Daily Telegraph – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Toughie 3652

Toughie No 3652 by Karla
Hints and tips by Gazza

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

Karla has upped the difficulty level a bit since his last Toughie but this is still pretty accessible and it’s very enjoyable. Many thanks to him.
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DT 31186

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31186

Hints and tips by Mr K

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BD Rating  -  Difficulty *** Enjoyment ***

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. I couldn’t see today’s Quickie Pun. Not sure if that’s because I’m American or because I’m tired, but I hope somebody from the commentariat will help out there.  Continue reading "DT 31186"

DT 31181 (Full Review)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31181

A full review by Rahmat Ali

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This puzzle was published on 7th March 2026

BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ****

Greetings from Kolkata. A nice, lovely Saturday puzzle from NYDK that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and significant feedback. Continue reading “DT 31181 (Full Review)”

Toughie 3651

Toughie No 3651 by Donnybrook
Hints and tips by ALP

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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty ** Enjoyment ****

A Donnybrook with no linked clues? What’s the world coming to?! Nicely playful with a vaguely classical bent and great fun as always. All yours.

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DT 31185

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31185

Hints and Tips by Senf

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

A very good Thursday morning from Winnipeg where, yesterday, I had the annual ‘delight’ of bending over and taking it like a man for my urologist.  Still it was worth it; ‘Keep Calm And Carry On’ for another year!

For me, etc© (I have to say that for Terence), not half of a Dream Team Thursday, Mr Bringloe in the guise of Donnybrook is on Toughie duty, but no doubt that it is the work of the Master of Brevity.  The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and appearances from the Queen and his swEetheart appearing in the back pager with an average of 5.25 words per clue.  Also, like Dada, Ray T seems to be making occasional use of a personal thesaurus.  I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!

Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!

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Toughie 3650

Toughie  No 3650 by Weatherman

Hints and Tips by crypticsue

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

Even allowing for the two words most of us have probably never heard of (both fairly clued), I thought this was just right for a Wednesday Toughie.  All I’ve got to do now is get rid of the ear worm!

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DT 31184

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31184
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh

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

Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog.  I found today’s puzzle suitably challenging for a Wednesday workout: there were a couple of (for me) obscure words that held me up, pushing me just into 3* time.  I found it very hard to pick a favourite clue, as there was so much to enjoy and admire, with some great misdirection and several amusing cryptic definitions.  I especially liked 10a, 14a, 3d, 7d and 9d, but today’s winner for me is 16d for its excellent surface reading and because it taught me a new word.  Many thanks to today’s setter.

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Toughie 3649

Toughie No 3649 by Hudson
Hints and tips by Whybird

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BD Rating – Difficulty *   – Enjoyment ***

 

Greetings from a sunny, Spring-has-started Wirral. The first wheatear of the year has been seen on Hilbre Island, and Burton Mere Wetlands now has about a hundred Avocets dominating the main scrape (with more to come, hopefully), as well as a Mediterranean Gull looking to set up a territory on one of the islands.

I found today’s puzzle to be something of a curiosity. Apart from the fact that it is a pangram that I actually noticed (which makes it unusual!) it felt like it was a bit of a struggle to solve, but when I actually checked, I’d done it all in 1* time.  It’s definitely not a Floughie, though, and there were a couple of senses employed that had me checking the reference works to confirm my suspicions. My prizes today go to 6d, 10a and 27a – a trio of clever clues with very neat surfaces. Thanks to Hudson for getting the morning cogs whirring! 

Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle. 

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DT 31183

DailyTelegraph Cryptic No 31183
Hints and tips by Huntsman

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

The sun is out here in Harpenden so guess I’d better make the most of it & get out for a good walk before Cheltenham kicks off.

I thought today’s puzzle very enjoyable & about par for the course for a Tuesday. Possibly a tad trickier than yesterday but I wouldn’t say there’s much in it. For any seeking a further crossword I can heartily recommend Hudson’s excellent puzzle over in t’other place which really isn’t any more difficult than some of his Wednesday back-pagers & is great fun. I’m sure Whybird would be delighted to hear your thoughts.

As usual there is a selection of music to enjoy or ignore.

In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.

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