Sunday Toughie No 201
by Light
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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A Light(ish) Toughie from Light, that took longer to blog than solve. A slightly uneven 14a and 16d clues today, and I have hinted at half. I hope you find the checkers to solve this fine puzzle. I will try and give a nudge or two if I can, but I am off to see Mumford & Sons tonight, so responses may be a bit late.
The featured image of the Matt Cartoon wouldn’t post where it belonged (as a hint to 1a) so I have left it there.
Mama Bee is nagging to go out for coffee so I will schedule this and talk to you later…
Here we go, Folks…
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Enigmatic Variations 1723 (Hints)
Order, Order by Kcit
Hints and tips by Gabriel / Jpeg
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Kcit, AKA Phi (also on offer in this week’s EV) or Pedro, has set us a mostly-orderly puzzle. … Continue reading
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3345 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Wincanton in Somerset. I am here for the wedding of one of my four nieces, the last of the four to ‘tie the knot.’ Wincanton used to be an important stop on the coaching route from London to Plymouth and there were a number of Coaching Inns in the town, some of which are still in existence as pubs and hotels. One of them, now an art gallery, has an ‘unofficial’ blue plaque on the exterior wall stating that Queen Victoria stayed there, in 1825, as a six year old Princess.
My ‘in flight’ reading for my Eastbound flights, courtesy of the Winnipeg Library – the fourth novel in the Marlow Murder Club series.
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada quite friendly, with three long ‘uns, five anagrams (two partial), two lurkers, and one homophone in a very asymmetric 29 clues; with 15 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues.
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Continue reading “ST 3345 (Hints)”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31097 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by Gazza)
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We have a special Prize Puzzle today which is a superb tribute to the Telegraph’s Puzzles Editor with all the across answers contributing. Chris Lancaster himself has also written a very moving account of living with the horrible disease that he’s suffering from (MND) – you can read that by following the link contained in this post: https://bigdave44.com/2025/11/29/chris-lancaster/
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Sunday Toughie No 200
by proXimal
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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It seems to me that we have been treated to a quite tricky weekend of puzzles from Telegraph Towers. Maybe it is just me being worn out by double duty. For this 200th Sunday Toughie proXimal has started with a Spoonerism and plenty of compound/subtractive anagrams.
16a and 14d clues, and I have hinted at half. As ever, some quite tricky constructions remain beware of lurkers, anagrams and “cycling” of letters. I will try and provide a nudge or two if you get stuck. I ask you (21d) to be aware I may be taking Mama Bee out for coffee and cakes (NOT at Greggs)
Here we go, Folks…
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Enigmatic Variations 1722 (Hints)
Observer by Hedge-sparrow
Hints and tips by Phibs
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Today marks a welcome return to the EV stage for a setter whose previous puzzle in the series was Different Relation, back in November 2023.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3344 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg from where I am happy to report that I have booked my flights for attendance at BB17, a.k.a. my semisesquicentennial plus one year and six days, and some family visiting – I am not sure which is more important – but no more date changes SJB.
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada quirkily friendly, with his own thesaurus in evidence, with six anagrams (four partial), two lurkers, and one homophone in a very asymmetric 28 clues; with 14 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, which I am reasonably certain are below, you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues.
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Continue reading “ST 3344 (Hints)”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31091 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by Cryptic-Sloop)
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I am standing in for Crypticsue today. I hope she recovers soon as I found this quite tricky for a SPP. I am hopeless at setter spotting, but with a couple of nice linked clues, I suspect this may be the work of Donnybrook.
A generous 16a and 16d clues and I have hinted half.
I’m providing hints for what I consider to be some of the harder clues. If you’re really stuck on one of the clues I haven’t hinted I may provide a bit more help. However, I have to take Mama Bee out shopping/coffee drinking so beware of the naughty step as no cake is available.
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Sunday Toughie No 199
by Zandio
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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Here We Go…
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Enigmatic Variations 1721 (Hints)
At the Bottom of the Grid by Ifor
Hints and tips by Gabriel
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I submitted the preamble to OpenAI which to be fair found it completely incomprehensible and proposed several rewrites and offered to: “suggest alternative single-line preambles with different tones (concise, cryptic-setter-house style, or very-solver-friendly)” – is this an improvement: “In greyed columns missing bars, solvers must follow the name spelled by extra letters from down clues to form expected bottom entries, then rearrange and divide each to reveal what was actually seen, all resulting entries being real words or names”? … Continue reading
Not too tricky today from Zandio. A good meal to start, and more to eat and sup as we go.
I am going to favour the topical 7d from a long list of contenders. Which ones did you like?
I hope you find the checkers to cross the line (11a). 14 across and 14d clues today and I have hinted half. I may be able to give a bonus nudge if asked.