Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27586
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Hola from the Vega Baja where the heat wave continues! With my track record of spotting setters you never know but I’m pretty sure who set this one! It has all the hallmarks of a RayT – Her Majesty, short clues and a bit of innuendo.
Most of the puzzle’s construction is fairly straightforward but there are a few slightly unusual definitions and some obscure synonyms which caused me to slip just into 3* territory. A tip from me would be to start with the downs. I found them considerably more benign than the across clues of which I only got four on first pass! Perhaps it was the slow start which caused the third star as it all fell together fairly quickly once I got going on the downs.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2758
A full review by gnomethang
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BD Rating – Difficulty *– Enjoyment ****
This puzzle was published on Sunday, 24th August 2014
This was a pretty fast solve apart from needing to look up 3d. There were some lovely clues here though. 20 more seconds and it would have been in ** territory.
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Toughie No 1251 by Osmosis
Ah! Bisto
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
My progress with this puzzle was stately rather than speedy with the NE corner the last to fall. Osmosis is noted for his complicated wordplay (no complaints from me on that score – I enjoy disentangling it) which means that lots of clues require an amount of thought before one can move on to the next one. Thanks to him for the entertainment.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27585
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
I always enjoy puzzles from Jay. They are (usually) not too difficult and the clues are invariably fair and straightforward. This one is a bit top-heavy with anagrams, but not as bad as yesterday’s Toughie (or so I am told, as I stay sane by having absolutely nothing to do with Excalibur puzzles).
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Toughie No 1250 by Excalibur
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BD Rating - Difficulty ***Â - Enjoyment ***
Even for those of us who are not too fussed about anagram quotas, thirteen is surely on the high side. Still, they make for some nice surface readings in this Excalibur puzzle. Slightly trickier than recent Tuesday offerings, I thought. I got dreadfully stuck on 4d, having pencilled in DOS as the last three letters. Did anyone do the same?
In case you haven't seen it, the video at 13a is not to be missed.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27584
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
I found this pretty mechanical without a great deal of sparkle but I was held up for a time after having got the last two letters of 18a wrong which gave me problems with 13d. Do let us know how you got on and what you thought.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 27583
Hints and tips by Miffypops
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Good morning to one and all. A fairy gentle puzzle today although 8d threw me for a while but it did remind me of one of the legendary village characters of the past. I am glad I never met Fatal Moore. 3d reminded me of the years I spent in the midlands working as a freelance Astronaut. I never did get any employment but it was fun telling people that was what I did.
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A Puzzle by Axolotl
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2759 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a number of the more difficult clues and provide hints for them.
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NTSPP – 238
A Puzzle by Toro
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