Toughie 2854

23 comments on “Toughie 2854”

1. Gentle stuff, especially once settled into the rhythm of taking letters off or replacing them. I liked 22a and also 17d once the penny dropped. Thanks to Django and CS.

2. Good fun but not too much of a stretch – thanks to Django and CS.
   My ticks went to 17a, 3d and 23d with my favourite being the novel 17d.

3. As seems to be the norm for this setter, there is very little (off-)white space in the clue columns, but he has mastered the art of providing smooth surfaces despite the wordiness of the clues which is fine by me.

   I thought at first that 19d was an indirect anagram with reviewing as an anagram indicator. It was only after I had written it in that I spotted it was also a reversal with reviewing as a reversal indicator.

   As a cricketing fanatic, my first thought on seeing One Day International was ODI, to the point that I even checked if “todiest” was a real word until the penny dropped. Very cunning disguise, Django!

   With a lot of inventive clueing on show, the top prize has to go to 17d.

   Many thanks to Django and to CS.

4. I found the bottom half quite tricky [3* say] but all of it was a joy to solve. Must admit I failed to parse 17d altho it seems so obvious in retrospect and I had fiddled with F, F,T,T one – without much conviction! So that’s a cotd along with the magnificent 11a.
   Thanks to Django and to CS for the blog.

5. Amazing stuff, never have seen anything quite like it, certainly not 17d, clearly my COTD. My biggest problem lay not in the unpacking of the definitions but just plowing through the sometimes wordy, overwritten clues, searching for some kind of coherence and clarity. (Where are you Ray T / Beam when we need you?) But it’s obviously Django’s style, and who am I to carp, eh? In addition to 17d, I also very much admired 1a, 27a, 5a, & 21a. I am not impressed, however, with his ‘diva’ or that definition at 24d. Thanks to CS whose parsing of several clues helped me and to Django.

6. Today’s setter is one whose puzzles I always look forward to and this didn’t disappoint
   Found the bottom half (particularly LHS) tougher than the top and needed a couple of nudges re the parsings but otherwise not too difficult and a whole host of fun.
   My winners were 11,18&27a plus 17d.
   Many thanks to Django and Cryptic Sue for a top puzzle and blog.

7. Very good puzzle, and like others I found the N rather more straightforward than the S, and the SW tougher than the SE. Needed the blog to parse a few of my bung-ins, and while my BRB tells me that cull derives from a French word meaning “to gather”, it’s use in this context was quite new to me. 17d very clever but since I had to come here to parse it I can’t include it among the podium list, which instead has 2d, 3d and 22a, with 5a my COTD.

   Thank you to Django and to CS

8. For the first time in ages I have to admit that this was a struggle, and not one I particularly enjoyed. I found the clues a little too wordy for my liking, and some of the constructions were awkward. I rarely write a negative review, but one has to be honest and this was just not to my taste. I did appreciate the clever 17d and the misdirection in 20d.

   Thanks and apologies to Django; thanks, too, to CS.

9. Django does suffer from verbal diarrhoea doesn’t he! Answers once more revealed. Such a bore

   1. JB, I use a Windows laptop, an android phone and an Apple iPAD … all the answers are always hidden on all three.

      What do you use that is causing so much angst?

      1. ps. Sometimes the avatars are there, sometimes they are missing. Who cares?

      2. An iPad using Chrome. Yesterday the cryptic was fine and the Toughie not. Confusing.

         1. I had the same problem again today. Answers were showing. I use Chrome on an android phone, in fact a Blackberry – some of you may remember the Blackberry!

10. What is the point of B D if you don’t use the yellow covers may as well use Dan Word but with extra clues
    Mike

    1. Yellow covers?

       1. Click here! Is grey at first and goes yellow when you reveal the answer. If yours are yellow to start with it is your browser that is opening them the wrong way round. If you click the yellow answers do they turn to grey click here’s?
          PS to CS 23d doesn’t have either

          1. Mine are neither grey nor yellow. The word is just printed black on white like the clues.

             1. Same here JB

11. Very enjoyable puzzle although initially found the verbiage off putting. Favourite clues were 21A, 26A, 24D but best of all, the very clever (and new construction to me) 17D. Thanks to setter **/**** for me.

12. A really good fun solve with chuckles all the way through. Favourite the clever and different 17d.
    Thanks Django and CS.

13. At least a 2* difficulty I thought, not a fan of clues like 14, but 17d and others good fun.

14. I thought this was absolutely top drawer & great fun. Way harder than a * star difficulty rating for the likes of me in terms of making sense of the wordplay, which is really what it’s all about with Django puzzles. Couldn’t think of the first 2 letters of the 2nd word at 22a so read the hint, swore loudly & then bunged in 24d to finish though it still took a while to figure out why.
    Big ticks all over. Thought the wordplay at 1,5&11a particularly clever & like RD was initially thrown by ODI at 20d. COTD has to be 17d. Just wish I’d twigged the why. The parsing of 21a also eluded me – another clever clue – auction house indeed…
    Thanks to Django & to CS

15. Thanks CrypticSue – and others for the comments.

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