Jane’s friend Jacquie has added two new updates to the ST 3357 blog, not very good news. As ST 3357 is now quite ‘old’ I have created this ‘sticky’ post and copied the content of the new updates here. I will write to Jacquie and politely ask her to use this thread.… Continue reading
Welcome
Welcome to Big Dave’s Crossword Blog
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You have reached the world’s biggest and best crossword blog. If you are looking for help with the Daily and Sunday Telegraph cryptic crosswords or the Enigmatic Variations advanced cryptic, a total of 13 puzzles a week, then you have come to the right place.
If this is your first time, or for more information about this site, please click on Continue reading “Welcome”
Toughie 3652
Toughie No 3652 by Karla
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Karla has upped the difficulty level a bit since his last Toughie but this is still pretty accessible and it’s very enjoyable. Many thanks to him.
Continue reading “Toughie 3652”
EV 1736 (Solution)
DT 31186
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31186
Hints and tips by Mr K
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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Friday. I couldn’t see today’s Quickie Pun. Not sure if that’s because I’m American or because I’m tired, but I hope somebody from the commentariat will help out there. Continue reading "DT 31186"
DT 31181 (Full Review)
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31181
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 7th March 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. A nice, lovely 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 31181 (Full Review)”
Toughie 3651
Toughie No 3651 by Donnybrook
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
A Donnybrook with no linked clues? What’s the world coming to?! Nicely playful with a vaguely classical bent and great fun as always. All yours.
DT 31185
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31185
Hints and Tips by Senf
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****/*****
A very good Thursday morning from Winnipeg where, yesterday, I had the annual ‘delight’ of bending over and taking it like a man for my urologist. Still it was worth it; ‘Keep Calm And Carry On’ for another year!
For me, etc© (I have to say that for Terence), not half of a Dream Team Thursday, Mr Bringloe in the guise of Donnybrook is on Toughie duty, but no doubt that it is the work of the Master of Brevity. The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and appearances from the Queen and his swEetheart appearing in the back pager with an average of 5.25 words per clue. Also, like Dada, Ray T seems to be making occasional use of a personal thesaurus. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
Big Dave’s Stats for March 2-8, 2026
In a comment on today’s Cryptic Crossword, Daisygirl inquires about the number of hits on the site and I thought it would be interesting to delve into this a bit. While there is a Statistics page on this site (under the About tab), it has not been updated since 2021.… Continue reading
Toughie 3650
Toughie No 3650 by Weatherman
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Even allowing for the two words most of us have probably never heard of (both fairly clued), I thought this was just right for a Wednesday Toughie. All I’ve got to do now is get rid of the ear worm!
DT 31184
Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31184
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the midweek back-pager blog. I found today’s puzzle suitably challenging for a Wednesday workout: there were a couple of (for me) obscure words that held me up, pushing me just into 3* time. I found it very hard to pick a favourite clue, as there was so much to enjoy and admire, with some great misdirection and several amusing cryptic definitions. I especially liked 10a, 14a, 3d, 7d and 9d, but today’s winner for me is 16d for its excellent surface reading and because it taught me a new word. Many thanks to today’s setter.