Comments on: Toughie 249

By: gazza

gazza — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:22:18 +0000

castorfool
If you equate spot with little (e.g. as in “a spot of lunch”) and you then reverse both parts of the answer, as indicated by contrariwise, then spot becomes lot and less becomes more.

By: nanaglugglug

nanaglugglug — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:14:16 +0000

Quite enjoyed this, maybe because I could actually complete it without too much help

By: castorfool

castorfool — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:11:38 +0000

14a) still not sure about!
As an early (unchecked) answer I thought that DUSTLESS was a very good answer.

Cheers all…

By: Big Boab

Big Boab — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:32:53 +0000

I did not enjoy this either, in fact both this and the cryptic were very disappointing, I agree with Prolixic, none of the clues merited a special mention. ( I stress that this is only my personal opinion lest I again get taken to task) I know that Excalibur will set us a much more enjoyable crossword in the future as I’m a great fan normally.

By: tilsit

tilsit — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:16:22 +0000

Again better than recent offerings from this setter. Really don’t like the clue device at 26a, and it seems that Excalibur doesn’t like grids that allow you to have first letters of answers.

By: Prolixic

Prolixic — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 12:38:53 +0000

This was not an overly difficult crossword and there was a lot more variety in the cluing than the previous Excalibur. Today’s puzzle reminded me a lot of her former Sunday Telegraph puzzles. No one clue stood out as a favourite.

By: Libellule

Libellule — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:48:15 +0000

Gazza,
Not overly complicated, and a bit sloppy in parts, but when I did this I wasn’t sure who the setter was. Which has to mean (from my perspective) a huge improvement in the quality of the crossword.

By: jezza

jezza — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 11:41:05 +0000

This seemed to me like a slightly more tricky cryptic… similar to yesterday’s offering, and not overly Tough!