Toughie No 159 by Excalibur
This one makes the others look good
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
For some sadistic reason the price we have to pay for getting an Elgar puzzle every fortnight is one of these on the Fridays in between. While there are some good clues, the whole style irritates me – silly words and phrases and wordplay where the normal order of words is sacrificed in a futile attempt to achieve good surface reading. That it only achieves three stars for difficulty owes a lot to the fact that I have become used to the style. Roll on next Friday!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25947
Hints and tips by Libellule
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I started with the cryptic definition at 26a, and then moved round the crossword solving clues anticlockwise. All in all another very enjoyable and entertaining Friday crossword. Remember – if you want to see the answer, just highlight the text inside the {} curly brackets
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25942 – Review
A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
An extra enjoyment star as I liked this more than most Saturday puzzles. The grid is sound with one small reservation – the NW and SE corners are a bit isolated, and swapping the lengths of 12 and 13 (and of course 22 and 23) would fix this. There are no placename answers, just a couple of islands in wordplay. There are still arbitrary people – three ladies (Anne, Crystal, Lizzie) and one gent (Gus). There are a few tricky answer words, including 6D and 11A, so their crossing might be a tricky area. Surface meanings are mostly good, and I only found four cases of “surface padding”. Curiously, all the 3-letter answers have a U in the middle, and none of them have to – I don’t know whether this is significant.
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Toughie No 158 by Giovanni
Hints and tips by Tilsit
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Quite a tough puzzle today from Giovanni, but still very enjoyable. Some nice clues to draw you into the puzzle, and then some mind-stretchers to make you think. No really unusual words but good fair cluing providing a good challenge. As usual, all the clues have excellent surface readings and if you aspire to be a setter, studying these will no doubt help you.
Thanks to Giovanni for a thoroughly enjoyable challenge.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25946
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This is an agreeable puzzle with a number of entertaining clues. It contains one word which was new to me, but it’s not too difficult to get it from the wordplay and the checking letters.
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Toughie No 157 by Cephas
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
There are two French phrases in this one, which may re-open the debate about how legitimate this is – feel free to contribute your views via a comment. There are also several obscure (to me anyway) words included, but you would not want a Toughie to be too easy would you? On the plus side it contains several very entertaining clues and I enjoyed it.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25945
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
An easy but pleasant puzzle, with a strong feeling of déjà vu about some of the clues.
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Toughie No 156 by Warbler
This bird sets pretty Tough puzzles!
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Another excellent puzzle from one of the Tougher setters. A handful of easier clues, then you have to work hard to get the rest. Continue reading “Toughie 156”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25944
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Sitting in the garden with a long cool drink on a hot Summer’s day and doing gentle battle with a cryptic crossword – what more could you ask for? I thought that the clues in this one got better towards the end, with the last few down ones being excellent – or was it that the contents of my long cool drink were gradually taking effect?
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25943
Hints and tips by Tilsit
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Another pleasant start to the week from the Monday Maestro. Nothing terribly demanding and the usual mix of clues to encourage the newer recruits to the Cryptic World. I feel the puzzle gets off to a bit of a shaky start with the first few clues, but then gets into its stride and delivers what we expect on a Monday.
The spaces between the curly brackets hide the answer, and highlighting that space will reveal it. As usual, I’d love to hear your thoughts on the puzzle. Don’t be afraid, you’re among friends! If it’s your first time posting, it can take a little while for your post to appear, as first posts are always moderated to prevent spammers, but don’t let that put you off.
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