Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 101
A Puzzle by Gazza
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Welcome to the latest in our series of weekly puzzles.
We launch into our second 100 with another excellent puzzle from Gazza.
DT 26762 (Hints)
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26762 (Hints)
Big Dave’s Crossword Club
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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, have been selected and hints provided for them.
Toughie 702
Toughie No 702 by Firefly
Leave till tomorrow?
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from the Calder Valley! The sun is cracking the flags here in Hebden Bridge and we have a nice benign puzzle to begin the weekend from Firefly. I got off to the wrong start by thinking that 5 down was a simple anagram and this blocked me for a short while, but once I realised I had this answer wrong, the puzzle fell into place.
ST 2621
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2621
A full review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
If all Virgilius’s 2012 Sunday Cryptics are going to be as good as the first two, Big Dave is going to have to add another page to the Mine: “Superlatives, Bloggers for the Use Of” as I think otherwise Gnomethang and I are going to become very repetitive. Thank you to Virgilius once again for a crossword that was easy to solve, very entertaining and a pleasure to review. My top favourites are highlighted in blue.
DT 26761
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26761
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
I had to use the de-icer quite extensively this morning before I could take my car to the garage for its MOT, so winter seems to have arrived. That may account for my grumpiness but, whatever the reason, I didn’t think that this was one of Giovanni’s better puzzles – there was a distinct shortage of “doh” moments. On the other hand you may have loved it, so let us know what you thought.
If you need to see an answer just drag your cursor through the space between the brackets under the clue.
DT 26756
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26756
A full review by Gnomethang
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BD Rating – Difficulty **– Enjoyment ***
Afternoon All!. This was a fairly fun puzzle that was not too hard for me (based on the solving time) but I did need some help to confirm 21d even though I kicked myself after checking the American Hero online.
Toughie 701
Toughie No 701 by Warbler
Hints and tips by Bufo (in case anybody needs them)
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
This was possibly the easiest Toughie I have ever solved. It was pleasant enough to do but is far below Toughie standard. It seems like yet another day where the back-page puzzle is the tougher of the two puzzles.
DT 26760
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26760
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment **
This puzzle could have some solvers wishing for Ray T’s speedy return. It has the appearance of being a Petitjean Toughie that he put in the wrong envelope. On the brighter side, the blog’s page views could well be very high today!
Toughie 700
Toughie 700 by Osmosis
All Together Now: Tum-Te-Tum-Te-Tum-Te-Tum
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Osmosis has produced a great puzzle for us today with a lovely mixture of clues (and it’s a pangram). There are a few easy clues sprinkled round the puzzle to provide footholds for the assault on the trickier ones (where the doh moments are to be found).
Please let us know how you got on and rate the puzzle for enjoyment by clicking on one of the stars below.
ST 2620
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2620
A full review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *****
It seems a long time ago now, but this treat of a themed puzzle was a splendid start to the New Year. This is the first time I have awarded the coveted 5* enjoyment rating to any crossword that I have reviewed but I had so much fun both solving and now reviewing it, that I couldn’t possibly rate it any differently.