Toughie No 2112 by Excalibur
Hints and tips by Kitty
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Welcome all. Well, today we have come to the last Excalibur Toughie. The end of an era, this is. Fun, it was.
I found it quite a bit harder than usual for a Tuesday Excalibur, and considered rating it more for difficulty, but have a strong feeling that the trouble may have been with the solver rather than the puzzle. … Continue reading
Toughie No 2096 by Excalibur
Hints and tips by Kitty
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Hi all. We have another enjoyable puzzle from the late Excalibur.
Definitions are underlined in the clues below and indicators are italicised when quoted in the hints.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2072 by Excalibur
Hints and tips by Kitty
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ***
Hello everybody. We have today the first of a small stock of Excalibur’s Toughies to be published posthumously. I never met her but feel immensely privileged to have been able to blog a few of her crosswords, through which a real warmth seemed to shine. … Continue reading
Toughie No 2056 by Excalibur
Hints and tips by Kitty
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Hi, and welcome to another Toughie Tuesday brought to you by Excalibur, with your furry hinter here to help. I didn’t find this too tricky but did enjoy the solve.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2040 by Excalibur
Hints and tips by Kitty
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ***
Hi everybody. I didn’t have much trouble with most of this, but had to sleep on the last couple (9a/7d). I’m not quite sure why, but it meant that I felt obliged to up the difficulty rating a little. … Continue reading
Toughie No 2012 by Excalibur
Hints and tips by Kitty
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****
Warm greetings, gridfellows. Well, what a surprise – one of the most recognisable setters, and I failed to guess who it was (setter information had not been updated when I solved this). … Continue reading
Toughie No 1968 by Excalibur
Hints and tips by Kitty
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Hi everyone. Excalibur is here today to brighten Toughieland with a puzzle in her distinctive style. I found it below average difficulty for a Toughie, but I had to stop and use my 28a in places. … Continue reading
Toughie No 1944 by Excalibur
Hints and tips by Kitty
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
Happy 2018 to you all. Before moving forward I shall pause very briefly to insert the word cloud of Toughie answers seen twice or more in 2017 (click for a larger version):

The new year of Toughies launches with Excalibur who has given us one which I found of back pageish difficulty and providing enjoyment aplenty. … Continue reading
Toughie No 1928 by Excalibur
Hints and tips by Kitty
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Hi all. To start the Toughie week we have a puzzle in the distinctive style of Excalibur, which is to be expected, for she is today’s setter. … Continue reading