Toughie No 3600 by Elgar
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
Elgar provides his usual mixture of a few gimmes and quite a lot of head-scratchers. I enjoyed battling through it. Thanks to him.
The clue which gave me most problems was 4d and I’m not totally convinced that I understand the ‘shepherd’ bit so do shout out if you have a better idea than mine. [Deansleigh61 has come to the rescue with the correct parsing – see his comment] Continue reading “Toughie 3600”
Toughie No 3599 by Beam
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
As ever with Beam, this isn’t too tricky – as long as your phaser is set to synonym. Some are perhaps slightly more left-field than usual but nowt too alarming. Great fun to be had, with only a little thesaurus-thumbing. And not just one sweetheart today, but two, possibly to make up for the Queen’s absence! All yours.
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EV1723
Order, Order by Kcit
Solution
Continue reading “EV 1723 (Solution)”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31107
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
Another lovely Thursday back-pager to keep us out of mischief today. Quite tricky in parts, but a most enjoyable solve. Smooth surfaces throughout and it’s definitely not RayT, so I will leave you, dear reader, to suggest a possible setter. So many lovely clues, from which I will pick 13a, 15a, 21a, 6d, 18d and 20d as my favourites. Which ones did you like?
Many thanks to our setter and to the DT Crossword Team.
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Toughie No 3598 by Hudson
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
We have a fairly light but very entertaining puzzle from Hudson with many well-disguised definitions. Thanks to him.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31106
Hints and Tips by Senf
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
A very good Wednesday morning from Winnipeg. Are you confused that I am back only a week after my last Wednesday blog, so am I. Not really, it is all in the interests of juggling assignments, Gazza is on Toughie duty, while Crypticsue is still hors de combat and I will be here next Wednesday as well. And, we wish Crypticsue well for her continuing recovery.
On the strength of a comment made by Daisygirl on Sunday, I have requested a copy of The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley from the Winnipeg Library. She, DG that is, didn’t say if she enjoyed it, I will let you know if I did.
For me, etc© (I have to say that for Terence), a very enjoyable puzzle. If my thoughts last week about alternating between two setters on a Wednesday are correct I would say that this is probably a Hudson production but he is on Toughie duty and he won’t always be doing double duty, will he? So, my Half Crowns, Toonies, and Loonies are staying at the back of my sock drawer. Thank you setter for an enjoyable solve and blog.
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3345
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 30th November 2025
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A straightforward and gentle puzzle from Dada this Sunday that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a full review of his puzzle for your kind perusal and valuable feedback. Continue reading “ST 3345 (Full Review)”
Toughie No 3597 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *****
Well, what a treat Dada has handed us today to brighten a damp, grey, uninspiring UK morning! It is pretty mwah on the Wirral anyway, although thankfully we’ve been spared any excessive winds – so far. Apart from my initial horror at seeing all those unchecked initial letters when first looking at the grid, this was a pleasure from start to finish. The wordplay is wonderful, the clues concise and full of subtle mis-directions, although nothing too drastic; and a difficulty level just enough to get the brain cells working, but not over-heating. I’ve added an extra star for difficulty given the length of time it took me to sort out 6d, before leafing through the options in Dr Roget’s magnum opus made me see the light.
I have smiley faces all over my paper this morning – this was definitely a crossword that pressed all the right buttons for me. I love the wordplay in 6a, 18a, 5d, 17d and 22d; the surfaces in 2d and 23d; and the clever connection between 10a and 11a. However, I’ve decided to give today’s gold star to 18d.
Thank you, Dada, for an absolute delight!
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31105
Hints and tips by Huntsman
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment ***
It’s looking like another thoroughly wet & miserable day in these & many other parts so a good job we’ve puzzles to entertain us.
Even by Typically Tuesday(ish) standards I’d rank today’s production on the gentle side. Perhaps it was a happy case of tuning in but it’s not often virtually all of the answers yield on the first read through – not I hasten to add that means there won’t be an error somewhere in the review. I assume Anthony Plumb is the setter & it was an enjoyable solve for the short time it lasted. After 2 days of crumpet scratching to no avail I was thankful for a Quickie pun even I could figure out.
As ever there are an assortment of tunes + a pic at 22a that some will understand the relevance of.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.
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