Crossword – Page 1205 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

DT Cryptic No 25874

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25874

Today’s hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

A good, honest puzzle with some clever clues. As usual, if you cannot get the answer even with the hint, select the white space inside the curly brackets to reveal it.

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Toughie No 109

Toughie No 109 by Warbler

Hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ***

This one is not as difficult as yesterday’s. I was held up on 19d because I initially read the last word of the clue as TURN rather than TUM. It’s an easy mistake to make with lower-case letters, but I’ll have to get new glasses!

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DT Cryptic No 25873

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25873

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ***

Not too easy, not too hard, but then it is the middle of the week.

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

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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.

Continue reading “Toughie No 108”

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.

Continue reading “DT Cryptic No 25872”

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.

Continue reading “DT Cryptic No 25871”

ScrewedUp News – Mar 8

ScrewedUp News – Mar 8

Edition 9

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This edition concerns only a small, but important, minority – those brave souls who tackle the Enigmatic Variations in the Sunday Telegraph Seven supplement, or rather those who use the online version rather than the version in the supplement.

The online version of EV No. 853: Deepest Affections by Kruger is missing some key information.

There is also a small problem with the version printed in the newspaper.

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ST Cryptic No 2474 – Hints

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2474

Selected hints by Big Dave

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

The second Sunday in a row that I have enjoyed the puzzle – things are looking up.  Only one minor grumble – the top right and bottom left corners of the grid are a bit isolated from the rest.

As Spring is fast approaching, I have changed the header picture once more.  The intention is to show the same view for the current month of the year – those for January and February are still in the Gallery, along with a few new pictures.  The large van in the centre of the picture is the Mobile Library – a lifeline for Mrs BD.

Some of you may have noticed that The Mine is growing too – Popes and Antipopes are among the new additions.  Later today, following one of the clues in today’s General Knowledge puzzle, I intend to add the Hebrew / Jewish calendar.

For the weekend prize crosswords I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them.  A full analysis of this puzzle will be available at 12.00 next Thursday,  March 12th.

Some hints to get you started: Continue reading “ST Cryptic No 2474 – Hints”

ScrewedUp News – Mar 7

ScrewedUp News – Mar 7

Edition 8

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15.50 – Father Brian reports that the Giant GK is now online.  I checked, and he is right, unless you try to access it from the Home page!!

It’s Saturday again and, as several of you have reported, the Giant General Knowledge No 12252 is missing – let’s hope thay make a better job of sorting it out than they did last week!

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DT Cryptic No 25870 – Hints

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25870

Selected hints

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ***

Today’s prize crossword is a little harder than recent Saturday puzzles, but mainly because of the use of place names in several of the answers, and in one case as part of the wordplay. The usual few hints to get you started.

A full review of this puzzle,  by crossword blogging veteran Peter Biddlecombe, will be published at 12.00 on Thursday, 12th March.

Continue reading “DT Cryptic No 25870 – Hints”