26038 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Tag: 26038

DT 26038

by tilsit  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26038

The Big Ones Get Away!

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **

Having been a solver for many years, I always looked forward to Saturday’s puzzles. Each paper usually offered you more than one puzzle, and invariably, the puzzle you got on a Saturday was something special. Sadly I don’t feel that magic with the Telegraph puzzle. It’s an OK challenge, but I don’t get to feel the magic that you get with other papers and setters. This week’s contained a couple of good clues, but they were taken down by the two long answers in the centre. Both were clued with cryptic definitions, and while you could argue one was reasonable, I simply had not heard of the expression, and the other struck me as too remote and obscure to lead to the answer. The grid itself didn’t help with the centre almost isolated. I recognised the across answer, but had to guess at the down one. Even an anagram might have helped a bit.

Anyway, whine over, off we go. Your comments as to how you coped with the puzzle are welcomed.

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DT 26038 – Hints

by Big Dave  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26038 – Hints

Big Dave’s Saturday Crossword Class!

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

Once again the Saturday prize puzzle just about creeps into 3-star difficulty.  The handful of proper nouns are all well known and there is no need this week for an atlas.  One minor quibble concerns the long down answer – this is a saying with which not everyone will be familiar, so the combination of a cryptic definition and two double unches (two consecutive squares without a checked letter) will make it a struggle for some.

Don’t forget that you can give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.

As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them. A full review of this puzzle by Tilsit will be published at 12.00 on Thursday, 24th September.

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