Hints and tips by Tilsit

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Tomorrow sees the Northern Sloggers and Betters gathering which will be held at the Bramsche Bar in Todmorden, Rochdale Road from noon onwards. Big Dave and myself will be there along with a number of other setters and solvers. These meets are relaxed, friendly and very enjoyable. It would be great if you could come and join us. We would love to see you.

Here's the venue: http://www.bramsche.co.uk. The bar is about 200 yards from Todmorden Rail Station and parking is just across the road or to the rear of the venue off Water Street.

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Today's website Toughie is the puzzle that was inadvertently printed in some papers a week last Tuesday. The blog for this puzzle can be found here: http://bigdave44.com/2012/04/10/toughie-758/

If things change, we'll update you!

Double Trouble!

Hints and tips by Tilsit and Crypticsue

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BD Rating - Difficulty **** - Enjoyment *****

Greetings from the Calder Valley! The lovely Crypticsue was at a loose end today and kindly offered to tackle the Downs for me. You simply cannot refuse an offer like that so we have a review that's in keeping with the theme of the puzzle. The Toughie Tormentor Supreme Elgar is back with a fun puzzle that is packed with an awful lot of thematic material. One of the hallmarks of a great puzzle is that it draws you in and this one did it in style. I personally zipped through the NE and SW corners and then hit a brick in the NE corner. Not helped by only one way in with the design of the grid, I then found it quite tough and needed a prod from my colleague to get in.

Crypticsue writes:- "Greetingsfrom East Kent too! Don't tell the boss (currently on holiday) that I was at a loose end – I enjoyed this puzzle so much first thing today that I welcomed the chance to have double the fun – I put dots by the clues I like and my newspaper is quite 'spotty' today. I was only really held up by parsing 1a but luckily Tilsit came to my rescue. Thanks to him and Elgar too."

A Very Good Friday

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BD Rating - Difficulty **** - Enjoyment *****

Welcome to the first holiday weekend of the year and we are treated to a splendid Toughie by Micawber who for me if one of the finest of the new setters on the block. Our genial setter produces lovely clues, some with a topical bias and some that make you smile. Quite a few cryptic definitions in today's puzzle, so a little thinking outside your Easter egg box may be required.

Better Late Than Never!

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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***

Greetings from the Calder Valley. Sorry for the lateness today, I've been at the hospital and only just got home. We have Myops today with a puzzle that wasn't as ferocious as his last one, but still a stern test, especially if like me you didn't have access to a dictionary to check one or two things. Lots of anagrams (including compound ones) and clever cryptic definitions feature today. Have to admit I still struggle to get on his wavelength and this probably affects my enjoyment of the puzzle.

Confused? You Probably Will Be……

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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***

Greetings from the Calder Valley and it's time for a Friday Firefly.

I found the puzzle to be of the usual standard from our setter with some good whimsical clues, and a theme (9 across) to some of the answers, although its use did feel a bit odd at times. At first I assumed that I was looking for synonyms for the expression, but this wasn't the case. In most cases it was telling you to anagram the first half of the answer, using the second half as an indicator as such. One of the answers asked you to add the theme answer and then remove half of it, which struck me as a bit contrived. Quite a few of the clues today require you to take something (usually an abbreviation) away from a definition of a word.

Hints and tips by Tilsit

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BD Rating - Difficulty ***** - Enjoyment *****

Greetings from the Calder Valley and it's time for some mental torture from Notabilis, and this was a ferocious battle. Like most superlative puzzles, this draws you in with a few 'easier' clues and then when you are engrossed, the 'nasties' leap you and nab you.

I managed to make a mistake at 21 across and this held up completing the final clue at 19. There are so many elegant clues and clever definitions here and it shows why our setter is one of the finest around and up there on the top table of crossword minds. I looked for a Nina, but couldn't see one.

Trouble Double

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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment *****

Greetings from the Calder Valley! Today's Friday Fiend is young Elgar who presents us with an enjoyable challenge that unfolded nicely as you solved it. I managed to crack the left side fairly quickly, but the right side proved reasonably elusive, but once one of the answers came to me, everything else fell into place. After last Friday's mental mayhem, this seemed positively joyous.

The puzzle has four twelve letter answers, each comprising a phrase made up of two six-letter words that are fairly similar and differ only in an odd letter. The cluing is of Elgar's impeccable standard and contain some nicely misleading pieces which don't leave you scratching your head and wondering why you are persevering.

Caledonian Charivari

(aka Salmond Chanted Evening….)

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BD Rating - Difficulty *****² - Enjoyment ***

Greetings from the Calder Valley! Time to renew acquaintance with our Scottish setter Myops. Today is not so much a Wee Stinker (his other regular crossword) as a *&*&^^^%! Stinker, in fact probably the Toughest of the Toughie puzzles series. This was a ferocious beast that took an awful long time to crack and I suspect this is not going to please most solvers. There are some cracking clues, but the use of a great many obscure words with obscure definitions add to the solver's woe. Normally when I have been wrestling with Elgar or Osmosis, I have a feeling of satisfaction but that didn't seem there today. Thanks to Crypticsue for a couple of pointers as well.

Subscribers to Another Newspaper's Crossword Website are treated to a monthly prize puzzle which is at this end of the scale with obscure words. This puzzle would have sat nicely in that series.

Can I put in an early recommendation for tomorrow's NTSPP puzzle by Omnia (Who? All will be revealed!) Without giving the game away, it's something a little special.

Hints and tips by Tilsit

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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ****

Greetings from the Calder Valley. Our Friday Fiend is Firefly who has produced an interesting and challenging puzzle that will delight some, and perhaps infuriate others. I found it more enjoyable than some of his recent offerings but I found a couple of clues that could only be solved once I had the answer, which isn't the point of a crossword, as far as I am aware, in other words a bit too clever for their own good. I'd be interested to see if anyone managed to solve 12 across without getting all the intersecting letters. Lots of clever surface readings but again the odd one that doesn't quite work for me.

I looked around for a theme, or a Nina, especially given the grid used, but couldn't see anything other than a linked clue.

Gnisrever hcum ooT!

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BD Rating - Difficulty ***** - Enjoyment ****

Greetings from the Calder Valley. Today's Friday Fiend is Osmosis who produces some of the most challenging Toughies, and today's is no exception. This is quite a beast of a puzzle and I struggled for a while to get a foothold after entering a couple of answers wrongly (IN TUNE at 20 down and KINDLE at 21 ac). However perseverance paid off and things fell into place. Osmosis (and his other guise of Scorpion in the Indy) puzzles are notable for their detailed constructs which can be rather convoluted. This for me sometimes spoils things for me as it means the clue looks slightly forced and the pudding somewhat over-egged. There were a lot of reversals today as well. Having to rely on the unchecked letters to solve a clue, as happened with a couple of clues today because the definition and indications are very very obscure or vague, is not to me a fair way of puzzle-solving. I feel a heated debate coming on tomorrow!

Hints and tips by Tilsit

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BD Rating - Difficulty **** - Enjoyment *****

Greetings from the Calder Valley. Time for the Friday Fiend and today we have a battle with Notabilis, one of my very favourite setters who consistently produces elegant and superior puzzles that leave you with a feeling a satisfaction when you enter the last answer. Today's challenge is no exception with some really grand clues.

Leave till tomorrow?

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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ****

Greetings from the Calder Valley! The sun is cracking the flags here in Hebden Bridge and we have a nice benign puzzle to begin the weekend from Firefly. I got off to the wrong start by thinking that 5 down was a simple anagram and this blocked me for a short while, but once I realised I had this answer wrong, the puzzle fell into place.

Value for Money!

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BD Rating - Difficulty ***** - Enjoyment *****

Greetings from the Calder Valley. After a lovely break in the Lake District (embarrassing photos safely locked away), it's back to the wordface with this beast of a puzzle from Elgar. Thanks to Jon for stepping in and blogging last Friday's wonderful Micawber puzzle so brilliantly.

There is a theme running through Elgar's puzzle today related to a famous film dynasty and a couple of their most famous oeuvres, a musical connection to the films and a further musical theme. Value for money indeed from our esteemed setter. The clues are up to the usual high standard with a couple of Downs that take quite a bit of understanding.

A Gentle Start to the Onslaught

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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ****

Seasons Greetings from the Calder Valley. Osmosis is here today with his usual fiendish constructs, clever surface readings and off-the-wall ideas. I did find it a little easier than his normal puzzles, but it is still quite a stiff challenge.

I am off for a stay in a remote part of the Lake District for most of the next ten days so I'd like to wish you all a pleasant Christmas and the happiest of New Years. Thanks to all the setters for tormenting us during the year, to Phil McNeill and Daniella at the Telegraph for all their efforts in keeping things on the rails, to Big Dave (and Mrs BD) for looking after this wonderful site and finally to all my fellow bloggers who do a marvellous job "putting the words to lights". I'll see you next year!

The Bigger Picture!

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BD Rating - Difficulty **** - Enjoyment ****

Greetings from the Calder Valley. After expecting Firefly or Myops today, I was pleasantly surprised to see that today's Tormentor was Elkamere. I think this is the first outing on a Friday for him and the puzzle is more than worthy of its place in the spot reserved for the hardest puzzle of the week.

This is a slightly unusual puzzle and one that I appreciate may cause a few solvers to give up. There are some lovely elegant clues, but the "gimmick" of the puzzle is clever and perhaps some may say a bit too clever. In this puzzle, there are four clues that have the indications of four and six letters each with grid slots for the four letters. The clues are all "justified" by 14 across. An explanation is shown after the Downs, although you will need to highlight it to see it. I twigged 5 across fairly quickly but couldn't see how it fitted in to the scheme of things. Only when I completed the grid did it dawn on me how it worked. There was a Guardian setter called Apex who used to use a similar sort of device in some of his puzzles and it is nice to see this sort of working again here.

The I's Have It!

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BD Rating - Difficulty ***** - Enjoyment *****

Greetings from the Calder Valley and not from the NHS controlled part of it! I came home yesterday and although I feel a bit drained, things are on the way to sorting themselves out although I will have to go through things a few more times before I'm clear.

It's been a bit of a rum week in The Toughie World (I still struggle to get into the Telegraph site) and the hospital newspaper seller only carried a couple 'as there was no demand', so luckily some chums sent me copies. Disliked Tuesday's intensely, Wednesdays and Thursday's were fine and today we have Elgar who is back to being King of the Tough Toughies with this ferocious beast.

There's a theme to the puzzle which will become obvious as the blog unfolds. We have the usual mix of difficult definitions and great surface readings and laugh-out loud moments. Days like this are a joy and the sense of achievement when you finish is amazing. Do try and persevere. Thanks to Elgar for a cracking challenge and one that will live in the memory.

History Lesson

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BD Rating - Difficulty *** - Enjoyment ***

Greetings from the Calder Valley. Firefly is back with what I consider to be a real improvement on his last couple of challenges. Not the hardest of puzzles but one which brought about a bit of head-scratching and a reach for the history books.

Like Gazza earlier, I have been having real problems with the Telegraph website. I haven't been able to access the site much this week and have been lucky that chums have sent me copies of the puzzles scanned from the papers. There are issues known around midnight, but as far as they are aware it should be OK at other times. I know that Phil McNeill, the Puzzles Editor, will usually take note when people mention having difficulties here. Of course if you have a problem that needs to be resolved, or want to register that a problem has occurred so that they know about it, you should contact Telegraph Customer Services via the site.