Toughie No 3639 by Kcit
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****
Highly enjoyable shenanigans from Kcit today with a smidgeon of tricky vocab (e.g. 16a’s “age”) and a pleasingly classical feel. There was, happily, no need to know about models of mobile phones popular in New Zealand this time out but I suspect not many of us (with two notable exceptions!) will be overly familiar with 20a’s definition. Still, it’s all fair – and fun. Over to you.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31167
Hints and Tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***
A pleasant puzzle which shouldn’t cause too many problems. Thanks to our setter.
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Toughie No 3635 by Dharma
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Typically sharp but fair definitions from Dharma with some knotty wordplay. For some reason, I found this slightly harder to break into than usual but once the top fell, it was a brisk-ish solve. All yours.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31161
Hints and Tips by Senf
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BD Rating – Difficulty 2.5* – Enjoyment 4.5*
A very good Thursday morning from Winnipeg where with rising day time temperatures but below zero overnight temperatures we are getting into freeze-thaw cycles.
For me, etc© (I have to say that for Terence), the Master of Brevity has given us a very enjoyable puzzle. The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, but only the sweetheart appearing in the back pager with an average of 5.27 words per clue. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
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Toughie No 3631 by Beam
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ***/****
Standard Beam fare – a sweetheart, a queen and an imaginative, tight word count … but no lavatorial humour today. Who could he have been listening to?! Over to you.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31155
Hints and Tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***
I don’t think that there’s much to frighten the horses in this enjoyable puzzle. Thanks to our setter.
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Toughie No 3627 by Django
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
I always enjoy a Django: fun definitions and smart wordplay. Very gentle from him today, kicking off with a straight-in Spooner that rather set the tone. No bad thing – I’ve long suspected that setting a gentle but entertaining puzzle is even harder than setting a tough one. Over to you.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31149
Hints and Tips by Senf
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ****/*****
A very good Thursday morning from Wincanton where we escaped the wrath of Storm Chandra, but only just, Yeovil about 15 miles to the SW, and beyond, did not escape.
For me, etc© (I have to say that for Terence), the Master of Brevity has given us an enjoyable puzzle which caused some pauses for thought for solving and parsing. The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and an appearance of the Queen but not the sweetheart. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
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Toughie No 3623 by Silvanus
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Silvanus on a Thursday is always welcome. He’s returned with a typically toothsome number that has only a whisper of GK – money that I needed to spellcheck, a bird (that even I’d heard of!) and a Caribbean island probably better known for its eponymous liqueur. But there’s nothing too outlandish. Fun and fair. All yours.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31143
Hints and Tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***
All the letters of the alphabet except X appear in today’s grid which may point to the identity of our setter. Thanks to him for an enjoyable and not too tricky puzzle.
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