Toughie No 271 by Myops
So this is what an obstacle course feels like
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
Yes, I’m giving this five stars for a difficulty that comes partly from very clever and oblique wordplay and partly from some devilish obscurities that should have even experienced solvers ransacking their dictionaries. I’ve given four stars for enjoyment mainly because I appreciate a tough challenge, but I suspect there will be a few who found the whole thing a bit much even for a Friday.
Some of the clue-writing here is just awesome; while there may be no laugh-out-loud clues by way of surface readings, there are some epically imaginative constructions spiced with a great deal of originality.
This is a puzzle which on occasion pushes the boundaries and, for me, there are a handful of clues whose fairness is debatable.
So in addition to the usual blue for favourite clues I’ve used red to indicate those where I thought the solver was being tested a bit unfairly.
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 26115
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Another Friday and another treat from Giovanni – how does he manage to produce the goods time after time?
For new readers – if you actually need to see an answer they are hidden inside the curly brackets under each clue, to prevent your seeing them accidentally. Just highlight the white space inside the brackets to reveal the answer.
We love getting your comments, so please keep them coming.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26110
A full analysis by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
One of the better Saturday puzzles, but still among the easiest of the week. As has been the case for several previous weeks, this one is pangrammatic – that means it contains all 26 letters of the alphabet.
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Toughie No 270 by Messinae
It’s Four In The Morning and….
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Yes, it’s four a.m. and have just realised I have a day of messy hospital appointments ahead of me (Curse that perpetual calendar I bought from a man with a nice line in pattter!), so I’d better get today’s Toughie sorted out. I quite liked this puzzle and it contained a fair challenge with a few good clues, though I felt the four-letter answers were rather weak double definitions. There is also a serious spelling mistake in the last across clue.
Let me know your thoughts, and don’t forget to rate the puzzle with the star system at the end of the blog.
Assuming the doctor remembers into which end of me to insert his probe, I shall be back later with the review of last Saturday’s puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26114
Hints and tips by Libellule
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
A bit trickier today than last weeks.. how many of you put the wrong answer in for 1a? I only knew I had made a mistake when I was entering the crossword on CluedUp. On another note how many of you thought 21a was a good clue or a bad clue?
The answers as usual can be found hidden between the curly brackets. Comments appreciated.
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Toughie No 269 by Warbler
.. and Montmorency came too
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
Warbler, probably more than any other Toughie setter, produces puzzles which can range from rather tough to relatively gentle. This is one of the latter and I can’t say that I enjoyed it all that much. I’m not over fond of anagrams at the best of times, and to have eleven in one puzzle seems excessive. Also, some of the surface readings seem forced (especially 8d) and at 25a we have one of those clues where you can’t tell which part is the definition and which the wordplay until you have a checking letter.
Do you agree or do you think it’s great? In either case let us know with a comment!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26113
How do you like your curate’s eggs in a morning?
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
Greetings from the Calder Valley. A curate’s egg of a puzzle today, nice in parts but in others… One or two clever clues, but a couple of the definitions were of the “hits the target but not the bullseye” sort; 17 down. for example. My other grumble is the use of almost similar words in 2d and 9 across. This is just laziness by the setter and could fairly easily have been altered.
Feel free to have your say after the blog, and mark the puzzle using the star system. New posters are always welcomed, but you may have to wait a little for your first post to appear as it has to be moderated, to ensure no silly spammers get through peddling their rubbish.
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Toughie No 268 by Elgar
A trip down memory lane
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
A quick look at the CluedUp leaderboard this morning showed that only a handful of people had finished this puzzle, so I immediately had an idea as to the setter! Today’s answers include references to the fifties, sixties and seventies – making it a bit hard for the youngsters among you, but bringing smiles to the faces of the rest of us.
A lot of favourite clues today, the best of which I have highlighted in blue.
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 26112
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
If the recent Tuesday pattern is being maintained then this will be a Shamus puzzle, although I’ve no means of verifying that. We have a reasonable challenge today (though the number of place names may annoy some people), but I have a couple of quibbles.
Please leave a comment with your views or queries – let’s see if we can get a lively debate going!
As usual the answers are hidden inside the curly brackets. Just highlight the white space inside the brackets to reveal.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26111
Hints and tips by Rishi
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
An enjoyable outing on Monday morning.
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