Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31224
Hints and tips by Falcon
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Ottawa, where spring has finally arrived – about a month later than the calendar would have one believe. In Canada, spring is Stanley Cup Playoffs season, the competition for the championship of the National Hockey League. I can now well empathize with those on the blog who have lately been bemoaning the fate of their favourite football clubs. The hockey team I root for, the Ottawa Senators, had a dismal start to the season falling to near the bottom of the league. The second half of the season was the polar opposite – the team had one of the best (if not the best) records in the league allowing them to barely squeak into the playoffs. However, that was the end of the fairy tale season and they fell in four straight games in round one.
Today’s puzzle provided a fairly gentle mental workout to prepare us for the more demanding offerings we will undoubtedly encounter later in the week. UK solvers likely had a bit of an edge on me as it took a few extra minutes to sort out the character from the British children’s novel with whom I was not familiar. As for the setter, the Monday rotation appears to be Weatherman twice a month (on Smyler’s shift) with Heron once a month and the remaining position (today) filled by a mystery setter or setters.
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.
Continue reading “DT 31224”
Sunday Toughie No 222
by Light
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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A cracking puzzle from Light today. I wish I could have hinted more. The brilliant 1d gets the nod from a classy Spoonerism and 17a ran them close.
14a and 14d clues today, and I have hinted at half. I hope you find the checkers to finish, and as long as you remember your H. Rider Haggard novels and what Zanzibarians speak, you shouldn’t have too much trouble. I will try to give a nudge if asked.
Here we go, Folks…
Continue reading “Sunday Toughie 222 (Hints)”
Enigmatic Variations 1744 (Hints)
Reassuring by Chalicea
Hints and tips by Phibs
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It’s probably fair to say that in my four years of doing EV hints a significant majority of the puzzles have been beyond an imaginary halfway line in terms of difficulty.
Continue reading “EV 1744 (Hints)”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3366 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg; apologies, after a long and busy day yesterday, I was too cream crackered to be able to create an erudite preamble.
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada back to quite friendly – six anagrams (two partials), no lurkers, and no homophones, all in a symmetric 28 clues; with 14 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Continue reading “ST 3366 (Hints)”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31223 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club
(hosted by crypticsue)
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Continue reading “DT 31223 (Hints)”
Toughie No 3676 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
This is not Osmosis at his most fiendish but it is still worthy of the Friday Toughie slot. Thanks to him for the very enjoyable challenge with well-disguised definitions and clever wordplay (and extra kudos for forswearing anagrams).
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31217
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 18th April 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. This was a musical show-themed puzzle, but a truly tough Saturday challenge from the setter. I greatly enjoyed solving it and writing this review; I look forward to your kind reading and precious feedback. Continue reading “DT 31217 (Full Review)”
Toughie No 3675 by Dharma
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment *****
I thought this was pleasingly gentle for a Thursday, especially from Dharma. As ever, it’s all about wavelength, of course, so mileage may differ. But I’ve always found him immensely doable and fun. Still, I have begrudgingly tacked on an extra half just to acknowledge some of the arguably trickier wordplay. An absolute belter either way. Over to you. Continue reading “Toughie 3675”
