Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2586
A full review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ***
This Sunday’s puzzle was for me a ‘crossword of two halves’. The left hand side went in quite quickly but the right hand side, and particularly the NE corner, was a different matter, hence the 3.5 stars for difficulty. The usual enjoyable mix of clues so thanks are due once again to Virgilius for some great entertainment, albeit slightly more taxing than usual for me at least.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2585
A full review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
I don’t know whether our setters knew that we were going to get all this lovely weather but lately the majority of cryptics seem to have been both entertaining and quick to solve, leaving us time to get on with enjoying ourselves. This offering from Virgilius followed the trend with some great clues and wonderful penny-dropping moments so thank you to him once again.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2584
A full review by Gnomethang
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Afternoon All! This was another very good Virgilius puzzle. There were no themes that I could see but it was a solid and very enjoyable puzzle. Continue reading “ST 2584”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2583
A full review by Gnomethang
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Afternoon All!. We have another first rate puzzle from Virgilius with a series of clues linked either by theme or by wordplay, making the solving process all the more enjoyable.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2582
A full review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment **/***
Unusually for me, this Sunday puzzle took a long time to finish, and others have subsequently confirmed my view that this was at the hard end of the Virgilius spectrum. I did have particular trouble with 9a and the very sneaky clue of the day that was 21a. Thank you Virgilius for a proper brain workout of a cryptic, my view of which improved as I prepared this review.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2581
A full review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
This crossword is a very good example of why Gnomethang and I have this complicated weekend-puzzle-blogging schedule – neither of us wanted to miss the opportunity to review such wonderful cryptics with all the clever clues and wonderful wordplay. Thanks once again to Virgilius for another Sunday treat – definitely the highlight of the cryptic solving week.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2580
A full review by Gnomethang
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Afternoon All!. We have an absolute belter of a Sunday puzzle from Virgilius this week with his usual hallmarks. This was my back page puzzle of the week. Continue reading “ST 2580”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2759
A full review by Gnomethang
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Another classic Virgilius puzzle that really does tick all the right boxes – It was even better when reviewing than when solving as I had cause to break the clues down and consider the merits. Apart from some well signposted tricky words I think most people found it relatively straightforward.
Continue reading “ST 2579”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2578
A full review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ****
Definitely normal service resumed by Virgilius today after last week’s themed crossword. A lovely start to Sunday morning with his usual excellent mix of clever clues, including a few headscratchers that caused me and others a bit of work. Thank you once again Virgilius for a great crossword which has been as much pleasure to review as to solve.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2577
A full review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Big Dave’s introduction on Sunday said it all “Not a difficult puzzle, more a film quiz.” It was essential to read the editor’s note first – “In this Oscars Special, some answers include figures. A figure 1 should be input as the letter I”. Only three answers actually contained numbers, and in one of those the numerals were Roman.
Virgilius’s alter ego Brendan set a similarly themed crossword in the Saturday Guardian, the wordplay of which would have taken some working out, so I was a little apprehensive when starting to solve this one. However, with my love of cryptics and the amount of useful/less(?) trivia I remember, I had no problems at all apart from sorting out the ‘numberals’. Thanks to Virgilius from me and the (relatively few) others who enjoyed solving this one, especially Barrie!
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