Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31023
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
Over to you, dear reader, on Guess the Setter today. Thursdays used to be easy to predict, with RayT and Silvanus taking alternate weeks, but the devious crossword team at DT Towers now throw in different setters to keep us all on our toes.
I thought this was a cracking puzzle, but I have to confess to struggling initially with the parsing of 20a and 2d. This puts the puzzle firmly into 4* territory for me, but perhaps other more able solvers will disagree? There are two references to my favourite sport rugby (27a and 3d) – good timing as the Women’s Rugby World Cup approaches the QF stage. Ticks all over the place for me, but special mention must go to 23a, 2d, 4d and 19d. Which clues did you like?
Must dash. I’m helping out at a charity golf day today in aid of prostate cancer, a subject very close to my heart. Fingers crossed that the weather improves soon!
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.
Many thanks to our setter and to the DT Crossword Team.