Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31020
Hints and tips by Smylers
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Hello and welcome to autumn — or spring, depending on your hemisphere. Thank you to Falcon for covering for me last week when we were on holiday. And Happy Labour Day today to Falcon and everybody else in Canada — or indeed Bonne Fête du Travail, depending on where in Canada. And the same but without the ‘u’ for those in America.
We had a lovely week in Wells-next-the-Sea, on the north Norfolk coast. It’s the 8th time we’ve stayed there in 11 years, always in the same home. The familiarity makes it easy, I naïvely commented to a colleague. That was before we discovered our favourite animal park at Norfolk Lavender has closed; that our hosts no longer have a beach hut (which we’d enjoyed using on previous visits); and that on a day we’d turned up at the beach, the sea was closed — that’ll teach us not to be complacent and to plan and research properly next time!
Anyway on to today’s crossword. Hints and explanations for each clue are below, and you can use a Congratulations! You are today’s lucky clicker! blob to reveal the answer. Comments are welcome, especially from anybody new — don’t make me misidentify an antelope every time just to provoke newcomers to leave a message! Do read Big Dave’s etiquette guide.
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Sunday Toughie No 188
by proXimal
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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proXimal returns with what I found quite tricky, but maybe I was distracted by the tribute to Van Morrison on the BBC last night. It finished at about 01:30 this morning, and it was a close-run thing to parse some before the end.
14a and 16d clues today, and I have hinted at half. I am not too 22a that there are quite a few clues in the SW that remain unhinted, but I hope you find the checkers to fill the grid. A bonus nudge may be available if you ask.
Here we go, Folks…
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3332 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg on this last day of Meteorological Summer. Personally, I am old fashioned so ‘my’ Summer will end Astronomically on the Autumnal Equinox in 22 days time.
For me, and I stress for me,© Dada still friendly, with a grid that is slightly more ‘wonky’ than the one from two weeks ago, with 3 non-anagram long ‘uns, 6 anagrams (5 partials), 2 lurkers (one reversed), and 1 homophone all in 29 clues in a very asymmetric grid; with 15 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, you should be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. And, remember, my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31019 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by crypticsue)
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Toughie No 3540 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ***
Thanks to Sparks for an enjoyable puzzle which isn’t too tough (for a Friday). I’ve given it an extra half-star for difficulty because I needed to verify the 1a accidents, the 9a dietary problem and the 5d mythical beast none of which I’d heard of. I can’t find any Nina today – can you?
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31013
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 23rd August 2025
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A nice, super Saturday puzzle from NYDK that I enjoyed solving and thereafter writing a review of the same for your kind perusal and significant feedback. Continue reading “DT 31013 (Full Review)”
Toughie No 3539 by Hudson
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Those fearing a triple-threat Thursday after Tuesday and Wednesday need fear no longer.… Continue reading
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31017
Hints and tips by Shabbo
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
RayT is being gentle with us today, or maybe I was fully attuned to his wavelength this fine morning. We are treated to his usual brevity at 5.2 words/clue and it is reassuring to know that he has an ecological conscience when compiling – see 7d. My favourite clues are 24a, 6d, 7d and 23d. Which ones did you like?
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.
Many thanks to Ray and to the DT Crossword Team.
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EV1708
Two Domains by Kcit
Solution
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