Doing this blog every day is a much bigger task than I imagined when I took it on. Fortunately, I have had offers of help from fellow solvers, this being the first. A blog is a very personal thing, and it was with considerable trepidation that I agreed to accept outside help, but that was before Gazza’s contribution arrived. I knew as soon as I read the first hint that I had not made a mistake, and I hope that you all agree with me. Please let both of us know, via the comments below, what you think. BD
This one is fairly straightforward (but see 16 across) and not too difficult, similar to those of the last few days.
You may have noticed yesterday that I made a complete hash of the wordplay for 23 down, although I did say that I was open to better interpretations. Well, someone did post a far better interpretation, and it was two hours before I tumbled that we had been privileged to receive a fleeting visit from Firefly, yesterday’s setter.
If you have never tackled a Toughie before, then this one would be a good one with which to start, as there are no obscure words and the clues are straightforward – and you’ve got the hints below if you get stuck!
Some of you have been dreading Wednesday’s puzzles in recent weeks – well this one will make a pleasant change. A little harder than the last two days, but most of you should be able to cope with this one.
I was racing through this one, with thoughts of a relatively early night, when suddenly I hit a brick wall in the bottom right hand corner. At least three out of the five difficulty stars are for this corner – see what you think.
Yesterday was a big day here on Big Dave’s Blog – for the first time there were over 1000 hits on the site. This was partly because it was the first daily cryptic that was covered in detail, and partly due to some excellent mentions on Times for the Times and Fifteensquared, for which I would like to thank Peter and Neil respectively. Peter also contributed to yesterday’s comments.
If you have come across here from Crossword ends in violence, then you probably have seen my contributions before. As I mentioned elsewhere on this site, I intend to give substantial hints and tips for the weekday crosswords, but for Saturday I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them.
It’s been a struggle finding any clues worth giving hints, this is one of the easiest prize crosswords for a long time.
Woke up this morning to find that the light dusting of snow that has been around for a few days has been replaced by a full carpet – I have added a new picture to the Gallery. As a new feature, started yesterday with “Freight Train”, some hints link to supplementary information!!
You may have noticed yesterday that I made a complete hash of the wordplay for 23 down, although I did say that I was open to better interpretations. Well, someone did post a far better interpretation, and it was two hours before I tumbled that we had been privileged to receive a fleeting visit from Firefly, yesterday’s setter.