Telegraph – Page 959 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

DT 26308

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26308

Hints and tips by Libellule

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

Another gentle Rufus style crossword to start the week. Not too difficult, but as usual it has some excellent clues with 7d and 26d being particular favourites.

If you need to see the answer just highlight the space in the curly brackets.

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ST 2547 (Hints)

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2547 (Hints)

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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It may have been me, but I found this a little more difficult than usual!  Perhaps it was because I was watching the Hungarian Grand Prix at the same time.

Don’t forget that you can give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.

Peter Biddlecombe’s full review of this puzzle will be published at 12.00 on Friday, 6th August.

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DT 26307 (Hints)

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26307- Hints

Big Dave’s Saturday Crossword Club

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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them.

Don’t forget that you can give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.

A full review of this puzzle will be published on Thursday, 5th August.

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Toughie 398

Toughie No 398 by Osmosis

C’mon Everybody!

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BD Rating – Difficulty **** Enjoyment ****

Greetings from Calderdale Hospital once more, my second home. I was rushed here yesterday following advice from NHS Direct the previous evening that nothing was wrong and to take two Paracetamol and go to bed.

I logged in at midnight to tackle today’s challenge and found it quite stern and well up to the usual Osmosis standard. Luckily I finished his recent Independent challenge only the other day and was able to lock in to the tight standard of cluemanship with beautifully concealed definitions. I still found it a good workout.

As usual the answers are concealed between the squiggly brackets and you can highlight them with your mouse if you get stuck. Feel free to comment after the blog and of course you can rate the puzzle with the star system. Clues I really liked are highlighted in blue.

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ST 2546

Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 2546

A full analysis by Peter Biddlecombe

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** Enjoyment ****

Apologies for the slow report – it’s been a busy week. This was a fairly easy puzzle, with clues of the usual high standard.

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DT 26306

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26306

Hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ***

We have a fairly straightforward challenge from Giovanni today (what I would call a bread-and-butter puzzle rather than a firecracker). Let us know what you thought in a comment.
As always the answers are concealed between the brackets under the clues – highlight the space between the brackets to make one visible.

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Toughie 397

Toughie No 397 by Warbler

Hints and tips by Bufo

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment ***

Big Dave reckoned that this would be a gentle solve and so it proved. It was a pleasant enough puzzle but far from Toughie standard. There were some answers (10 Ac, 1 Dn, 3 Dn) where I was not familiar with the meanings used, but they were obvious enough from the wordplay.

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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DT 26301

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26301

A full review by Gnomethang

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Afternoon All!. We have an archetypal Cephas puzzle with no really difficulties but one possible bone of contention at 24d. Personally I enjoyed it, hence the 3 stars.
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DT 26305

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26305

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** Enjoyment **

A mundane puzzle from our mystery setter(s).  I can’t see anyone owning up to this one.  Nothing really wrong with it, just lacking lustre.

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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Toughie 396

Toughie No 396 by Shamus

A Surfeit of Scribbling

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BD Rating – Difficulty ***Enjoyment ****

Not for the first time I find myself reviewing a Shamus puzzle two days in a row. As Toughies go this is not one of the hardest and I enjoyed solving it a lot though I found the right-hand side quite a bit easier than the left.
Let us know what you thought in a comment, and please remember to grade the puzzle by clicking on one of the stars at the bottom.

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