Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27794
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Listen very carefully, I shall say this only once. The 2Kiwis aren’t here this week. Actually I don’t think they’ve ever been here as they’re usually there but today they’re neither here nor there because they’re where most of you guys are. That means they can’t do the blog so a substitute was organsied but he’s had to cry off so I’ve moved from my slot tomorrow to do today’s and said substitute for today has moved to tomorrow to cover for me who’s doing today. Simples!
I’ve been looking forward to this as it’s been quite a while since I last blogged a Jay puzzle and I always enjoy them. This was no exception as the Wednesday Wizard has come up trumps again. Perhaps a tad trickier than some of his puzzles have been recently or is that just me being a bit slow this morning?
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27771
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Hola from the Vega Baja where winter seems to have returned. Cold and raining this morning. Perhaps it’s just me but I’m not sure what to make of this one. It was heading for an easy-peasy one star when suddenly it was a bit like finding speed humps on the M6. Really slowed down towards the end.
Like last time I blogged there are a few rather stretched synonyms so perhaps we have the same setter again. I’m pretty sure it isn’t RayT, who seems to have gone AWOL.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27759
Hints and tips by Pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where it’s nice and sunny but there is what my Grandad used to call a “Lazy wind”. It’s too idle to go round you so it just goes straight through you!
What put this puzzle into 3* territory is that some of the synonyms are really stretching things to the limit. To be fair though if you look up the answers in a thesaurus you’ll always find the definition from the clue listed as a synonym so one can’t really complain. I enjoyed the head scratching (nits perhaps?) but I’ll be interested in your comments. I don’t know who the setter is but I have my suspicions.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27747
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Hola from the Vega Baja where I’m running a little late due to oversleeping, oops. I blame the final glass of vino collapso!
This is a pretty good puzzle which was comfortably in 2* time until I got to the SW corner which refused to reveal itself easily so 3* it will have to be. I found it fun as it has one or two rather off-the-wall definitions. I know some of you will complain because only seven of the twenty six answers have their first letters checked.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27729
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where it’s a beautiful Spring morning. I think this is probably a RayT production but Her Majesty is AWOL. All the other signs are there though. No clue of more than eight words, just the right level of innuendo and all single word clues in the Quickie so I’ll stick my neck out and say it is.
I don’t think it will rattle anyone’s cage as there are six anagrams of eight letters or more so you’ve got loads of checkers on tap. I was just out of one star time, probably because I’m so slow at unravelling anagrams, but it was a very enjoyable solve and it got better as I was writing the review. I will be interested to hear your comments.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27717
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Hola from the Vega Baja on a cold but sunny morning. Maybe I’m being a bit grumpy this morning but this RayT puzzle didn’t quite hit the spot for me so only 3* for enjoyment. As for difficulty it should only be 1* based on my time but I was lucky to spot the two eleven letter anagrams instantly so I’ve given it 2*. I’ll be interested to hear what you make of it.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27693
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where it’s a beautiful sunny morning but a bit too chilly for blog-writing outside. You all know my track record in spotting setters but, for once, I’m going to stick my head above the parapet and say that this one is a RayT. I know we had one last week but this has all the hallmarks – there’s a little bit of innuendo, no clue more than eight words, a couple of hidden answers (just for Kath), an initial letters clue and Her Majesty makes an appearance. On top of that I’ve just had a peek at the Quickie and all the clues are single words. I rest my case.
RayT or not it’s a bit tricky in places, and I slipped into *** time, but there are enough gimmes and anagrams to get you going. However, I found it very entertaining with a few ‘D’oh!’ moments so I’ll be interested in your views.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27664
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
Hola from the Vega Baja where it’s raining! For some reason I didn’t really get on with this puzzle. I don’t know why as it’s not very difficult, there are a few anagrams to get you going and a couple of nice cryptic definitions which raised a smile or two so what was wrong? Perhaps it’s the rain or maybe it’s the fourteen sets of double unches that caused the problem. I’ll be interested to hear your views.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27640
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Hola from the Vega Baja on another beautiful autumn morning which makes a nice change from the 24 hours of torrential rain we had on Tuesday.
I found this puzzle quite enjoyable even though some of the surfaces are a bit iffy. It took a while for the penny to drop on 4d but otherwise there’s nothing much to frighten the horses.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27634
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja on a beautiful autumn morning with not a cloud in the sky but there is a slight nip in the air. I’m pretty sure this is a RayT production as Her Majesty is in attendance and all but one of the clues are eight words or less. Not very much in the way of innuendo and perhaps a few more anagrams than RayT usually includes, which I know will please many of you. There are also three hidden word clues, two of them reversed, so I reckon a certain lady blogger might be pleased to be giving this one a miss.
I found it very enjoyable and not too taxing so I’ll be interested to see your comments.
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