Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26679
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Libellule is busy today so we’re doing a Monday/Tuesday swap. That’s given me another opportunity to blog a Rufus puzzle. We have the usual very smooth surface readings with lots of cryptic definitions. Quite a few of the clues will be pretty familiar to experienced solvers but remember that there are always new solvers coming along for whom they’ll be new discoveries.
Let us know how you got on – if you’re stuck you can reveal the answer by highlighting the space between the curly brackets under the clue.
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Puzzles for Monday 10th of October
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Once again Phil McNeill, the Telegraph’s Puzzles Editor, has provided pdfs for today’s cryptic, quick and GK puzzles.
Continue reading “Puzzles for Monday 10th of October”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2609 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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Thanks once again to Phil McNeill for providing today’s puzzle, which can be downloaded from the previous post.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the more difficult clues and provide hints for them.
Continue reading “ST 2609 (Hints)”
Puzzles for Sunday 9th of October
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A big thank you to Phil McNeill, the Telegraph’s Puzzles Editor, for kindly providing pdfs for today’s cryptic, GK and EV puzzles.
Continue reading “Puzzles for Sunday 9th of October”
NTSPP – 087
A crossword by Alchemi
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We welcome Alchemi on board with a cracking debut puzzle full of inventive clues and a cracking anagram at 3/9d. Many thanks to him for the crossword and to Jetdoc for recommending him. Hopefully it will not be too long before he appears here again.
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Not the Saturday Prize Puzzle – 087
A Puzzle by Alchemi
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Welcome to the latest in our series of weekly puzzles.
This week we have a new setter.  Alchemi was recommended by Jetdoc (Mrs Elgar) so you know it is going to be an excellent puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26678 (Hints)
Big Dave’s Saturday Crossword Club
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Many thanks to Phil McNeill for providing today’s puzzle, which can be downloaded from the previous post.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, and provide hints for them.
Continue reading “DT 26678 (Hints)”
Puzzles for Saturday 8th of October
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A big thank you to Phil McNeill, the Telegraph’s Puzzles Editor, for kindly providing pdfs for today’s cryptic, quick and GK puzzles.
Continue reading “Puzzles for Saturday 8th of October”
Toughie No 646 by Micawber
Perseverance Pays…..
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
Greetings from the Calder Valley. When I found out last night that I was getting Micawber today, I was filled with joy as he is one of my favourite setters and rarely fails to disappoint. However, it took me exactly 9 hours and 13 minutes to get into the Telegraph website to get a copy, including a stint at 4 am trying to get it. Come on Telegraph techies, something has got to be done, it just isn’t good enough.
Rant over. This is a simply splendid puzzle that was more than worth the wait. Lots of laugh aloud moments and the odd forehead slap as well. As I have said before, with setters like Micawber, Dada and Elgar around, the future for crosswords is bright. So many brilliant clues today, it seems a shame to pick the best. Looking at the completed grid, there are odd words here and there and I did wonder if we had a Nina, but it seems not.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2608
A full review by Gnomethang
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
The usual Virgilius excellence again this Sunday. The standout clue for me was the &Lit at 8d.
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