Daily Telegraph – Page 978 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

DT Cryptic No 25895

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25895

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

Well, was it worth waiting for?  After all the fuss with the CluedUp site, what we got was another typical Monday Crossword.  Not too difficult, nothing contentious, just a good puzzle to start the week

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ScrewedUp News – Apr 6

ScrewedUp News – Apr 6

Edition 15

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This has been a disastrous weekend for subscribers to the ScrewedUp site.  This morning we can add DT Cryptic 25895, Quick Crossword 25895 and Herculis 12258 to those missing from the weekend (Quick Crossword No 45, Enigmatic Variations No 857 and GK Quick No 89).… Continue reading

ScrewedUp News – Apr 4

ScrewedUp News – Apr 4

Edition 13

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Apr 5 – The Codewords No 1267 has now been changed, with a totally different set of numbers, but still no GK Quick No 89!

We managed to get through last weekend without an edition of ScrewedUp News, but not so this weekend!!

If you try to access the GK Quick No 89 through the home page then, guess what? – yes, you get last week’s GK Quick No 88 and you can play it all over again.

Also there is an error in Codewords No 1267:

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DT Cryptic No 25894 – Hints

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25894 – Hints

Selected hints by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

One place, one ship and a woman’s name this week, but they are nothing like as obscure as those of earlier weeks.  The usual few hints to get you started.

Peter Biddlecombe’s full review of this puzzle will be published at 12.00 on Thursday, 9th April.

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Toughie No 123

Toughie No 123 by Excalibur

Toughies don’t come Tougher than this!

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

Was because it was the morning after the night before, or was it really tough, let me know?  I struggled with this and after half an hour had managed about four clues.  I did get to the end without calling on the CluedUp letter hints, but it was heavy going.

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DT Cryptic No 25888 – Review

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 25888 – Review

A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe

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

A better grid than the last couple – all entries at least 50% checked, and no isolated areas of the grid. I got through most of this pretty easily, but struggled with the NE corner, where 4, 5, 9 and the last word of 6 took longer than the rest put together.


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Toughie No 122

Toughie No 122 by Kcit

Today’s hints and tips by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

Today’s Toughie is one of the easier ones, which means it’s a good one to start if you haven’t tried them before.  My two star difficulty rating would put it at about three stars for a regular daily cryptic.

[OK BigBoab, there are one or two tricky words, but then you finish this puzzle wiser than when you started!]

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Toughie No 121

Toughie No 121 by Elgar

Hints and tips by Gazza

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

I approached this puzzle with some trepidation, bearing in mind the date, wondering what tricks the compiler had in store. Actually it offers a thoroughly entertaining battle with some tricky wordplay and some delightful clues (the best of which is slightly risqué!).

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