Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26259
A full review by Gnomethang
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
Once again, as last week, I thought that this puzzle was let down by some clues that didn’t really cut the mustard, in particular some of the cryptic definitions. Also some of the surface reading telegraphed the wordplay instruction which made the puzzle very straightforward as a result. This is a shame really as more recent Saturday Prize Puzzles have been more tricky and, for me, more enjoyable.
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25.35482651.183884
ScrewedUp News – Jun 10
Edition 25
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Today the CluedUp site was ported to a different server. Unfortunately, as Gazza reports elsewhere, it seems to be powered by a Sinclair ZX-80.
I will be out for the rest of the morning, so today’s blogs may be a bit late. In anticipation of problems, we have secured, courtesy of Phil McNeill, copies of the two puzzles, together with the Quick crossword.
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Toughie No 368 by Shamus
Peripheral Greetings
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
As well as producing a fine Toughie today, Shamus has incorporated in a Nina (hidden message) a greeting to BD and the rest of us. So, of course, that earns it five stars for enjoyment (I just hope that 1d, 2d isn’t meant to be a second hidden message!). If you haven’t found the Nina yet there’s an explanation of how to find it at the bottom of the review.
Let us know in a comment what you think of the puzzle, and whether you found the Nina!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26262
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
A plethora of double definition clues today – some, but no means all, are part-cryptic. Along with anagrams, double definitions are often a very good way of getting started on a puzzle.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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52.254523-2.266838
Toughie No 367 by Messinae
But is it a Toughie?
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Tilsit s the only person I know who can get injured playing Bridge, so I am stepping in for him today. Not for the first time, I am asking what was Tough about this puzzle. Perhaps you can let me know.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26261
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***– Enjoyment ****
This is not the most difficult of Ray T’s puzzles, but really entertaining with a number of “aha” moments. Tell us what you thought in a comment and please remember to show how much you enjoyed it by clicking on one of the stars below.
As always, if you want to, you can reveal an answer by highlighting the space between the curly brackets under the relevant clue.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26260
Hints and tips by Libellule
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BD Rating – Difficulty **– Enjoyment ***
A typical start to the week from Rufus. Enjoy.
If you cannot work out the answer from the hint, just highlight the space between the curly brackets.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26259 – Hints
Big Dave’s Saturday Crossword Club
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A few hints to get you started.
Don’t forget that you can give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them. A full review of this puzzle will be published on Thursday, 10th June.
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52.254523-2.266838
Toughie No 366 by Firefly
Sweetness with a bit of bite
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
[Today we reach a rather special milestone – this is the 1,000th post published on the blog! BD]
Despite racing through this Firefly offering there were some quite tricky clues to negotiate and two I couldn’t immediately grasp (6a and 18d – thanks to BD for the pointers). For the most part the clues were straightforward and unspectacular but, despite a minor quibble with the presentation of its anagram fodder, I thought 6d was very nicely done, while 25a gets my COD vote. There was one area that held me up – the SE corner was by far the hardest to crack, even with 7d and 27a offering several letters.
My favourite clues are in blue and it’s usually the case they don’t quite match with yours, so please point out your own favourites.
And please leave a comment telling us what you thought of today’s puzzle. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26258
Hints and tips by Gnomethang
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Morning All!
A big thank you to Gazza for allowing me to make use of his chair for the day.
On with today’s puzzle. Giovanni, as you would expect, has delivered some finely constructed clues with very smooth surface readings. I found the difficulty to be greater than last week but really enjoyed the challenge. The tiny niggle I have is at 21a where not only is the answer not widely known (I would suggest) but the solver is left with a choice of two wordplay elements after filling all the checking letters. How many of you had to search to confirm the answer?
Speaking of answers, if you are new to the blog you can, as ever, find them by dragging your cursor between the curly brackets. Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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