Toughie 3398 (Online only)
Toughie No 3398 by Prime
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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This Christmas Day Toughie is only available online
BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
A Toughie for Christmas Day which could have appeared on any other Wednesday of the year as there were no references to the Christmas season at all! I have added an image of 16d at Christmas, just to add a bit of festivity!
DT 30806 (On-Line Only)
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30806
Hints and tips by Senf
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****
A very Happy Christmas to all from Winnipeg where, per the Environment Canadian definition, with more than 2 cms of snow on the ground, we have a White Christmas.… Continue reading
Sunday Toughie 151 (Review)
Sunday Toughie No 151 by proXimal
Review by Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 15th of December 2024
ST 3295 (full review)
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3295
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 15th December 2024
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A nice, straightforward puzzle from Dada this Sunday that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a full review of his puzzle for your kind perusal and precious feedback.
Continue reading “ST 3295 (full review)”
Toughie 3397
Toughie No 3397 by Donnybrook
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
A fun Christmas Eve jaunt, this. Not terribly tricky, despite 14a (hence the extra half) which was certainly new to me and some typically cunning synonyms.… Continue reading
DT 30805
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30805
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Good morning and happy Christmas Eve to you all. Our regular Tuesday blogger, Huntsman, is having some well-earned R&R near Loch Lomond where the Wi-Fi is apparently intermittent at best. When he told me about his break in the Trossachs, I thought it was a nasty medical condition, but I am assured that it is not. Either way, he has asked me to fill in for him today, which I am more than happy to do. It will, of course, cost him a pint when he is back!
I found this to be fairly straightforward, but a fun challenge. I hope you enjoyed solving it as well. Just a reminder that whilst there will be no dead tree version of the paper tomorrow, puzzles will still be available on the puzzle website. Season’s greetings to you all.
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle. Please also try to be positive – it’s only a bit of fun.
Thank you, setter and a special thank you to crossword editor, Chris Lancaster, as we approach the year end.
DT 30804
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30804
Hints and tips by Falcon
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *****
Greetings from Ottawa, where we are enduring a spell of very cold weather. What Senf reports he is experiencing in Winnipeg arrives here a couple of days later, so I can pretty much say “Ditto” to his weather report – although the weather system does arrive here marginally warmer than when it left Winnipeg.
The photo above is of the Christmas Tree in Boston, Massachusetts. Each year since 1971, the people of Nova Scotia have gifted a tree to the people of Boston in thanks for their assistance after the 1917 Halifax Explosion. This gesture commemorates one originally made in 1917, when Nova Scotia had donated a large Christmas tree to the city of Boston in thanks and remembrance for the help the Boston Red Cross and the Massachusetts Public Safety Committee provided following the explosion.
On December 6, 1917 shortly after 9:00 am, a munitions ship collided with a second ship in Halifax Harbour resulting in the largest non-nuclear explosion of all time which severely destroyed much of the city. Boston authorities learned of the disaster by telegraph, and quickly organized and dispatched a relief train around 10 pm to assist survivors. A blizzard delayed the train, which finally arrived in the early morning of December 8 and immediately began distributing food, water, and medical supplies. Numerous personnel on the train were able to relieve the Nova Scotia medical staff, most of whom had worked without rest since the explosion occurred.
Today we are gifted with a seasonally themed puzzle that should not detain you long from preparations for the big day on Wednesday but is, nevertheless, a very enjoyable diversion. It could be the work of Robyn but I also would not be surprised to be informed that our editor has slipped one in. As Smylers will be with you for the next two weeks while I busy myself as a volunteer at the IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship which is being held in Ottawa this year, I will take this opportunity to wish one and all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year.
In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought of the puzzle.
Rookie Corner 558
Sunday Toughie 152 (Hints)
Sunday Toughie No 152
by Zandio
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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My last blog before Santa Clause Comes to Town It isn’t terribly Christmassy so I will decorate the blog with a few Christmassy bits and pieces.
We have 14a and 14d clues and I have tried to limit hints to half, but a few bonus hints may pop up here and there
Here we go…