4d, 13d and 17d. I would be interested to hear what you think, dear reader.
21a is particularly apposite for me. In 2019, our son set up a laser tattoo removal business in St Albans, which I am pleased to say is going really well. I desperately tried to persuade him to adopt a pig as his logo. Once you have solved 21a, you might understand why! He rightly argued that not everyone has a warped crossword brain like mine. Good point, well made.
Must dash – I’m now off to help at a charity golf day at Knebworth GC in support of Wooden Spoon – a rugby based charity supporting disadvantaged children. If there are mistakes in the blog, I can only apologise.
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.
Many thanks to our setter and to the DT Crossword Team.
Continue reading “DT 31047”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31039
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
It’s me again on Tuesday duty. Huntsman has kindly agreed to swap days this week, as we are off to Jersey at lunchtime for four days. If there are any errors in the blog, I’ll correct them when we get to St Helier. We have never been to the Channel Islands and are looking forward to it.
I found this puzzle to be very accessible with just a couple of clues which required a bit of thought at 28a and 26d. Although it was very light, there was much to enjoy. The artist scratching his bottom at 4d and the underwear infested with insects at 21a made me smile.
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.
Many thanks to our setter and to the DT Crossword Team.
Continue reading “DT 31039”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31035
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
A lovely challenging puzzle which I found to be tricky in parts. However, if you follow the setter’s instructions carefully, every clue does exactly what it says on the tin. Several reversals and letter selections/deletions, but all presented within the smoothest of surface reads. A setter at the very top of his game.
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.
Many thanks to our setter and to the DT Crossword Team.
Continue reading “DT 31035”