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DT 30876

by Falcon  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30876

Hints and tips by Falcon

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

Greetings from Ottawa where the weather is unseasonably warm and our hockey team is contending for a playoff spot – which would be their first appearance in the Stanley Cup Playoffs in seven years. How could things be any better? Oh yeah, I guess I can think of something.

I have no idea who may have set this puzzle. For reasons Rabbit Dave explained on the blog a couple of weeks ago, it is almost certainly not Robyn. I was only able to find one pun in the Quick Crossword, so (unless someone proves me wrong) it would not seem to be the setter who emulates the late Campbell by slipping in a second pun.

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.

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Sunday Toughie 164 (Hints)

by Sloop John Bee  

Sunday Toughie No 164


by Zandio

 

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

 

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I had a rather pleasant tour of the North East Coasts and Castles yesterday, but I was rather tired and a restorative Torabhaigh meant that I fell asleep before I had fully parsed this last night. Coffee and a bacon butty restored me this morning.

Is Zandio having a go at my drinking in the unches going right from 16… perhaps not

14a and 14d clues today and I have hinted half

Here we go…

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Toughie 3444

by Gazza  

Toughie No 3444 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Gazza

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

Thanks to Sparks for the enjoyable Friday Toughie. He very often gives us something extra in the grid – I can’t see anything today (the only letters missing are J, Q, X and Z which are the four highest Scrabble scorers but I doubt whether that’s significant). Have you spotted anything?
Update: See the comment from Retiefus below – the Nina starts at the final character of 3d. Continue reading “Toughie 3444”

DT 30869 (full review)

by Rahmat Ali  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30869

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 8th March 2025

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

Greetings from Kolkata. A great Saturday puzzle from NYDK that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and precious comments.
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Toughie 3443

by Gazza  

Toughie No 3443 by Django
Hints and tips by Gazza

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

Great fun from Django in a puzzle that’s not too tricky but with a few clues where the parsing needed a bit of thought – thanks to him.
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DT 30873

by Shabbo  

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30873
Hints and tips by Shabbo

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

Good morning from a cold and grey Welwyn Garden City.

No prizes for Guess the Setter today.  Brevity of clueing (average 5.4 words/clue), single word answers, a reference to the queen at 27a (albeit not the usual one) and a sweetheart at 22d, all indicate that this is the work of RayT.  Fairly straightforward, but most enjoyable, as ever.

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.  Please also try to be positive – it’s only a bit of fun.

Thank you, Ray.

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