Toughie No 2286 by Elkamere
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
Always a joy. Today’s Elkamere has several easy ways in and plenty to keep you on your toes. My bottom half went in quickly and my top right hand corner yielded last.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2262 by Elkamere
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
One of the joys of the Friday slot is having an Elkamere to blog and finding out it is a pangram. I made more use of Chambers than usual, though turns out I had come across all of the grid entries before.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2230 by Elkamere
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
Always a pleasure to blog an Elkamere. The shorter the clues, the shorter the hints! And it’s a pangram! There were a couple of new words for me today.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2206 by Elkamere
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
A pleasant surprise to find an Elkamere at the end of the week – a pangram no less. This puzzle is nicely subtle, with several clues that I entered tentatively and only worked out why they were right later on.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2178 by Elkamere
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I’ve enjoyed every Elkamere puzzle I’ve ever done and today is no exception. In the past they have sometimes been fiendishly difficult; less so recently – which is just fine by me.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2158 by Elkamere
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment *****
Elkamere is in a kind mood today. This is an excellent puzzle that should be fun also for those who normally tackle the back-pager. Elkamere’s usual trademarks of concise clueing, clever wordplay and nicely disguised definitions make this a pleasure to solve.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2139 by Elkamere
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
Always a pleasure to have an Elkamere to blog. We have beautifully concise clues as always, and a brief mention of Christmas (18d).
Definitions are underlined. The hints aim to help you unravel the wordplay.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2115 by Elkamere
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
We have a pangram from Elkamere! I was on the lookout for an X in NW, my last quadrant. A fun and tricky puzzle, where I was repeatedly misled and where I learned to pay attention to the punctuation.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2103 by Elkamere
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment *****
To end the week, we have another highly enjoyable puzzle with Elkamere’s trademark concise clueing, witty surfaces and precise and entertaining wordplay. I used to say I don’t know how he does it.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2079 by Elkamere
Hints and tips by Kitty
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Hi everyone. I’m standing in for Dutch this week while he’s off on his holidays, and what a treat to have an Elkamere puzzle to blog. After a little staring at the grid with nothing going in, I spotted 3d which got me started. … Continue reading