Big Dave's Crossword Blog – Page 12 – Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English

Toughie 3649

by Whybird  

Toughie No 3649 by Hudson
Hints and tips by Whybird

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BD Rating – Difficulty *   – Enjoyment ***

 

Greetings from a sunny, Spring-has-started Wirral. The first wheatear of the year has been seen on Hilbre Island, and Burton Mere Wetlands now has about a hundred Avocets dominating the main scrape (with more to come, hopefully), as well as a Mediterranean Gull looking to set up a territory on one of the islands.

I found today’s puzzle to be something of a curiosity. Apart from the fact that it is a pangram that I actually noticed (which makes it unusual!) it felt like it was a bit of a struggle to solve, but when I actually checked, I’d done it all in 1* time.  It’s definitely not a Floughie, though, and there were a couple of senses employed that had me checking the reference works to confirm my suspicions. My prizes today go to 6d, 10a and 27a – a trio of clever clues with very neat surfaces. Thanks to Hudson for getting the morning cogs whirring! 

Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle. 

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DT 31183

by Huntsman  

DailyTelegraph Cryptic No 31183
Hints and tips by Huntsman

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

The sun is out here in Harpenden so guess I’d better make the most of it & get out for a good walk before Cheltenham kicks off.

I thought today’s puzzle very enjoyable & about par for the course for a Tuesday. Possibly a tad trickier than yesterday but I wouldn’t say there’s much in it. For any seeking a further crossword I can heartily recommend Hudson’s excellent puzzle over in t’other place which really isn’t any more difficult than some of his Wednesday back-pagers & is great fun. I’m sure Whybird would be delighted to hear your thoughts.

As usual there is a selection of music to enjoy or ignore.

In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.

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DT 31182

by Smylers  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31182

Hints and tips by Smylers

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BD Rating – Difficulty ★★ – Enjoyment ★★★★

Hello from Ilkley. Here are some photos from a day trip this weekend — where did we go? (People from Yorkshire, please let others answer first!)

a child looking at a small statue of a green dragon artwork of a frog on a unicycle, made out of metal pieces and mounted on a wall, on a bright background
a Georgian brick house, with 2 chimney stacks on the roof, 5 windows along the top floor, and 2 each side of a grand-looking door on the bottom floor with pillars either side and steps leading up to it an old-fashioned portable writing desk, with some letters, a bottle of ink, and some sealing wafers

I liked all the clues in today’s Telegraph cryptic crossword. I got fewer answers on the first pass than I often do on Mondays, so I’ve rated it ★★ rather than ★ for difficulty. But several of the ones I skipped were those I’d successfully identified as anagrams, which I find hard to work out until I have crossing letters; if you’re somebody who can solve anagrams straight away, you may find it easier than I did.

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Sunday Toughie 215 (Hints)

by Sloop John Bee  

Sunday Toughie No 215

by Beam

 

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

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Beam has provided a very pleasant and not too tough Toughie today. I was pleased to have something a little easier than last week’s, as no matter what tricks I used, I couldn’t get the puzzle until 00:10

Beam has brought us a generous and symmetric 16a and 16d clues today. When selecting the clues to hint, I found that the across selection was equally symmetric, so I let that guide an equally symmetric selection of downs. That may have left a few of the trickier clues unhinted, so I will endeavour to help with a bonus hint or two if you ask.

All the Beam™ trademarks are there, sweetheart, the Queen, single word answers and no anagrams. I spotted quite a few definitions by example? hence the question marks. I expect you will find the checkers to finish, as this was much more straightforward than last week.

 

Here we go, Folks…

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ST 3359 (Hints)

by Senf  

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3359 (Hints)

Hints and tips by Senf

A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where at zero dark thirty we undertook the nonsensical annual ritual of ‘springing forward’.  British Columbia has the right idea; while it did ‘spring forward’ today it will not be ‘falling back’ in 8 months time.  Manitoba has said that it will wait to see what the USA does but will that wait be a year, a century, or a millennium?

For me, and I stress for me,© Dada reasonably friendly with a soupçon of quirkiness – an economical four anagrams (two partials), no lurkers, and one homophone in an asymmetric 29 clues; with 15 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!

Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!

If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!

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