Toughie 1686

31 comments on “Toughie 1686”

1. 5d?

   1. What would your hint for it be?

2. also found right hand side much harder.

   Many thanks bufo and beam

   1. Strangely, I started in top right, but after that it was a patchwork for me, more like filling in a Sudoku.

3. What happened to 5down?

   1. Your comment went into moderation because you’ve changed your alias from your previous one. Both should work from now on.
      Why not have a go at writing a hint for 5d?

4. I really enjoyed this one; not too difficult, with some fun clues. Favourite was 12a; very clever.

5. I couldn’t solve it so sorry cant do
   5 down
   Needed your o so useful hints

   1. A reply meaning ok or certainly then a verb to hurry containing the odd letters of ‘early’. The definition is ‘old’.

      1. the answer is a noun – i had to convince myself that worked ok with old in that meaning

         1. As Tennyson wrote:
            “Ring out the old, ring in the new,
            Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
            The year is going, let him go;
            Ring out the false, ring in the true.”

         2. It’s substitutable in the phrases e.g. “men of old”, “men of yesteryear”.

6. Thakyou
   So simply when you see it

   1. When you’re replying to a comment it’s best to use the ‘reply’ button (as I have here) so that all related comments stay together in the same thread.

      1. Thanks will do

7. This was one those crosswords which at first pass looked tricky but after a few answers went in, became a steady and not too taxing solve. A number of today’s commenters are showing that writing the tips and hints is not as easy as some may think it is. So thanks firstly to Bufo and also to Beam for the puzzle.

8. Not too bad considering I’m very out of practice. I needed hints for 5D (Thanks, Gazza), 22D and 26A. Kicking myself for not getting the latter two. 12A made me smile so that’s my favorite. Thanks Bufo and Beam.

   1. So nice to see you back, Chris. How was the wedding?

      1. Thanks. It’s nice to be back in my usual routine though I miss the absolute peace of a village atmosphere where all you hear in the early morning is pigeons cooing and the clip clop of horse’s hooves. The wedding was fabulous, but I have to admit I didn’t last for the dancing!

         1. Whenever anyone makes that sort of comment, it always put me in mind of what I thought was one of Peter Kay’s best sketches – the ‘older’ generation dancing at wedding parties!
            The village sounds idyllic – did it not make you homesick for the ‘mother country’?

            1. In some respects, but America has been home for a long time now. Each country has something special to offer and I’m lucky that I have been able to experience both sides of the pond in depth.

9. A similar solving experience to Bufo, where the right-hand side was more of a struggle. I also toyed with meth for a while at 24d.
   Thanks to Beam, and to Bufo.

   1. Ditto….

10. Another excellent puzzle from my favourite setter – I’ll even forgive the cricket clue as the answer was a bird!
    Impossible as ever to pick a favourite, but 11a and 24d probably raised the biggest smiles.

    Devotions to Mr. T and many thanks to Bufo – hope you enjoyed your holiday.

11. I enjoyed this a lot. Just tricky enough to keep up the interest level without causing brain-ache. Unlike others I didn’t find the left harder than the right but more the top harder than the bottom.

    Favourite has to be 12a because it’s silly but I’ve heard similar stuff shouted between batsmen when trying to decide if a run’s possible but after all that waste of time if they go for it it usually results in a run out, possibly for a duck.

    Thanks to Beam and Bufo.

12. We had a major struggle with 4d. The definition was quite ‘open’, the singer could have been any one of thousands of humans or avians, the note was a second choice spelling option in BRB and all the checkers were unhelpful letters E E I E. However we did eventually manage to sort it all out correctly. 5d was the other clue that took us some time so the NE corner was our last and hardest. Good fun as usual from Beam and much enjoyed. Clue word count spot on again.
    Thanks Beam and Bufo.

13. Evening all. Setter reporting for duty with thanks to Bufo for the review and to all for your comments.

    RayT

    1. Good evening, Mr. T and thank you for another most enjoyable puzzle. I was wondering – roughly how long does it take you to compile one of your offerings? I can’t imagine how you manage to find the time alongside your teaching duties.

14. I’m afraid I lost patience and resorted to some hints. Nothing wrong with the puzzle; I’m just not in the right mood to persevere with it. I suppose it’s 3.5*/3* or thereabouts, and I liked 7a. Thanks to Ray T/Beam, and to Bufo.

15. This took us two sittings to crack, but without need of hints. Thought 1d was excellent but favourite was 11a. Lots of really nice clues in this puzzle.
    We agree with Bufo’s ratings, and might even award 3.5* for enjoyment, so thanks to him/her and to Ray T for another fine crossword

16. Very good. Knew I din’t know 16d, so cheated and only didn’t put in 24d because I read that my suspected answer was wrong.

    Apart from those a steady, if somewhat thoughtful, plod. Had a quick look for Nina, but only found ‘see’ across the bottom of 13d.

    I had to write out 12a to make any sense of it; a baffling surface. ***/****

    Nice to see Mr T drop in, and with that, thanks to all as ever.

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