April 29th: Another update from Jane herself a few days ago. There is some progress but it is slow and she hopes that the considerable number of daily tablets are being effective. Mobility has been affected by two and half months in a hospital bed and she will be having physio to address this. She is being looked after by one of her daughters and regular visits from the district nurses.
DT 31181 (Full Review)
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31181
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 7th March 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A nice, lovely Saturday puzzle from NYDK that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and significant feedback. Continue reading “DT 31181 (Full Review)”
Toughie 3651
Toughie No 3651 by Donnybrook
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
A Donnybrook with no linked clues? What’s the world coming to?! Nicely playful with a vaguely classical bent and great fun as always. All yours.
DT 31185
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31185
Hints and Tips by Senf
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****/*****
A very good Thursday morning from Winnipeg where, yesterday, I had the annual ‘delight’ of bending over and taking it like a man for my urologist. Still it was worth it; ‘Keep Calm And Carry On’ for another year!
For me, etc© (I have to say that for Terence), not half of a Dream Team Thursday, Mr Bringloe in the guise of Donnybrook is on Toughie duty, but no doubt that it is the work of the Master of Brevity. The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and appearances from the Queen and his swEetheart appearing in the back pager with an average of 5.25 words per clue. Also, like Dada, Ray T seems to be making occasional use of a personal thesaurus. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
Big Dave’s Stats for March 2-8, 2026
In a comment on today’s Cryptic Crossword, Daisygirl inquires about the number of hits on the site and I thought it would be interesting to delve into this a bit. While there is a Statistics page on this site (under the About tab), it has not been updated since 2021.… Continue reading
Toughie 3650
Toughie No 3650 by Weatherman
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Even allowing for the two words most of us have probably never heard of (both fairly clued), I thought this was just right for a Wednesday Toughie. All I’ve got to do now is get rid of the ear worm!
DT 31184
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31184
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. I found today’s puzzle suitably challenging for a Wednesday workout: there were a couple of (for me) obscure words that held me up, pushing me just into 3* time. I found it very hard to pick a favourite clue, as there was so much to enjoy and admire, with some great misdirection and several amusing cryptic definitions. I especially liked 10a, 14a, 3d, 7d and 9d, but today’s winner for me is 16d for its excellent surface reading and because it taught me a new word. Many thanks to today’s setter.
Sunday Toughie 214 (Review)
Sunday Toughie No 214 by proXimal
Review by
Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 1st March 2026
The publication of the result contains the line;
The answer to 27a is misspelt. We apologise for the error.
Well done to J De Bruyn, Sheffield for winning
ST 3358 (Full Review)
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3358
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 1st March 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A highly entertaining puzzle from Dada this Sunday that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a full review of his puzzle for your kind perusal and valuable feedback. Continue reading “ST 3358 (Full Review)”
Toughie 3649
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.