Gazza – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

DT 31287

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31287
Hints and Tips by Gazza

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

Thanks to today’s setter for a very enjoyable puzzle though I’m not sure that we needed to be reminded of the former political leaders from opposing parties.
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Toughie 3716

Toughie No 3716 by Luxor
Hints and tips by Gazza

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

Luxor has upped his difficulty level a bit since his last Toughie and has given us an enjoyable challenge – thanks to him. I thought at one stage that we were heading for a pangram but it was not to be.
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DT 31275

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31275
Hints and Tips by Gazza

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

Thanks to today’s setter for a very enjoyable puzzle. I wonder whether your guess as to their identity will correspond with mine.
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Toughie 3708

Toughie No 3708 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

There are a couple of unusual words here and some synonyms requiring a bit of thought but all were very fairly clued. Thanks to Sparks for the pangram.
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DT 31263

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31263
Hints and Tips by Gazza

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

Thanks to today’s setter for an enjoyable puzzle which provides a step up in difficulty from the earlier ones this week.
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Toughie 3700

Toughie No 3700 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza

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

You know what to expect from Osmosis – devious definitions, wily wordplay an absence of anagrams. I really enjoyed working through it in an anticlockwise route finishing in the N-E corner. Many thanks to Osmosis.
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DT 31251

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31251
Hints and Tips by Gazza

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

Thanks to today’s setter for an enjoyable puzzle which I found slightly trickier than its predecessors this week but still pretty accessible.
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Toughie 3692

Toughie No 3692 by Luxor
Hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

By Friday Toughie standards this is fairly straightforward. Thanks to Luxor for the enjoyable puzzle.

Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
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DT 31244

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31244
Hints and Tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty **  Enjoyment ****

Deansleigh is on holiday (and probably without Internet access) this week so I’m standing in for him.

Thanks to today’s setter for a very enjoyable challenge which is fairly gentle. All three of the long anagrams fell quickly based on the enumerations and a few checkers so that was a big help in completing the grid.
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