Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30745
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Huntsman and I have swapped days this week, so I am doing today and he will do Thursday. Don’t worry – this is a one-off and you will have both of us back in our rightful spots next week.
We are currently away on our twice yearly birding fix in North Norfolk staying in an apartment overlooking the harbour in Wells-next-the-Sea. The pink foot geese are just starting to arrive apparently – I haven’t seen any yet. Today at RSPB Titchwell, we ticked off kingfisher, rock pipit, bearded tit, spoonbill, cetti’s warbler, hen harrier and, of course, loads of marsh harriers. This evening I managed to catch up with the pallid harrier at Warham Greens.
Anyway, enough about birds (although I know Jane will be interested). I found today’s puzzle fairly straightforward – just right for a Tuesday. 20d was my LOI – my excuse being that there are so many wines to choose from!
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.
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Toughie No 3355 by Silvanus
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Silvanus is being fairly gentle with us today but as entertaining as ever. Thanks to him.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30741
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Good morning from a very wet and grey Welwyn Garden City. The classic “calling cards” of Queen and sweetheart indicate that this is by the master of brevity, RayT. There are no fewer than six double definitions, which help to get the average word count down to a miserly 5.2 words/clue.
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Toughie No 3351 by Prime
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
This is the first time I’ve had the pleasure of blogging a Prime Toughie and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience.… Continue reading
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30735
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
My solving notes suggest that the LHS went in reasonably quickly, but things got a bit tougher as I headed east.… Continue reading
Toughie No 3347 by Serpent
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Serpent is being uncharacteristically gentle today but as enjoyable as ever with some cracking clues. I was only really held up by my mathematical ignorance in 27a. Serpent often hides something in the grid but I can’t spot anything today.
Thanks to Serpent.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30729
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment *****
I again solved this in the early hours of this morning and only really appreciated how clever it was when I parsed it properly and commented on all of the clues this morning.… Continue reading
Toughie No 3343 by Beam
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
It’s the time of the month for a Beam Toughie and this one is relatively gentle but enjoyable as ever. Thanks to him.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30723
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Praia da Luz in the Algarve where we are staying for five days. … Continue reading
Toughie No 3339 by Kcit
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
The first few answers went in very quickly and I thought this was going to be pretty straightforward. It did get a wee bit trickier towards the bottom but I don’t think this will cause regular Toughie solvers too many problems.
Thanks to Kcit.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
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