Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25984 – Review
A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
More difficult than usual – I certainly struggled with 21A, as the S_R_T_ER with possible choices for the blanks takes up quite a bit of the print-out’s white space. A slightly unsatisfactory grid – answers like 1 and 10 are underchecked, but ones like 12, 15 and 17 are overchecked.
And now for something completely different – a bit of shameless advertising: Next Thursday, I’m cycling 60 miles along the Grand Union and Regents Canal towpaths in aid of Helen and Douglas House, a home providing respite and end of life care for children and young adults with life-shortening conditions, as well as support and friendship for their families.
If you would like to sponsor me for the ride (or read more), please visit http://www.justgiving.com/peters-canal-ride/
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25988
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
We come down to earth after yesterday’s classic, but this is still a good puzzle with some very entertaining clues.
As usual the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets – select the white space to reveal them. And, as always, we’d love to hear your views on the puzzle – just leave a comment.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25987
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Even the seasoned pros amongst you will find this difficult! A very enjoyable puzzle, but some of the clues are a bit convoluted.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25986
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
If you like cryptic definitions you’ll love this puzzle which has lots, some much better than others. It’s challenging and entertaining, the two qualities you most want from your daily fix.
As usual the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets – just select the white space to reveal them if my hints prove to be totally inadequate!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25985
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This morning I received an email from Facebook saying that someone had added me as a friend. Those familiar with the site will know that this is frequently the equivalent of email spam, but the name looked familiar so I followed the link rather than binning the email. The result of this is that I am lunching tomorrow with a friend from University that I haven’t seen for 44 years. I have added his website, gastropods.com, to the links in the sidebar. Why am I telling you all – well I immediately contacted Tilsit to see if he could cover for me on tomorrow’s Toughie. The result is that I am doing today’s contribution from the Monday Maestro, and Tilsit will be with you tomorrow.
Those of you who are used to speeding through the Monday puzzle were probably flashed by the Gatso crossword camera today (your ticket will be in the post)! While not difficult, this was definitely harder than most previous weeks.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25983
Hints and tips by Libellule
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Another classic Friday crossword, that cannot be faulted – enjoy. The top right corner is the most tricky, but it’s where the best clues are for me. Your views and opinions appreciated as always.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25978 – Review
A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
The difficulty of this puzzle was about average for a Saturday Telegraph. I didn’t enjoy this one much because there seemed to be quite a few problems of various kinds with the clues. So let’s get down to business.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25982
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
We’ve been given a really excellent puzzle today, full of beautifully crafted clues with splendid surface readings. It has one obscure word (just to keep you on your toes!). As has been mentioned before, a puzzle like this gives the reviewer a double dose of pleasure – firstly when solving the puzzle, and later when writing the review. Of course you can get the reverse effect with a sub-standard puzzle!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25981
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
While the same setters appear to be used for the other days of the week, there is little doubt that Tuesdays and Wednesdays are being rotated. This puzzle was very enjoyable, and far better than the one a week ago. If I’m correct in guessing then this is one of my favourite setters, and an old friend may pay a visit later!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25980
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
This is a fairly gentle challenge, but the surface readings are pretty good and there is one excellent clue. It should not trouble regular solvers for too long, and would be a good exercise for novices.
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