Monday – Page 8 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

DT 30828

by Falcon

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30828

Hints and tips by Falcon

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

Greetings from Ottawa where today I am covering my regular shift. Last week I was working Smyler’s shift in return for him having covered for me the previous week. I realize that I neglected to acknowledge this and thank him for agreeing to do the swap, so I will belatedly do so now.

The weather system that Senf described on Sunday is now arriving here although it has likely lost some of its bite en route. Sunday evening, as I write this, it is currently -12C heading for -19C (it will feel like -25C with the wind chill). That is absolutely balmy by Winnipeg standards (Oh, how I love to make our readers in Florida shudder!)

I presume today’s puzzle is the work of Robyn. I was well on the way to a one star finish until I hit the southwest quadrant which took as long to complete as the other three quadrants combined. However, in hindsight, I can’t explain why this should be the case. And I must not neglect to thank the setter for the name check in the Quickie pun.

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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DT 30822

by Falcon

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30822

Hints and tips by Falcon

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

Greetings from Ottawa, where a spell of cold weather has enabled a portion of the Rideau Canal Skateway to open – its earliest opening since December 2018. This follows a couple of disappointing years in which it didn’t open at all two years ago and opened only for a very limited period last year. While we are experiencing cold weather, Edmonton – which would normally be experiencing temperatures as low as -50 C – is reportedly enjoying T-shirt and shorts weather.

Who do you think set today’s puzzle? Are we back to Robyn or is this the “another appearance quite soon” promised by X-Type last week. I’m leaning toward the latter, and despite possessing an abysmal record at recognizing setters, I might even venture a toonie on it.

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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DT 30816

by Smylers

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30816

Hints and tips by Smylers

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

Greetings from Ottawa, where the weather has been pretty much as expected, and the locals have been out creating entries for the animal snow sculpture competition.

Hang on, that doesn’t seem right …

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DT 30810

by Smylers

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30810

Hints and tips by Smylers

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

A belated Merry Christmas to everybody who reads this blog, whether every day or just popping in from time to time. I ought to have been the first blogger to offer Christmas greetings, but on December 16th I failed to remember that it was my final hinting before Christmas, so you’re getting it late instead.

It’s a Monday — whether it feels like it or not — so here are hints and explanations for today’s Telegraph Crossword, with definitions underlined. Do comment below with how you found the puzzle, any questions about it, and which clues you like best.

One of our regular between-Christmas-and-New-Year treats is a visit to Saltaire to see their Living Advent Calendar — real windows which have been decorated, a new one being unveiled each day in the run up to Christmas. Worth seeing if you’re anywhere nearby, and especially recommended to fans of cats, which seem to feature in many of the windows. Here are some of our favourites:

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DT 30804

by Falcon

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30804

Hints and tips by Falcon

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

Greetings from Ottawa, where we are enduring a spell of very cold weather. What Senf reports he is experiencing in Winnipeg arrives here a couple of days later, so I can pretty much say “Ditto” to his weather report – although the weather system does arrive here marginally warmer than when it left Winnipeg.

The photo above is of the Christmas Tree in Boston, Massachusetts. Each year since 1971, the people of Nova Scotia have gifted a tree to the people of Boston in thanks for their assistance after the 1917 Halifax Explosion. This gesture commemorates one originally made in 1917, when Nova Scotia had donated a large Christmas tree to the city of Boston in thanks and remembrance for the help the Boston Red Cross and the Massachusetts Public Safety Committee provided following the explosion.

On December 6, 1917 shortly after 9:00 am, a munitions ship collided with a second ship in Halifax Harbour resulting in the largest non-nuclear explosion of all time which severely destroyed much of the city. Boston authorities learned of the disaster by telegraph, and quickly organized and dispatched a relief train around 10 pm to assist survivors. A blizzard delayed the train, which finally arrived in the early morning of December 8 and immediately began distributing food, water, and medical supplies. Numerous personnel on the train were able to relieve the Nova Scotia medical staff, most of whom had worked without rest since the explosion occurred.

Today we are gifted with a seasonally themed puzzle that should not detain you long from preparations for the big day on Wednesday but is, nevertheless, a very enjoyable diversion. It could be the work of Robyn but I also would not be surprised to be informed that our editor has slipped one in. As Smylers will be with you for the next two weeks while I busy myself as a volunteer at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship which is being held in Ottawa this year, I will take this opportunity to wish one and all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.

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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DT 30798

by Smylers

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30798

Hints and tips by Smylers

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

Hello, fellow commoners. If the Telegraph crossword is common, then I certainly have no wish to be anything else. How ridiculous anyway, suggesting that you should decide what to put on your pudding not based not on what you’ll enjoy eating most but on how posh or common some others will judge your choice! But at least the article used the term ‘U’, not often encountered these days outside of crosswords, thereby justifying setters’ continued use of ‘posh’ to indicate that letter.

The Daily Telegraph crossword on Mondays is one of the best places to learn how to solve cryptic crosswords. If over the Christmas period you encounter any students who show any inclination towards crosswords, do let them know they can have a free subscription, including Telegraph Puzzles — and of course make sure they know about Big Dave’s Crossword Blog for help with working out what’s going on.

Today’s puzzle is a treat for those who like putting one thing inside another. Do leave a comment saying how you got on with it.

Here in Ilkley this weekend we had the Rudolph’s Run parade of decorated tractors passing through — illuminated farm vehicles as far as the eye could see. (Our household’s resident statistician counted 213 of them go past.)

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DT 30792

by Falcon

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30792

Hints and tips by Falcon

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

Greetings from Ottawa, where winter has finally made an appearance. We have had a couple of fairly significant snowfalls recently and the ground is blanketed in white. However, it may not stick around for long as rain is forecast this coming week.

I encountered several old friends among the clues in Robyn’s puzzle today. This was welcome as I am likely not at my sharpest after spending a couple of hours clearing snow earlier in the day and working in my volunteer position at the hockey game this afternoon.

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.

Continue reading “DT 30792”

DT 30786

by Smylers

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30786

Hints and tips by Smylers

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

Hello to everybody attempting today’s Telegraph cryptic crossword. If you get stuck, or you have an answer but you aren’t sure why it’s the answer, then the hints below should help. (If they don’t, then that’s my fault; do leave a comment saying what’s unclear, and somebody from the friendly community here will explain whatever it is I didn’t.)

Usually Monday is the only day of the week in which I both work from home and don’t walk the 10-year-old to school, which is handy for fitting in pre-work solving and bloggling. But today I need to head into the office, so apologies for the lack of pictures below. (Alternatively, if I did find time to add some pictures, apologies for leaving in the previous sentence, which I failed to remove. I’m writing this introduction on Sunday, before I’ve even seen the puzzle.)

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DT 30780

by Falcon

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30780

Hints and tips by Falcon

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

Greetings from Ottawa, where there’s not a flake of snow in sight – although we may get a dusting of the white stuff later in the week. What a remarkable change for it to be you in the UK, rather than me, who is buried in the stuff!

A fun offering from Robyn this week. I started off at a one star pace but a few at the end held me up due to the need to brush up on a few things British. Thus I expect many may find it easier than my rating.

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.

Continue reading “DT 30780”

DT 30774

by Smylers

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30774

Hints and tips by Smylers

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

Hello. It’s Monday and today’s crossword doesn’t contain any obscure vocabulary, so hopefully it should be suitable for beginners. If you’re one, then thank you for joining us — nice to have you here. The hints and explanations below are there to be used, with definitions underlined. Press on a clue’s brrr, it’s cold today! blob to reveal its answer.

Thank you for the welcome messages last week; I didn’t want to clutter up the comments by replying to each one separately, but they were all appreciated. And thank you to Big Dave’s resident technical expert Mr K for providing assistance in various matters, including how to add pictures.

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