Toughie No 330 by Firefly
Holiday Fever
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
After about 30 minutes, with three or four unfilled answers, I started to panic with this one. The problem for me was an abject lack of knowledge about the themed answers connected with 4d, so there was more guesswork going on than I’m used to. That wasn’t a legitimate cause for panic, of course; no, it was panic because today is going to be a mad rush before flying out to Italy pre-sunrise tomorrow. My parents live over there, you see, so while I have the advantage of very cheap holidays on a hillside overlooking the Med with Portovenere in the distance and hot sun and great food and beautiful scenery and fellow bloggers turning green with envy, I have the disadvantage of midnight emails asking me to buy various bits and pieces they can’t get over there.
It’s fair to say my mind is on other things, so let’s stop the holiday talk for a moment and knuckle down…
This was a straight-down-the-middle sort of puzzle for me – no fireworks but hardly anything to grumble about; in fact there is an unexpected and very commendable high point at 12a. My enjoyment rating of three stars is only because I didn’t have an affinity with the theme, but I’m sure many of you will have taken greater pleasure in it.
Favourite clues are, as ever, in blue.
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 26204
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
The absence of Clued Up this morning meant that I had to go out to get a paper and type in the clues (so apologies for any transcription errors). It also means that I’ve been unable to verify my answers, so you may find that I’ve got the whole thing totally wrong!
I thought that today’s Giovanni was a strange mixture of very simple clues (especially 23d) and some answers (13a, 14d and 18d) that I’d never heard of. The four 3-letter clues in the middle all have fully-checked letters so that it’s possible to get an answer without looking at the clue at all!
Your comments are as always very welcome, and may I take the opportunity to wish all our readers a very enjoyable holiday weekend.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26199
A full analysis by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
One of the most difficult aspects of any cryptic crossword is the definition. Often the setter’s idea of a synonym is somewhat different from yours. See what you think about 4a, 24a, 5d and 17d – with better definitions this would probably be 4* rather than 3*.
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Toughie No 329 by Elgar
The F Word!
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
A pinch and a punch it’s the first of the month and an entertaining puzzle by Elgar which has a definite eye on the calendar. Compared to some we have seen recently, this is a true Toughie that should delight the connoisseur and really stretch the newer solvers.
Elgar has worked so hard to ensure that all the across clues and several down clues all contain the F Word, and each one refers to a different word that means the F Word; a quite breath-taking feat. I would recommend having Mrs Bradford and her marvellous book at your side, if you still plan to tackle this and haven’t done so.
As usual the clue answers are hidden between the curly brackets for you to highlight with your mouse, if you wish to see them. We welcome your comments after the blog and you can rate the puzzle with our star system.
Masochists needing a further fix of today’s setter can find one just for today at this web link: –
http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/puzzles/crosswords/cryptic/
As an extra bit of help today, here are the words for fool used in the puzzle, but not in any particular order!
ASS, CLOT, DOPE, GIT, GOWK, NERD, OAF, PRAT, SAP, TWIT
Off we go!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26203
Hints and tips by Libellule
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
An easier crossword than yesterday in my opinion. with generally good surface readings. However there is a real mixture of clue quality, the worst for me being 23d or 13a, whilst the extra star (two stars has been usual for a while) for enjoyment is for 1a.
If you highlight the space between the curly bracket, you will reveal the answer. Please leave a comment, and I hope the CC enjoy this one.
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Toughie No 328 by MynoT
Weights and Measures
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment **
I can’t pretend that I enjoyed this puzzle very much. In fact it was a bit of a slog with a fair few obscure words and not many laughs. You may, of course, disagree – we’d love to get a comment with your views.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26202
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
The usual great stuff from Jay – and I don’t want to hear any excuses from the Clueless Club today.
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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Toughie No 327 by Warbler
Birds of a Feather
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
I always look forward to Warbler’s puzzles, but felt that this one was not as good as the previous one. We know that she can set harder puzzles as she was responsible for last Sunday’s Enigmatic Variations No 908.
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 26201
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
I expect that this Ray T puzzle will divide opinion (as they usually do). I enjoyed it but it did (as they usually do) necessitate regular use of Chambers. Your comments, as always, are very welcome.
If you’re new to the site and wondering where the answers are, they’re hidden so that you don’t see them accidentally. Select the white space between the brackets under a clue to reveal the answer.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26200
Hints and tips by Rishi
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
[This will be the last review from Rishi for a while as he is taking a break due to family and business commitments. I would like to thank him for the enlightenment he has brought to crossword solving over the last few months, and hope that he will be able to return later in the year. Libellule will be in this spot from next Monday. BD]
An easy outing! Actually I solved this crossword while travelling in a public transport known as autorikshaw on public thoroughfares here in Madras that is Chennai, India, to fulfil a private engagement in a different part of the city away from my home.
I especially liked 19a, 3d, 16d and 22d for their excellent surface reading. I also liked 1a, 11a, 17a, 19a, 31a, 2d and 6d for their smoothness.
Some like 25a, 29a and 21d and 25d, we have met before many times if we are veteran solvers.
The answer tucked away under each clue will show up if you highlight the white space between the curly brackets.
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