Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29928
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where winter has finally arrived!!!! After a really benign January and February it’s become March and gone cold. Also we’ve had fairly consistent drizzle since Friday evening and it’s forecast to go on until Tuesday lunchtime. At least it’s not like the storms the UK has had. Normal service is promised for Wednesday but I will believe it when I see it.
This crossword was a bit tricky for me. Maybe it’s because I’m doing it at night after a wine or three but there seemed to be a bit of a stretch in some clues. Still, the same elegance in the surfaces as we’ve come to expect on a Monday and nothing to cause total brain fade.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29916
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where the noise seems to have abated at last. I think the digging has finished and all that’s left to do is re-tarmac all the roads. Might be back to normal in a couple of weeks.
Today we have the usual Monday fare but a little trickier than the last one I blogged. There’s five clues involving anagrams so I know many of you will be pleased but there’s also a couple of head scratchers so it comes out as a very enjoyable solve. I hope you all agree with me.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29904
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where the noise of the diggings continues. It’s been going on for a month now but at least they’re not right outside my house any longer.
The usual Monday fare today but I thought at the easy end of the spectrum. I got ten of the acrosses and then all of the downs on first pass so * it has to be. It will be interesting to see how you all got on with it.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29892
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Hola from a rather noisy Vega Baja! We’re getting new sewers throughout the village and the works have finally got to the street where I live. At the moment there’s a JCB and some blokes with a pneumatic drill digging a large trench down the middle of the road! I don’t think pommette will be getting her lie-in this morning!
The usual Monday fare today but a bit light on anagrams. There are four and they’re mostly towards the end of the down clues so not much help if, like me, you start with the across clues
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic 29880
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja on a very pleasant morning that’s unseasonably warm. Forecast to be 22°C this afternoon but cold and rain tomorrow so I’m making the most of it while I can.
The usual splendid Monday fare today. Mostly not too hard but with a few to cause a bit of head scratching. Maybe it’s just me having an off day but I thought the head scratchers were a bit trickier than normal so I’ve gone for *** difficulty. I’ll be interested to see if you agree.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29868
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where the weather forecast is for a temperature of 24°C this afternoon! If it happens it would be some sort of record for Christmas week. Hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas and here’s hoping that 2022 turns out to be an improvement on 2021 – a Happy New Year to you all.
As for the crossword I’ll just repeat what I wrote last week – elegant clues, not too hard but a couple to cause some head scratching. I enjoyed it a lot and hope you did too.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29863
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where I’m doing this blog in the middle of the night due to a bout of insomnia, probably brought on by too much after dinner coffee! Anyway, may I send you all my best wishes for a safe and enjoyable Christmas.
As to the crossword it’s the usual Monday. Elegant clues, not too hard but a couple to cause the head scratching. I enjoyed it a lot and hope you did too.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29845
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where storm Arwen has passed us by, although it has been a bit breezy for the last couple of days but bright and sunny. We did have an apocalyptic downpour one night last week but I don’t think that was to do with the storm.
I have to give today’s puzzle only one star for difficulty because I got all but one of the across clues on first pass (it was 24a which eluded me) and then all of the downs. They don’t have to be hard to be enjoyable and I enjoyed this one while it lasted. I hope you found it the same.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29833
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where the mild autumn continues. It’s getting a bit chilly in the evenings now but it’s still T-shirt weather in the afternoons. We’ll probably have to pay for it come January!
Today’s crossword is pretty good as usual on a Monday. I’ve gone for *** difficulty simply because there are two 15-letter anagrams and I’m notoriously slow at cracking any anagram over seven letters. Most of you will probably see the answers immediately and go for one star.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 29821
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where we’re having a spell of unseasonably warm weather. Yesterday we had 30°C and I had to dig out a pair of shorts which had been put away for the winter about three weeks ago. The forecast is for high twenties for the next few days so I’m not complaining.
Maybe it’s just me but I thought today’s puzzle was a tad trickier than recent Mondays have been but it has the usual elegance of clueing and enough gimmes to get you a toehold. I thoroughly enjoyed it and hope you did too.
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