Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31069
Hints and tips by Huntsman
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** Enjoyment ***/****.
A lovely bright & sunny autumnal day here in Harpenden. No golf unfortunately as my back is playing up once more & I’ve the flu & possibly Covid jab to look forward to this afternoon.
I thought today’s Anthony Plumb puzzle perhaps a tad trickier than of late but maybe that was just me. As ever there are an assortment of tunes to accompany the (hopefully correct for a change) hints.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31063
Hints and tips by Huntsman
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ***/****.
The sun is at least struggling to put in an appearance & it’s not currently raining here in Harpenden but it looks like that’s but a temporary respite with more wet stuff on the way over the next couple of days. A few days golf in Portugal is starting to look more alluring by the day.
As our esteemed Sat or Sun even & alternate Wed blogger would say a typically Tuesdayish bit of Plumbing from the Prof that ought not to present too many difficulties for most solvers. As ever concisely clued with some neat wordplay & dashes of humour. For any that waltzed through this one Dada is over in t’other place with a Toughie that’s very manageable & I’m sure Whybird would appreciate your comments.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.
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Toughie No 3565 by Donnybrook
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Welcome to the Toughie week. Autumn is well underway on the Wirral, and the redwings are pouring in (or over/through).
Donnybrook has given us a fairly gentle and enjoyable start to this week’s proceedings. Despite my terror at seeing linked clues, these were on the mild side and provided a good way in, helped by twigging 1a straightaway. Spotting a couple of “high score” Scrabble letters had me wondering about pangrams, but I can’t see anything unusual on that front.
6d is a clear winner for me today, although the answer to 2d is a top word! Thanks to Donnybrook for easing us in nicely.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31057
Hints and tips by Huntsman
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ***
A pretty miserable looking start to the day here in Harpenden so can’t muster up any enthusiasm for golf this afternoon.
Today’s offering from our regular Tuesday compiler is, in my view, pretty much on a par with yesterday’s puzzle in terms of difficulty. As ever concisely clued & entertaining with perhaps slightly more straightforward wordplay than can sometimes be the case with Anthony Plumb puzzles. I don’t anticipate many will require any help from the (hopefully correct) hints below but they’re there with the usual assortment of tunes.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31051
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
I’m on Tuesday blogging duty today, as Huntsman is away for a few days’ golf on some of the excellent courses on the beautiful North Norfolk coast. If the weather up there is as good as it is here, he is in for a lovely few days.
I found this a bit trickier than normal for a Tuesday, or maybe it’s just me being a bit slow out of the blocks this morning? It was a bit disconcerting when 1a took me ages to parse, but in retrospect, it shouldn’t have done. There is an unindicated Americanism which might irk RD, but as it is in the Quickie Pun, I think our setter is off the hook!
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.
Many thanks to our setter and to the DT Crossword Team.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31045
Hints and tips by Huntsman
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** Enjoyment ***
Another lovely sunny autumnal day perfect for an afternoon of golf at Centurion.
We have another offering of typically gentle Plumbing from the Prof complete with the usual plethora of single letter insertions. I’d rate it about on a par with yesterday in terms of difficulty with maybe a little more to it in terms of the parsing. For any yet to try a puzzle over in t’other place or to complete one unaided then today is the day as Chalicea’s ‘floughie’ is certainly no more difficult than this one so I hope Whybird’s review gets plenty of comments.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31041
Hints and tips by Huntsman
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ***
It’s shaping up to be another nice day here in Harpenden so an afternoon of golf in autumnal sunshine looks on the cards. I need the exercise as my backside won’t stray far from the sofa while the Ryder Cup is on over the next two days. I’m on the tee starting golfers off on Sunday but should be done in time to watch the singles action on the final day. Fingers crossed for Luke’s team.
I was very grateful for a gentle puzzle from Ray T this morning as it was nearly 1pm by the time I got home from a gig at the Brixton Academy. Suffice to say ‘twas a bit of struggle getting out of bed when the alarm went off & confess to feeling more than a bit mushy brained & bleary eyed this morning.
As ever an enjoyable puzzle today from Mr Brevity & one that ought not to present too many difficulties.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31039
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
It’s me again on Tuesday duty. Huntsman has kindly agreed to swap days this week, as we are off to Jersey at lunchtime for four days. If there are any errors in the blog, I’ll correct them when we get to St Helier. We have never been to the Channel Islands and are looking forward to it.
I found this puzzle to be very accessible with just a couple of clues which required a bit of thought at 28a and 26d. Although it was very light, there was much to enjoy. The artist scratching his bottom at 4d and the underwear infested with insects at 21a made me smile.
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.
Many thanks to our setter and to the DT Crossword Team.
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Toughie No 3549 by Donnybrook
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ***
Welcome to another Toughie week!
I often struggle to get onto Donnybrook’s wavelength, and today was no exception. … Continue reading
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31033
Hints and tips by Huntsman
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** Enjoyment ***
Fairly straightforward Plumbing today which ought not to pose too many difficulties. That said under time pressure I couldn’t see the parsing at 8d so phoned the DT helpline (aka Shabbo). As ever succinctly clued & with the usual high quota of single letter abbreviations. I did enjoy the puzzle but also thought it somewhat lacking in the sort of witty surfaces that characterise AP’s best puzzles. It’ll be interesting to see what others think.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.
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