Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26094
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
I thought that this was a bit harder than the usual Ray T puzzle when I did it in the early hours (but that may have been due to a moderate intake of Shiraz!), so I’ve given it 4 stars for difficulty. I expect that you’ll all tell me now that it was the easiest puzzle all year!!
It has all the Ray T trademarks – single word answers and definitions where you keep having to ask yourself “in what sense does x mean y?”.
Let’s see if we can get a bumper crop of comments today. We particularly want to hear from those readers who have yet to introduce themselves – we’re a friendly bunch and we won’t bite – it really doesn’t matter whether you’ve been solving crosswords for sixty years or have only just started!
As always the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets to prevent your seeing them accidentally. Just drag your cursor through the white space inside the brackets to reveal.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26088
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
If you’re so minded there’s a lot to complain about in this puzzle – double unches by the bucketload and a plethora of proper nouns, both in the clues and the answers. In spite of all that I have to admit that I quite enjoyed it – it’s an example of how a puzzle does not have to be very difficult to be entertaining. Let us know your thoughts via a comment – as always we appreciate hearing your views, and we extend a special welcome to those leaving a comment for the first time.
As usual the answers are hidden so that you cannot see them accidentally – just highlight the white space inside the curly brackets to reveal them.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26082
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
Is it just my having a bad day, or is this one trickier than the standard Ray T puzzle? I certainly thought so – let me know if you agree or disagree. It has the usual sprinkling of smile-inducing clues.
Incidentally, this is one of those rare (or perhaps not so rare) days when the Toughie is easier than the Cryptic. Again, this is just my opinion – why not have a go at both and leave a comment with your view?
As usual the answers, should you need them, are hidden inside the curly brackets at the start of each hint – just select the white space inside the brackets to reveal them.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26076
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
A bit of a mixed bag today – some nice clues and a few that I didn’t like. If your bête noire is “double unches” then you’ll hate the grid.
As usual the answers are hidden (to prevent your seeing them by accident) inside the curly brackets – highlight the white space inside the brackets to reveal all.
Your comments, as always, are vital to keeping the blog lively and stimulating – so let’s have them in profusion, please!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26070
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Regular solvers will recognise the style of today’s setter, and he has produced another puzzle to make you think and make you smile.
For those who want to see the answers, they are hidden inside the curly brackets under each clue – just highlight the white space inside the brackets to reveal them.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26064
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
The first thing to say about today’s puzzle is that there are no cricketing terms at all (well, 26a could relate to a cricket team, but I’ve chosen to go with football instead). Apart from that we have a novel anagram indicator in 7d and a strange, but entertaining, clue at 16d.
As usual the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets – just select the white space inside the brackets to reveal them, if you need to.
All comments, whether from seasoned campaigners or first-timers, are very welcome.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26058
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Regular solvers will recognise the style of today’s setter, and as usual he has provided a good variety of clues and a few smiles.
As always the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets to prevent your seeing them accidentally – just select the white space inside the brackets if you want to reveal one.
Your comments are warmly welcomed, and we specially want to hear from those who have not yet left a comment – pluck up your courage and introduce yourself. We are a friendly lot and won’t bite – and it doesn’t matter whether you’re a complete novice trying your first cryptic crossword or you’ve been doing them for years.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26052
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
I thought that this one was a bit of a curate’s egg – a few nice clues mixed in with some pretty tired ones. You may, of course, disagree – we like to hear all opinions, so please let us know what you think, but if you’re going to say that it was wonderful or it was horrible please do try to give reasons or examples, so that we can get a debate going.
As usual the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets, so that you don’t see them accidentally. If you do want to see the answer, just highlight the white space between the brackets.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26046
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Regular solvers will doubtless recognise the style of today’s setter – all single-word answers, a good variety of clue types and few proper nouns. It was a good workout with some smiles along the way.
As usual the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets, so that you do not see them by accident; if you do want to see one, just highlight the white space inside the brackets.
All comments are welcome, whether from regular contributors or first timers.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26040
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Today’s puzzle is fairly straightforward, but with not a great deal to get the pulses racing or bring a smile to the lips. It contains two place names, a girl’s name and a surname, but for all of them the wordplay is pretty undemanding.
As always we’d be delighted to get your comments, whether from experienced solvers or those dipping their toe in the water for the first time.
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