DT Cryptic Crosswords – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Category: DT Cryptic Crosswords

Hints and tips for completing the regular Daily Telegraph Cryptic crosswords

DT 31277 (Full Review)

by Rahmat Ali  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31277

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 27th June 2026

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

Greetings from Kolkata. A truly interesting Saturday puzzle from NYDK that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and significant feedback. Continue reading “DT 31277 (Full Review)”

Toughie 3715

by ALP  

Toughie No 3715 by Dharma
Hints and tips by ALP

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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****/*****

A rumbustious return from Dharma, full of his typical humour and honed surfaces, prompting a slow start but a quick finish. I found many of the downs marginally easier than the acrosses but that’s possibly because I had all the checkers by then – being pathetically English, I do like to doggedly work from top to bottom. Other methods are, of course, available. Hopefully, my 2.5 will find safer harbour than usual … the floor is yours to trumpet your agreement!

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DT 31281

by Senf  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31281

Hints and Tips by Senf

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BD Rating – Difficulty 1.5* – Enjoyment 5*

A very good Thursday morning from Winnipeg where, oh dear, after several weeks of suggestions ‘floating around’ news media and the internet, it was confirmed yesterday  that, starting next year, Canada will participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, oh dear again!

For me, and I stress for me© (I have to say that for Terence), there is no doubt that this is the work of a very benevolent Master of Brevity.  The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and an appearance from the Queen, Ray T’s swEetheart, but not the plain sweetheart, in the back pager with an average of 5.25 words per clue.  Also, like Dada, Ray T still seems to be making occasional use of a personal thesaurus.  I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!

Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!

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DT 31280

by Deansleigh  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31280
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh

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BD Rating – Difficulty **  Enjoyment ****

Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog.  I found today’s crossword to be about the same level of difficulty as the previous two days’ puzzles, with plenty to admire and appreciate.  I particularly liked 11a, 2d and 12d, but my clue of the day is 4d, as it mentions the lead singer in one of my favourite bands.  I also enjoyed the Quickie pun, once the penny dropped.  Many thanks to our setter.

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DT 31279

by Huntsman  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31279

Hints and tips by Huntsman

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

The sun is just bursting through here in Harpenden but it’s mercifully cooler so it looks like a more comfortable week ahead before returning to a sauna again next week.

Having commented late yesterday that today’s puzzle was unlikely to be as tricky as yesterday’s above average difficulty puzzle it turned out (for me at least) that it was so I’m giving it an extra *. A straightforward grid fill but I found one or two bits of the wordplay required a bit of thinking about & I was embarrassingly slow to twig the definition context at 19a. As ever nicely & concisely clued from AP & very enjoyable.

I see Hudson is over in t’other place so that’s bound to be a cracker to look forward to later. Tuesday Toughies are generally very accessible & well worth having a stab at even if you never stray beyond the shallow end of the pool. Whybird is one lifeguard duty & will be on hand if you get into any difficulty.

As usual there is a selection of music to enjoy or ignore.

In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.

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