Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26010
Brush Up on your (Word) Sums!
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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.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26009
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Tilsit has a hospital appointment this morning, so I am, as the DJs say, sitting in for him, and he will reciprocate tomorrow.
The Monday Maestro has produced another puzzle with plenty of cryptic definitions to keep us amused. Let us know how you rate it by clicking on one of the stars at the bottom. As always we’d love to get your comments.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2497 – Hints
Selected hints by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I really look forward to Sunday’s puzzle every week. Excellent surface reading has become a characteristic.
At the bottom of the post you will see an array of five stars – use these to give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.
For the weekend prize crosswords I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them. A full analysis of this puzzle will be available at 12.00 next Friday, 21st August.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26008 – Hints
Selected hints by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment: ***
You still need to keep your atlas handy for the Saturday puzzle, but at least there are none of those girls’ names to contend with.
If you are using CluedUp today, the quick crossword is a little tricky to find. The one offered up is actually last Sunday’s Quick GK 108, but if you go to the main puzzles screen and click the right arrow, you will find Q 26008.
Don’t forget that you can give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them. Peter Biddlecombe’s full review of this puzzle will be published at 12.00 on Thursday, 20th August.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2496 – Review
A crossword for connoisseurs ~ a full analysis by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Another excellent puzzle with good surface reading throughout. A few minor quibbles, which are detailed below.
At the bottom of the post you will see an array of five stars – use these to give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.
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Toughie No 199 by Elgar
Paradise Lost?
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Regular followers of the blog will know that I am a fully paid-up member of the Elgar fan club. While, in general, I enjoyed the puzzle, I thought that the wordplay on a few of the clues crossed over that elusive line between fair and unfair. I will be very interested to know what you thought, especially if you have a different interpretation of any of the wordplays.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26007
Hints and tips by Libellule
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
This is a nice straightforward crossword today, although some will be disappointed by it, new cruciverbalist’s should enjoy it. From a personal point of view a number of weak cryptic definitions made this crossword a bit of a let down. As usual comments are appreciated, and please let us know how much you actually liked or disliked it by voting.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26002 – Review
CD Collection ~ A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
There are some pretty good clues here, and a decent grid. But there are also a few of my pet hates among the clues … Continue reading “DT 26002 – Review”
Toughie No 198 by Firefly
Like a Dental Appointment
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
Apologies for my late arrival, my hospital appointment over-ran and a traffic delay also threw a spanner in the works.
Quite a tough struggle today and a real sense of achievement when the last letter went into the grid. Firefly in all his print guises, produces some really ferocious challenges and today’s was no exception. However I should say that some of the clues today left a bit to be desired and I have covered those in the blog.
I suspect that 29ac will provide many of the talking points today. Have your say at the end of the blog. New posters should note that their first posts may take a little time to appear, this is because first posts are checked to stop spammers from hijacking things. Don’t forget the star ratings at the end of the review as well. Click on your rating to tell everyone what you thought of it.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26006
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
As the comments on all the reviews that I’ve done have amply demonstrated, it’s very rare for everyone to agree on whether a given puzzle is “easy” or “difficult”, but I venture to suggest that we will not get many comments today from solvers complaining that this one is too difficult.
As usual the answers (should you need them) are concealed inside the curly brackets – select the white space to reveal them. Also, please take the time to vote at the bottom of the review, to indicate how much you liked this puzzle. As always your comments are welcome.
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