Big Dave's Crossword Blog – Page 1485 – Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English

Toughie No 124

Toughie No 124 by Jed

One of the easier Toughies

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

After last Friday’s struggle, I found this one to be much easier.  As always when a puzzle contains four long answers, getting at least two of these early on is the key to success.

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DT Cryptic No 25896

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25896

Today’s hints and tips by Gazza

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

This puzzle was a pleasure to tackle with its large number of cleverly-worded clues.

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DT Cryptic No 25895

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25895

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

Well, was it worth waiting for?  After all the fuss with the CluedUp site, what we got was another typical Monday Crossword.  Not too difficult, nothing contentious, just a good puzzle to start the week

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ScrewedUp News – Apr 6

ScrewedUp News – Apr 6

Edition 15

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This has been a disastrous weekend for subscribers to the ScrewedUp site.  This morning we can add DT Cryptic 25895, Quick Crossword 25895 and Herculis 12258 to those missing from the weekend (Quick Crossword No 45, Enigmatic Variations No 857 and GK Quick No 89).… Continue reading

ST Cryptic No 2478 – Hints

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2478 – Hints

Selected hints by Big Dave

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

Another excellent Sunday puzzle, although I had to coax each answer out!.

For the weekend prize crosswords I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them.  A full analysis of this puzzle will be available at 12.00 next Thursday, 9th April.

Some hints to get you started: Continue reading “ST Cryptic No 2478 – Hints”

ScrewedUp News – Apr 4

ScrewedUp News – Apr 4

Edition 13

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Apr 5 – The Codewords No 1267 has now been changed, with a totally different set of numbers, but still no GK Quick No 89!

We managed to get through last weekend without an edition of ScrewedUp News, but not so this weekend!!

If you try to access the GK Quick No 89 through the home page then, guess what? – yes, you get last week’s GK Quick No 88 and you can play it all over again.

Also there is an error in Codewords No 1267:

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DT Cryptic No 25894 – Hints

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25894 – Hints

Selected hints by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

One place, one ship and a woman’s name this week, but they are nothing like as obscure as those of earlier weeks.  The usual few hints to get you started.

Peter Biddlecombe’s full review of this puzzle will be published at 12.00 on Thursday, 9th April.

Continue reading “DT Cryptic No 25894 – Hints”

Toughie No 123

Toughie No 123 by Excalibur

Toughies don’t come Tougher than this!

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

Was because it was the morning after the night before, or was it really tough, let me know?  I struggled with this and after half an hour had managed about four clues.  I did get to the end without calling on the CluedUp letter hints, but it was heavy going.

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