Friday – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Category: Friday

Friday’s current setter is Don Manley who is also known as Giovanni, Duck, Pasquale, Quixote, and Bradman (all punningly connected with the name Don or Donald)

Toughie 3772

by Gazza  

Toughie No 3772 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Gazza

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

Thanks to Sparks for a very enjoyable puzzle containing some cunning bits of misdirection.… Continue reading

Toughie 3768

by crypticsue  

Toughie No 3768 by Elgar

Hints and Tips by crypticsue

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

Anyone else solve the first two clues straight away and hope that we might have Elgar wearing his pink fluffy slippers this week?   No such luck – this Friday Toughie was as diabolically tough as ever!

Continue reading “Toughie 3768”

DT 31360

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31360

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty ** -  Enjoyment ****

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. If you’re familiar with the entries in Big Dave’s Usual Suspects and Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing pages, you likely found this entertaining puzzle a smooth solve. If that’s not you, then you might have  learned a few new word meanings making sense of it all.  Continue reading "DT 31360"

Toughie 3764

by Gazza  

Toughie No 3764 by Luxor
Hints and tips by Gazza

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

This came as a blessed relief after yesterday’s Toughie – no obscurities (well, Planet Normal was new to me but I didn’t need to know it to solve the clue). This is fairly gentle for a Friday Toughie – thanks to Luxor.
Continue reading “Toughie 3764”

Toughie 3760

by crypticsue  

Toughie No 3760 by Elgar

Hints and Tips by crypticsue

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

For a very brief moment, when I had solved several clues on first reading, I hoped that this was one of those extremely rare occasions when Elgar might have decided to be kind to his solvers.  How wrong I was

Continue reading “Toughie 3760”

Toughie 3756

by Gazza  

Toughie No 3756 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza

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

I must have been on form this morning because I completed this with less difficulty than I normally experience with Osmosis. Re-reading the clues when writing the hints reinforced how well the puzzle was constructed with no obscurities in sight. Many thanks to Osmosis.
Continue reading “Toughie 3756”