Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26805
Hints and tips by Libellule
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Normal service has been resumed. Mrs. L. is well on the mend, so many thanks for all of your kind comments. I struggled a bit with a few of the clues, although I suspect a certain rustiness on my part. I finally decided to give this three stars for difficulty mainly because although its easy to guess the answer to 5d, I had no idea why the answer was what it was until Gazza enlightened me.
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Toughie No 730 by Notabilis
Hints and tips by Tilsit
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
Greetings from the Calder Valley and it’s time for some mental torture from Notabilis, and this was a ferocious battle. Like most superlative puzzles, this draws you in with a few ‘easier’ clues and then when you are engrossed, the ‘nasties’ leap you and nab you.
I managed to make a mistake at 21 across and this held up completing the final clue at 19. There are so many elegant clues and clever definitions here and it shows why our setter is one of the finest around and up there on the top table of crossword minds. I looked for a Nina, but couldn’t see one.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2628
A full review by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
A particularly benevolent Virgilius this week – I edged into 3* difficulty time while justifying my answer for 24d – but with the usual enjoyment factor. My top favourites were `11a and 15a.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26803
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
There is a fair sprinkling of pretty easy clues in this one to provide a helping hand for the few which are a bit trickier. Let us know how you got on.
To reveal an answer just highlight the space between the brackets under the clue.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26798
A full review by gnomethang
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Morning All! I was a little befuddled on Saturday morning (due to Friday night) so made heavy weather of this. On reflection it was not too tricky and I appreciated a lot more of the clues in this typical Cephas puzzle whilst reviewing than I did on the day.
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Toughie No 729 by Kcit
Hints and tips by Bufo (with a bit of help)
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
How do I rate the difficulty for a puzzle like this where everything is plain sailing apart from one clue? I made OK progress until I was left with 25 down. Although it seemed likely that the answer was what it is, I couldn’t justify it and I needed to have it explained to me.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26802
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
If you don’t think this puzzle is from Petitjean, go away and do the Quick crossword and then come back! For me this was a pedestrian puzzle which lacked any sparkle. I’m sure others will have a different opinion.
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Toughie No 728 by Osmosis
Fruit Cocktail
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I thought that this was just right for a Wednesday Toughie, with some clever, witty clues and not an obscure word in sight. Thanks to Osmosis for the tussle.
Let us know how you liked it and please take the time to provide your assessment by clicking on one of the stars below.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26801
Hints and tips by pommers
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Hola from the Vega Baja. Well I can’t believe it but this week it’s a year since my “Baptism of Fire” as a blogger – 2 March 2011! Where has the time gone? I’ve really enjoyed doing all the reviews and I thank you all for the nice comments that you’ve made. I hope you’ve found my efforts useful.
Over the year Jay has consistently supplied us with excellent puzzles and this one is no exception. The only problem is that sometimes they’re a bit thin on photo opportunities – not this time though!
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Toughie No 727 by Giovanni
Geography Lesson
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment **
What could have been a very enjoyable puzzle was spoiled, for me, by the inclusion of a Japanese city that rightly belongs in a General Knowledge puzzle. The majority of the clues were up to the usual high standard that we expect from Giovanni.
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