Answers – Page 1002 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Toughie No 108

Toughie No 108 by Excalibur

A difficult Toughie with some tenuous clues

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

I found this a difficult Toughie and, for me, it was spoilt by the tenuous nature of some of the clues.  It’s always difficult when 1 across, often the key to open the whole puzzle, is as awkward as it has been today.

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DT Cryptic No 25872

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25872

Today’s hints and tips by Gazza

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

An interesting and varied collection of clues, slightly more difficult than yesterday’s but worth the effort to tease out. As usual, the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets – select the white space inside if you’re totally stumped.

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DT Cryptic No 25871

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25871

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ***

If you have been lulled into a false sense of security by recent Monday puzzles, you may find this one  little harder.

Don’t forget – just highlight the space between the curly brackets to reveal the answer.

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Toughie No 107

Toughie No 107 by Shamus

Shamus sets another relatively easy puzzle

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ***

After yesterday’s epic, today we have a much easier, but nonetheless enjoyable puzzle.  If you are new to Toughies, you should start with one like this.  I should point out that the difficulty ratings that I give are relative to the type of puzzle, so three stars here would be at least four on a regular cryptic.

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DT Cryptic No 25869

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25869

Hints and tips by Libellule

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

Libellule is back in his usual Friday slot (last Friday he preferred to go and  see France play Wales in Paris).   BD

The rugby was excellent. Although a Friday night kick-off at 9.00pm was a little strange. Libellule

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ST Cryptic No 2473 – Review

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2473 – Review

A full analysis by Big Dave

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

As I wrote on Sunday, this puzzle didn’t leave me feeling disappointed as previous Sunday crosswords have.   While not easy, there was satisfaction to be derived from solving some of the clues, although  rather too many of them were double definitions. And as for 23 down, I look forward to reading your views. Continue reading “ST Cryptic No 2473 – Review”

DT Cryptic No 25864 – Review

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25864 – Review

A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

I slipped up at 17D, but the rest was done in about an average time for a Times puzzle. Probably slower than it should have been, but I’m getting used to this setter’s style and tend to play safe with the answers that feel weak, like 21 and 13, and wait for plenty of checking letters. Continue reading “DT Cryptic No 25864 – Review”

Toughie No 106

Toughie No 106 by Elgar

A difficult but enjoyable puzzle

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

A difficult puzzle, with a phrase that spreads over three clues.  This was made even more difficult online as the order of the second and third clues was not immediately obvious.  I think the best way to tackle this particular puzzle is to complete the centre block of 6 clues and then work outwards from there, although 1 across and 2 down give a good foothold into the top part.

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DT Cryptic No 25868

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25868

Today’s hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

I was sailing through this one at a rate of knots until I hit 24a, where the wordplay held me up for ages until the penny finally dropped, swiftly followed by a bout of self-kicking! As usual the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets – select the white space inside the brackets to display the answer, but do try to get it from the hints first.

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Toughie No 105

Toughie No 105 by Giovanni

Hints and tips by Gazza

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

This is my first attempt at doing a write-up for a Toughie and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s got some challenging clues, as well as some easy ones, and doesn’t have too many obscure words.

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