Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31100
Hints and Tips by Senf
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
A very good Wednesday morning from wherever I am. Oh, I remember, I am back in Winnipeg after my flying visit to Somerset which went something like this – flight delays; horrendous traffic on the M25 trying to escape from Heathrow at 3:00pm on a Friday afternoon; no access to hotel until quite late because of a Christmas Market; a beautiful wedding; meeting my two year old great-great-niece for the first time; an attempted murder; getting back to Heathrow much easier than getting away from it; more flight delays; arriving home at zero dark thirty yesterday morning.
For me, etc© (I have to say that for Terence), a very enjoyable puzzle which was just right for me as I might be suffering from jet lag and that will be the reason if you find any errors. We seem to be alternating between two setters on a Wednesday. I have a 28a left over from my visit to Somerset that is telling me that this is a Twmbarlwm production.
Continue reading “DT 31100”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3344
A full review by Rahmat Ali
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
This puzzle was published on 23rd November 2025
BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A truly tough yet entertaining puzzle from Dada this Sunday that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a full review of the same for your kind perusal and valuable feedback. Continue reading “ST 3344 (Full Review)”
Toughie No 3593 by Donnybrook
Hints and tips by Whybird
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Welcome to the Toughie week!
Donnybrook has given us something of a challenge today. I found this to be much trickier than usual, and needed quite a bit more applied brain-power than I am accustomed to engaging before the morning tea has kicked in. It certainly wasn’t helped by having 1a as a “part two” of a later clue, which, perhaps irrationally, rather set the tone for a bit of a struggle. However, all of the clues are clear and fair, even if some are a little more left-field than others. I’m giving rosettes to 9a (for the holiday memories), 11a and 22a (for the surfaces) and 3d (for elegant simplicity). Thanks to Donnybrook for blasting away the mental cobwebs.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
Continue reading “Toughie 3593”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31099
Hints and tips by Huntsman
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty */** Enjoyment ***
After a thoroughly miserable day yesterday the sun is shining here in Harpenden so I might actually walk up to Harpenden golf club for a lunch with a friend without fear of getting soaked.
I assume today’s enjoyable puzzle is an Anthony Plumb production though some of the clues were wordier than is the norm for him. I found it reasonably straightforward & a brisk grid fill so wouldn’t expect it to present much difficulty to most solvers.
As ever there are an assortment of tunes/clips to accompany the (hopefully correct for a change) wordplay analysis.
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.
Continue reading “DT 31099”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31098
Hints and tips by Smylers
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ★ – Enjoyment ★★★★
Hello from Ilkley, where we were delighted to discover the place we’d booked for a meal to celebrate the children’s performances in The Nutcracker has been crowned crowned the best restaurant in England.
Hints and explanations for today’s Telegraph Crossword are below. Everything on this site is provided free of charge by enthusiasts of cryptic crosswords who wish to share this pastime with others, and we don’t expect anything in return. But if you do wish to express your appreciation for Big Dave’s Crossword Blog, maybe you could make a donation to the MND Association, as part of the newspaper’s Christmas charity appeal for this year?
Crossword Editor Chris Lancaster has written movingly of life since his unexpected diagnosis with motor neurone disease just 2 years ago, and how the MND Association have helped him — so this is a cause close to those of us on this site. Click on the donation link above and you can choose for your support to go specifically to the MND Association or to be split between all of this year’s charities. Or if you prefer to do these kinds of things by telephone, there’s a number at the bottom of the article.
Continue reading “DT 31098”
Sunday Toughie No 201
by Light
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
A Light(ish) Toughie from Light, that took longer to blog than solve. A slightly uneven 14a and 16d clues today, and I have hinted at half. I hope you find the checkers to solve this fine puzzle. I will try and give a nudge or two if I can, but I am off to see Mumford & Sons tonight, so responses may be a bit late.
The featured image of the Matt Cartoon wouldn’t post where it belonged (as a hint to 1a) so I have left it there.
Mama Bee is nagging to go out for coffee so I will schedule this and talk to you later…
Here we go, Folks…
Continue reading “Sunday Toughie 201 (Hints)”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3345 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Wincanton in Somerset. I am here for the wedding of one of my four nieces, the last of the four to ‘tie the knot.’ Wincanton used to be an important stop on the coaching route from London to Plymouth and there were a number of Coaching Inns in the town, some of which are still in existence as pubs and hotels. One of them, now an art gallery, has an ‘unofficial’ blue plaque on the exterior wall stating that Queen Victoria stayed there, in 1825, as a six year old Princess.
My ‘in flight’ reading for my Eastbound flights, courtesy of the Winnipeg Library – the fourth novel in the Marlow Murder Club series.
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada quite friendly, with three long ‘uns, five anagrams (two partial), two lurkers, and one homophone in a very asymmetric 29 clues; with 15 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid you should/might be able to get some of the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues.
If it is some time since you read, or if you have never read the instructions in RED below the hints then please consider doing so before commenting today as my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Continue reading “ST 3345 (Hints)”
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31097 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by Gazza)
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
We have a special Prize Puzzle today which is a superb tribute to the Telegraph’s Puzzles Editor with all the across answers contributing. Chris Lancaster himself has also written a very moving account of living with the horrible disease that he’s suffering from (MND) – you can read that by following the link contained in this post: https://bigdave44.com/2025/11/29/chris-lancaster/
Continue reading “DT 31097 (Hints)”
Toughie No 3592 by Elgar
Hints and tips by Gazza
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
Elgar is a smidgen trickier than he was two weeks ago but there are a host of cracking clues here and I enjoyed the challenge. When writing the hints I did notice the large number of reversals.
Continue reading “Toughie 3592”
