Daily Telegraph – Page 900 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

DT 26298

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26298

Hints and tips by Crypticsue

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

I thoroughly enjoyed this Wednesday’s offering from Jay. A lovely mix of clues, anagrams, hidden words, all-in-ones and even one of those pesky every other letter ones which I am only just (even after all these years) managing to recognise. Thank you Jay for giving me such a nice puzzle to review. I hope you all agree with my opinion and don’t all rush for the 5d! Hard to pick favourite clues today but I will plump for 1d, 17d and 21d.

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Toughie 391

Toughie No 391 by Messinae

An alternative to today’s back page puzzle!

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

A gentle “Toughie”, as is usual from Messinae.

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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DT 26297

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26297

Hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

We have a pleasant solve from Ray T today – possibly a shade easier than we’ve come to expect from him (but still not as easy as today’s Toughie!). Let us know what you think by leaving a comment, and please don’t forget to click on one of the stars at the bottom.
For those who need some answers, they are hidden between the brackets under each clue. Highlight the space between the brackets to reveal.

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DT 26296

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26296

Hints and tips by Libellule

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ***

The usual gentle Monday morning runout, although I thought this was a bit trickier than usual in places, but there are plenty of clues to get you started.

The answers can be revealed by highlighting the space between the curly brackets.

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DT 26295 (Hints)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26295 (Hints)

Big Dave’s Saturday Crossword Club

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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them.

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.

A full review of this puzzle will be published on Thursday, 22nd July.

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Toughie 390

Toughie No 390 by Micawber

The Friday Fair

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ****

There are times when, on seeing a setter’s name, you think to yourself “OK, I could be in for a few nasty surprises here”. When you see the Micawber tag you know you’re going to get fair, accurate clueing, and that was the case here. It was a pretty easy puzzle for me precisely because of that; solidly faithful clues and no head-scratching trying to work out wordplay after solving, although I was left with one minor quibble.

It’s by no means a spectacular puzzle, but it’s accurate and very well constructed – with the added bonus of several beautifully smooth (and indeed deceptive) surface readings, and at least one or two crafty little definitions thrown in for good measure. Not spectacular – but very high quality.

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DT 26294

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26294

Hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Today’s Giovanni is a bit of a pussycat (of course you may disagree, and if you do please feel free to say so in a comment). But as we’ve said so often in the past puzzles do not have to be difficult to be entertaining, and this one has some very enjoyable clues.
The answers are hidden between the curly brackets under each clue. Just highlight the space between the brackets to reveal one.

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Toughie 389

Toughie No 389 by Excalibur

Hints and tips by Bufo

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ***

No real problems with this one. I was a bit slow in finishing off the top left-hand corner but I put that down to the brain not functioning fully following a hard day at Uttoxeter races yesterday.

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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DT 26289

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26289

A full review by Gnomethang

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Afternoon All!. After last weeks shenanigans we have a pretty non-controversial puzzle that still manages to entertain whilst making one think.

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DT 26293

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26293

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment **

This week’s mystery setter has given us a puzzle that I can think of little to say about, so that’s what I’ll do.

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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