Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25898
Today’s hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***

I found this one slightly trickier than those of recent days and it was slow-going to start with, but I was able to proceed steadily once I had got the long clues, and I learnt a new word on the way. Several of the clues appear at first sight to be more complicated than they actually are, and the whole thing is enjoyable.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25892
Today’s hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **

Another pretty straightforward Thursday puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25886
Today’s hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

A typical Thursday puzzle with some interesting clues but not too taxing.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25880
Today’s hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

Nothing too taxing or obscure and a few nicely-worded clues – what more could you want for a Thursday?
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25874
Today’s hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

A good, honest puzzle with some clever clues. As usual, if you cannot get the answer even with the hint, select the white space inside the curly brackets to reveal it.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25868
Today’s hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

I was sailing through this one at a rate of knots until I hit 24a, where the wordplay held me up for ages until the penny finally dropped, swiftly followed by a bout of self-kicking! As usual the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets – select the white space inside the brackets to display the answer, but do try to get it from the hints first.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25862
Today’s hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
It’s Thursday today, so Gazza’s back again. Don’t forget that the full analyses for last weekend’s puzzles are due to be published at noon. You may have already seen the Saturday review as it was released last Friday after being published online by mistake; some small revisions have been applied, mostly to give all the answers as well as the wordplay. BD

I thought that this was an entertaining crossword with some interesting clues and not too difficult, though it does contain one word I’d never heard of.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25856
Today’s hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Last weeks contribution from Gazza was very favourably received, so he’s agreed to do it again. Don’t forget that Peter Biddlecombe’s review of last Saturday’s DT No 25852 is scheduled to be published at noon today. BD
Today’s effort is fairly straightforward with nothing too challenging, but there is one nice pun at 11 across.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25850
Today’s hints and tips, by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
Doing this blog every day is a much bigger task than I imagined when I took it on. Fortunately, I have had offers of help from fellow solvers, this being the first. A blog is a very personal thing, and it was with considerable trepidation that I agreed to accept outside help, but that was before Gazza’s contribution arrived. I knew as soon as I read the first hint that I had not made a mistake, and I hope that you all agree with me. Please let both of us know, via the comments below, what you think. BD
This one is fairly straightforward (but see 16 across) and not too difficult, similar to those of the last few days.
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