Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26052
Hints and tips by Gazza
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
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.
Continue reading “DT 26052”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26046
Hints and tips by Gazza
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
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.
Continue reading “DT 26046”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26040
Hints and tips by Gazza
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
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.
Continue reading “DT 26040”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26034
Hints and tips by Gazza
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
We have another interesting Tuesday puzzle from the setter who likes single-word answers. There’s something of a bird theme in today’s down clues, including one that I’d never heard of.
As usual, the answers, if you want to see them, are hidden inside the curly brackets – just highlight the white space between the brackets to reveal them.
Your comments, as always, are very welcome.
Continue reading “DT 26034”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26028
Hints and tips by Gazza
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
This one is pretty straightforward and would make an ideal introduction for new solvers. For those who found that it did not really stretch them, if you have never attempted the Toughie then why not give it a go?
As always the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets; to reveal an answer just highlight the white space inside.
We’d love to get a comment from you with your views or queries about the puzzle or the review. So, those of you who regularly read the reviews but have never left a comment – now’s the time to introduce yourselves!
Continue reading “DT 26028”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26022
Hints and tips by Gazza
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
After yesterday’s bank-holiday saunter we have a slightly more taxing excursion today, but nothing too extreme. The surface readings are excellent.
As usual the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets, so that you only see the ones you choose to see – just select the white space between the brackets to reveal the answer.
Continue reading “DT 26022”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26016
Hints and tips by Gazza
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This puzzle provides a good workout, though some will not like the large number of place names and girls’ names. As usual the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets – select the white space to reveal the answer if my hint proves inadequate!
Continue reading “DT 26016”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26010
Brush Up on your (Word) Sums!
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Thanks to Gazza for stepping in at short notice yesterday when I remembered that I had a hospital appointment and realised that even I was mortal and couldn’t cram 15 hours of things to do into 45 minutes.
Quite an entertaining puzzle today and a bit of a challenge. The clues were well-written and nicely misleading, and it took me a little longer than I would have liked. There was nothing too taxing in there but a few clues just required a bit more thought than on a Monday. Mostly word-sum types clue, as well.
As usual, your comments are welcomed at the end of the blog, and you can rate the puzzle by clicking on the star system with your rating, It is a bit of fun and reflects how people are feeling at that point. Newer posters should note that first posts take a little while to appear while they are moderated, just to prevent spammers from gumming up the works.
Continue reading “DT 26010”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26004
Hints and tips by Gazza
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
At one stage, when writing this review, I suspected that there was another Clued Up cock-up in the 20d clue, and I even went so far as to go out and buy the paper, only to find that the clue there is identical. Apart from that it’s a fairly straightforward puzzle, though with two words which were new to me.
As usual the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets – select the white space to reveal them. Please take the time to vote for the enjoyment factor by clicking on one of the stars at the bottom.
Continue reading “DT 26004”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25998
Hints and tips by Gazza
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
We can be pretty certain that there will be no discussion today about whether an answer should be hyphenated or not, since one of the trademarks of this setter is that all the answers are single words. Another trademark is that all the clues are beautifully constructed and often amusing. I was thoroughly entertained by it – what about you? Please take the time to click on one of the stars at the bottom of the review to vote for the entertainment factor.
As usual, the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets – select the white space to reveal them.
Continue reading “DT 25998”