Toughie No 315 by Campbell
Games People Play
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
A much better puzzle from Campbell today, this one took me nearly twice as long as the last two or three. Not yet a difficult Toughie, but definitely a step in the right direction.
Regulars will have noticed that yesterday the view count went hrough the 1,000,000 barrier – not bad in just 13½ months! Many thanks to all of you for your continuing support.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26183
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
A fairly straightforward puzzle from Shamus today, but one with which I have a couple of niggles. Firstly, I don’t think that the cryptic definitions (12a, 19a and 24a) are really that good, and, secondly, “sign” is used in two clues to mean a letter (in 3d it’s used for “first letter”). I can’t really see how “sign of worse” (3d) can be stretched to mean W. Of course you may have a different view – all comments are welcome.
As always the answers are hidden so that you don’t see them by accident. Drag your cursor between the curly brackets under a clue to reveal the relevant answer.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26182
Hints and tips by Rishi
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
In this neat and gentle crossword by our Monday Maestro I first secured bottom left corner and then bottom right. The very last to go in were 9a, 10a, 3d and 7d. For excellent surface reading I like 31a and 20a. If there is a clue that I don’t like it’s 10a. Please see comment at appropriate place below.
If you are wondering where my answers are, please highlight the white space within the curly brackets under any clue.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2525
A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
At first glance, not a very remarkable puzzle. But there are top-class surface readings throughout – a side of cryptic clues that sometimes gets ignored. Not by this setter, and after a few goes at puzzle writing myself lately, I know how difficult this is.
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Toughie No 314 by Elgar
This is what Fridays are for
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
The last time I reviewed an Elgar puzzle it was a “blind” solve; had no idea who had set it. This time I was forewarned so was on the lookout for his trademark trickery which, naturally, shines through in this mega-tough but highly entertaining (occasionally very naughty) puzzle. 4d, 5d and 12d are sure to raise both giggles among the knowing and temperatures among the sweet and innocent, but it’s all good fun.
It was a tricky solve in most areas, but the SE corner put up most resistance, and (as always seems to be the case with me) a number of answers went in without parsing the wordplay, so I’m hoping those pennies will drop as I write.
Favourite clues are in blue although, because there were a lot of them, I’ll try to narrow it down to my top half dozen or so.
Please do 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 26180
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
As I’ve said before, Fridays and Sundays are my favourite Cryptic days. Even the inconvenience of a power cut when I was trying to key my answers into Clued Up didn’t dampen my enjoyment of this one. I know that some people find Giovanni’s puzzles difficult, but it really is worth persevering.
All comments are appreciated – the bloggers do read and take note of all the comments on their reviews, even if many do not require a specific response.
As usual the answer to each clue is concealed between the curly bracket under the clue. Just drag your cursor through the white space between the brackets to reveal it.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26175
A full analysis by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
Just when you thought it was safe to sit down and enjoy a Saturday Prize puzzle, along comes another one that you can finish while your egg is still boiling. Although I have issues with a few of the clues, this is not a bad puzzle – it’s just that I was disappointed after the improvements we have seen in recent Saturdays.
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Toughie No 313 by Firefly
Swimming in Treacle
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment **
This took a long time to solve, but there was little pleasure to be derived from the puzzle itself or the Nina. Usually when I struggle to finish a puzzle, I get that “wow” moment with a number of the clues, but not today.
The preamble promised much but by the time I had realised what it meant all of the answers had been filled in. If you are still puzzled the double unches are sort of (but not fully) symmetrical. Around the outside you have UT then KE and finally EA.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26179
Hints and tips by Libellule
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
I don’t expect much use of my hints today as this is certainly the easiest crossword of the week by far.
One of the stars for enjoyment is for 17a. One of the stars not given for enjoyment belongs to 16d.
If you disagree of agree with some of my thoughts, please leave a comment.
As usual if you wish to see the answer rather than the hint, all you have to do is highlight the space between the curly brackets.
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Toughie No 312 by Kcit
Deciphering the Enigma
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
I was progressing steadily through this puzzle, but at the last hurdle was held up for some time by 29a, a reminder to me of how important it is to read every word of the clue carefully, and the reason I’ve given it four stars for difficulty rather than three. Apart from that I thought that it was a fairly average, typical Toughie.
As always we’d love to get your views – please leave a comment!
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