Category: Thursday

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30885
Hints and tips by Shabbo

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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***

Good morning from sunny Wells-next-the-Sea.  We are getting our biannual Norfolk birding fix this week and the weather has been glorious, as Manders will confirm. For the birders amongst you, the star species to date have been pallid harrier, shore lark and black redstart, but birding is really just an excuse to walk in beautiful places and we have done plenty of that.  This is the view from our lovely first floor apartment:

As for the puzzle, I found it very straightforward.  Maybe it is just that the Norfolk air has cleared my cluttered mind, so please forgive me if you found it challenging.  The brevity of clueing (5.1 words/clue), the single word answers and the single word clues in the Quickie suggest that RayT is our setter today, although there is no queen and the sweetheart is there just to tease us.  With Silvanus on duty in the Toughie slot, Jane will no doubt be enjoying her cup of tea more than usual this morning. Some knowledge of the human face is required at 24a, 28a, and 24d, so perhaps a mirror might help?  I would not suggest that you use it for 8d, though.

In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons.  Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.  Please also try to be positive – it’s only a bit of fun.

Thank you, setter.

Continue reading “DT 30885”

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30879
Hints and tips by Shabbo

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***

As last week, this puzzle is definitely not one of the regular Thursday setters, so over to you, dear reader for “Guess the Setter”.  I have no idea.  Twmbarlwm, perhaps?

18 degrees forecast for us today, so if you need me, I’ll be in the garden.

In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons.  Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.  Please also try to be positive – it’s only a bit of fun.

Thank you, setter.

Continue reading “DT 30879”

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30873
Hints and tips by Shabbo

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****

Good morning from a cold and grey Welwyn Garden City.

No prizes for Guess the Setter today.  Brevity of clueing (average 5.4 words/clue), single word answers, a reference to the queen at 27a (albeit not the usual one) and a sweetheart at 22d, all indicate that this is the work of RayT.  Fairly straightforward, but most enjoyable, as ever.

In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons.  Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.  Please also try to be positive – it’s only a bit of fun.

Thank you, Ray.

Continue reading “DT 30873”

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30867
Hints and tips by Shabbo

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***

What’s going on?!  This is clearly not the work of either Silvanus or RayT.  I need to go and have a lie-down.  I’m not sure I can continue to blog with such uncertainty!  I jest, of course.  A change is as good as a rest, I suppose.  As soon as I solved 22a, I was on the lookout for a pangram, but unless I am missing something, I cannot see a J or an X in the completed grid.  Perhaps that may give us a hint as to who has set this elegant challenge?

I got off to a flying start as both 1a and 1d went straight in, but it was not all plain sailing after that.  I needed to check the spelling of 20a, despite having enjoyed it at our local Indian restaurant on several occasions.  Care also needed to be taken when spelling 8d.

In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons.  Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.  Please also try to be positive – it’s only a bit of fun.

Thank you setter.

Continue reading “DT 30867”

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30861
Hints and tips by Shabbo

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

RayT or not RayT, that is the question. The brevity of clueing, the single word answers and the sweetheart in 14d, suggest that this is indeed the work of our regular setter on alternate Thursdays.  I may just have been “on wavelength” today, but I found this more straightforward than most of Ray’s Thursday offerings, with my favourite clues being 12a, 24a and 25d.

In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons.  Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.  Please also try to be positive – it’s only a bit of fun.

Thank you setter.

Continue reading “DT 30861”