Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31164
Hints and tips by Falcon
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Ottawa, where today is Family Day – a mid-winter public holiday in Canada (what those of you on the other side of the pond would call a bank holiday). It is also the final day of Winterlude, Ottawa’s annual winter festival. On my last appearance here, which coincided with the first weekend of Winterlude, I rather unsuccessfully attempted to include a video showing some of the early stages of the event. At that time, the ice sculptors were just beginning work on their creations. Today’s video shows them well on the way to completion. The video concludes with a cute little parable that a few world leaders would do well to take to heart!
I spent some interesting time researching today’s musical dive into history. It dates to a period shortly before my time (which means it will be almost prehistoric for those who reported Karen Carpenter was before their time) and it may not even be too modern for Daisygirl!
I thought the puzzle was well suited to the Monday slot – a gentle but fun start to the week. For me, it was borderline one or two star difficulty.
In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.
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A Puzzle by Maitresse
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Continue reading “Rookie Corner 617”
Sunday Toughie No 212
by Beam
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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A generous 16a and 16d clues today, and I have hinted half, I hope you find the checkers to finish. I will try to give an extra nudge if you ask.
Mama Bee needs shopping, so I may be replying from the aisles. I will get back as soon as I am able.
Here we go, Folks…
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Enigmatic Variations 1734 (Hints)
Dynamo by Ifor
Hints and tips by Phibs
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This week, I asked Gemini, “I am about to tackle a themed crossword puzzle from a setter called Ifor. Do I have good reason for trepidation?”
Continue reading “EV 1734 (Hints)”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3356 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where it is a holiday weekend and we are in the middle, almost, of our Winter Festival, Le Festival du Voyageur, which began on Friday and lasts until next Sunday. Naturally our two frozen rivers play a prominent role in the proceedings and the festival features outdoor winter activities, snow sculptures, historical characters, and warm tents filled with music, dance, traditional food, contests, and more.
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada has given us a very good example of a PP, a good mix of pauses for thought and gimmes, with four long uns, five anagrams (three partials), two lurkers, and two homophones in a symmetric grid of 32 clues; with 16 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
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A Puzzle by Jaffa
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Continue reading "NTSPP 836"
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31163 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club
(hosted by crypticsue)
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Toughie No 3636 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
A typical Osmosis offering containing lots of clever wordplay which I enjoyed. Getting 6d and all the 3-letter answers early gave me a good start. 23a took me longest to parse.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31157
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 7th February 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment *****
Greetings from Kolkata. A full-of-fun and excellent lovely Saturday puzzle from NYDK that I enjoyed solving and subsequently writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and valuable feedback. Continue reading “DT 31157 (Full Review)”