Toughie No 2623 by Serpent
Hints and tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
A proper Toughie as we’d expect from Serpent. Continue reading “Toughie 2623”
Category: Serpent
Toughie 2587
Toughie No 2587 by Serpent
Hints and tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty ****/***** – Enjoyment ***
You can usually rely on Serpent to give us both a proper Toughie and a Nina and that’s definitely the case today. Continue reading “Toughie 2587”
Toughie 2563
Toughie No 2563 by Serpent
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Serpent always gives us something extra and today he’s excelled by providing a pangram without the single most common letter in English (although its shape does make a few appearances in the grid).… Continue reading
Toughie 2539
Toughie No 2539 by Serpent
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Thanks to Serpent for an enjoyable and not too tricky puzzle. When I blogged Serpent’s last Toughie the setter left a comment telling us that every answer in the grid contained the letter L to match the patterns of the black squares in the grid (which I and all those commenting had totally missed).… Continue reading
Toughie 2519
Toughie No 2519 by Serpent
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ***
There’s some complicated wordplay here (which I enjoyed winkling out). There are two clues (1a and 14a) where the definition can only be the whole clue but the whole clue doesn’t really match up with the answer.… Continue reading
Toughie 2495
Toughie No 2495 by Serpent
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****
This is just the sort of puzzle I like – no gimmicks, no obscurities just clever wordplay and deceptive definitions. Thanks to Serpent for the entertainment.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you thought of it.… Continue reading
Toughie 2463
Toughie No 2463 by Serpent
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
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There’s not a lot to worry the horses today, though I couldn’t see any reason for the capital letters in 22a and 18d. Do leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle. |
Toughie 2439
Toughie No 2439 by Serpent
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
It was only when I was checking my full grid for a possible pangram (which seemed a probability with all the high-scoring Scrabble letters present) that I realised that what we actually have here is a lipogram where our most common letter is notable by its absence.… Continue reading
Toughie 2423
Toughie No 2423 by Serpent
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Thanks to Serpent for a fun puzzle where the difficulties come from tricky wordplay rather than obscure vocabulary (just the way I like them). A few of the surface readings do relate to the current health problems.… Continue reading
Toughie 2406
Toughie No 2406 by Serpent
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *
I’m sorry Serpent, but when there are several clues where your reaction on solving is to suck on your teeth rather than to smile then that usually means that you haven’t enjoyed the puzzle, which was the case for me here. I hope others enjoyed it more than I did. Continue reading “Toughie 2406”