Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26164
Hints and tips by Rishi
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
None-too-difficult crossword.
Of the clues that may hold you for a while are 9a, 18a and 21a and 3d, 4d and 23d. Did I say ‘hold you for a while’? Sorry, I should have said they were the latter ones that I solved. For, the experience of each solver differs according to his/her interests and I daresay RU fans would have got 4d quicker than I did. Do tell us in the Comments section whether the final answers of yours were different from those mentioned above.
If newcomers wonder where the answers are, they are within the curly brackets underneath the respective clue. Highlight the white space within to behold the answers, whether you say Lo or not.
You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2522
A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** –Enjoyment ****
A puzzle of about average difficulty for me. I think part of the difficulty is created by longish definitions – there are only 5 single-word ones in this puzzle, compared 11 in the considerably easier Saturday puzzle.
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Toughie No 302 by Elgar
Yes, but why?
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment **
With most crosswords – especially those of the harder variety – you can expect to fill in one or two answers without fully understanding the wordplay. For me this must have been some kind of record; certainly one of the quicker fills I’ve done, but with around half a dozen clues I couldn’t unravel. Until I went back in for a closer look, 10a, 26a, 2d, 3d, 11d, 19d and 23d had me flummoxed and there were a couple I wasn’t absolutely sure I’d got right until I saw the solution grid.
Big Dave came to the rescue with the explanations for some – I’m amazed that he worked them out because some of the clueing liberties taken are close to outrageous. I can’t use that as a reason to mark down the enjoyment; in all honesty my Telegraph solving career is still in its infancy and not all of its wiles are fully ingrained yet. But I didn’t find the clues particularly convincing and some of their surfaces felt almost random.
So, a pretty tough one I think. I’ve shown my favourite clues in blue – let me know which ones floated your barge, or indeed which ones sank your kayak.
You can also add your assessment of the puzzle by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26162
A Year of Living Dangerously
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Libellule’s comment yesterday, about it being near the anniversary of his first review, prompted me to check through the archives to find my first, and, surprise, it was done on 12/02/2009. So I have been doing these reviews for a year, during which time I must have written about 140 – I’ve certainly learnt a lot and derived a good deal of enjoyment from doing them.
Today’s puzzle from Giovanni is full of cultural references, ranging from grand opera to nursery rhymes, via music hall and children’s comics. I enjoyed it – how about you? Leave us a comment.
As usual, the answer to each clue is hidden between the curly brackets under it. Just drag your cursor through the white space between the brackets to reveal it.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26157
A full analysis by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
My first thought was that this was one of the better Saturday puzzles, but on closer analysis I found it a bit dull. Perhaps solving it on the journey home from the White Horse jolly had something to do with it!
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Toughie No 301 by Warbler
Almost perfect!
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Tilsit was rushed into hospital by ambulance, with the blues and twos working overtime. He’s back home now, but not yet fit enough to file his review.
I know it’s a bit late but I have put something together. As I mentioned in the comments, for me this was so very nearly a five-star puzzle – a handful of weaker clues held me back from that accolade. It was very nice to be able to welcome Warbler herself to the blog – one of only two women currently on the Telegraph panel of cryptic setters (and I’m sure we all know who the other one is, so I won’t be holding my breath for an appearance!).
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26161
Hints and tips by Libellule
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Some of you will love this, for example on CluedUp at the moment it is showing 5 stars and 5 smiles, but I thought at times it was a bit clumsy. We have some weird surface readings at times, the abbreviation for son turns up three times, the cryptic definitions are only barely cryptic, and the use of final or first letters in clues is spread throughout the crossword.
If you want to see the answers all you have to do us highlight the space between the curly brackets. If you have an opinion on this crossword, please share it with us.
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Toughie No 300 by Excalibur
Not a Load of Laughs
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
There’s not a lot of variety in today’s puzzle with a lot of clues being container types, where you have to put x (or an anagram of it) inside y (or an anagram of it). Actually with this setter they’re mostly expressed backwards, as “y, x included”. I didn’t really enjoy it that much, though there were a few nice clues.
Let us know what you thought of it via a comment, and please don’t forget to vote by clicking on one of the stars at the bottom of the review.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26160
Container, contents and charades
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
Tilsit is back at the hospital this morning, but this time as the courier not the patient. On hearing this Prolixic made an offer that was difficult for me to refuse – and one that by now he might be regretting – and has written today’s blog. BD
Today’s crossword is brought to you courtesy of the letter C. Most of the clues are charades (add two words together) or container and content clues (put one word inside another) with very little other variety in the clues. Those looking for lots of full blown anagrams will be disappointed. This lack of variety reduced the enjoyment of the puzzle for me.
Although there is a lot of repetition, our Wednesday Wizard is, as ever, fair in his cluing and there are some nice surface readings.
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Toughie No 299 by Notabilis
Circuits and Bumps
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
Once again an excellent puzzle from Notabilis (who was one of those present last Saturday). This one took quite a while to unravel, but as ever the clues are honest and fair.
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. The answers can be revealed by selecting the space between the curly brackets.
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