Toughie No 3662 by Kcit
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Tag: Answers
DT 31202
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31202
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the Wednesday back-pager blog. I approached today’s crossword with some trepidation, as the first puzzle that I blogged – Vintage puzzle 20 – was originally published on 1st April 1978, and had a surprise twist that caught me unawares. Thankfully there were no such pitfalls today, and everything was fairly clued throughout. The standout clues for me were 20a, 18a, 28a, 14d, 24d, and my favourite, the painful riding experience in 16a. Many thanks to our setter.
Sunday Toughie 217 (Review)
Sunday Toughie No 217 by Zandio
Review by
Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 22nd March 2026
ST 3361 (Full Review)
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3361
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 22nd March 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. Dada has given us a nice, enjoyable solve this Sunday and now I present to you a full review of his puzzle. Hope to have your valuable feedback and comments. Continue reading “ST 3361 (Full Review)”
Toughie 3661
Toughie No 3661 by Hudson
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Welcome to another Toughie week.
We have another high-quality puzzle from Hudson today. There is a martial theme, or at least a connection between several of the clues, although I am not sure if there is an underlying reason for the link: I am happy enough to have noticed a theme of any kind! I thought I was heading for solving in Floughie time, but then a combination of solving 15d and parsing 20d and 24a took this comfortably into ** territory. I hope you have your lexicographic secateurs to hand, there’s a fair bit of pruning to be done.
Once the penny dropped for 20d, this jumped right to the top of my prize list by a distance, which is perhaps rather unfair on 13a and 29a, as either of these could have been “Top Clue” in other puzzles. Thank you, Hudson, for a wonderful start to the week.
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
DT 31200
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31200
Hints and tips by Falcon
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from Ottawa, where the temperature roller coaster is heading upwards. Temperatures that have recently been in the neighbourhood of -10 C are forecast to hit +15 C today.
Today’s puzzle, though, does not depart from the recent trend of gentle introductions to the cruciverbal week.
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.
Toughie 3660
Toughie No 3660 by Notabilis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment *****
It was a delightful surprise to find the name of Notabilis on today’s Toughie. We haven’t had a puzzle from him since Toughie 3036 almost exactly three years ago and his clever and very entertaining puzzles have been much missed. I do hope that today’s appearance signals his return on a regular basis. Many thanks to him for today’s splendid puzzle which is not fiendishly difficulty; I only needed to verify the 26a trickster.
Continue reading “Toughie 3660”
DT 31198
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31198
Hints and tips by Mr K
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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. Continue reading "DT 31198"
DT 31193 (Full Review)
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31193
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 21st March 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A nice, entertaining 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 31193 (Full Review)”
Toughie 3659
Toughie No 3659 by Dharma
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
I was, as ever, at a loss how to rate this for difficulty. I pretty much skipped through it, thanks largely to Dharma’s typically fair definitions – hence the 2 not 2.5. But full parsing took slightly longer because of some original wordplay. I did, however, initially draw a blank up top, having to dot round the grid to find a way in. Once I did, though, it all slotted into place fairly quickly. And the north-west is not, in fact, nearly as impenetrable as it at first (to me) appeared. Dharma effectively gives us 1a on a plate as you have only to delete two letters and add one, so it really should have flown in immediately. Smart stuff – I’m still chuckling about 15d’s “flimsy house”. Outrageous! All yours.