Friday – Page 21 – 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)

DT 30634

by Gazza  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30634
Hints and tips by Gazza

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

Mr K is on a flight with poor wi-fi and also has a bad case of the lurgy so I’m providing the hints for today’s very enjoyable puzzle which I thought was relatively straightforward compared to our usual Friday fare. 12a and 1d might be a bit problematic for non-UK solvers.

Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
Continue reading “DT 30634”

DT 30628

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30628

Hints and tips by Mr K

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

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. Today’s quirky and enjoyable puzzle was more straightforward than we sometimes get from this setter.  Continue reading "DT 30628"

DT 30622

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30622

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty ** -  Enjoyment ***

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. Today’s offering felt more straightforward than recent Friday puzzles, which I know some readers will appreciate. I didn’t find anything obscure to hyperlink, or any wordplay complex enough to warrant a detailed explanation, but I did find a lot to enjoy.  Continue reading "DT 30622"

DT 30616

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No Crossword 30616

Hints and tips by Mr K

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

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. I found it tricky to gain a foothold in this puzzle’s grid, perhaps because there are a lot of answers with unchecked first letters and that’s combined with a low anagram count. But the struggle was worth it because there were several smile-inducing penny-drop moments encountered on the way to a fully solved puzzle.  Continue reading "DT 30616"

DT 30610

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30610

Hints and tips by Mr K

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

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. In today’s challenging puzzle I found myself doing more reverse engineering of wordplay from definitions than I really enjoy, and I was left with the feeling that in several clues surface smoothness was sacrificed to allow clever wordplay. But perhaps that’s just me feeling tired and grumpy after a long and frustrating day at work.  Continue reading "DT 30610"

DT 30598

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30598

Hints and tips by Mr K

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

Hello, everyone, and welcome to what is rumoured to be the last Friday puzzle hosted on the classic Telegraph Puzzles site. Compared to last week’s rather chewy offering, solving and hinting this one was straightforward. As usual, I have no idea who the setter might be, but perhaps they will drop in later on.  Continue reading "DT 30598"

DT 30592

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30592

Hints and tips by Mr K

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

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. I can’t recall hinting a back page puzzle more challenging than this one, so it’s getting a rare 5* rating for difficulty.  I appreciated it a lot once I had a completed grid. There are some very clever and original clues here with several big PDMs. I hope our setter drops in later to claim it. Continue reading "DT 30592"

DT 30586

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30586

Hints and tips by Mr K

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

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. I found this puzzle a joy to solve and to hint, full of smiles and tight cryptic grammar that made writing the hints easy.  I do hope that our setter will drop in later to claim it. Thanks to everyone who wrote kind words in comments following Wednesday’s web site issues – very much appreciated. I’m still not sure what caused the problem. Growing pains, perhaps. Continue reading "DT 30586"

DT 30580

by Mr K  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30580

Hints and tips by Mr K

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

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. I felt that this puzzle offered a few original twists and turns when it came to defining well-used answers. That always adds to the enjoyment. I’m not good at identifying setters, but since today’s grid contains every letter except X, it’s likely that this fine puzzle is the work of proXimal. Continue reading "DT 30580"