January 13, 2026 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Toughie 3617

Toughie No 3617 by Hudson
Hints and tips by Whybird

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BD Rating – Difficulty *   – Enjoyment *****

Welcome to the Toughie week, and what a way to start it!  Hudson has given us a treat. Given some of the pieces of general knowledge I had to check up, I would not have described this as a Floughie, but I found I had completed it in Floughie time.  In fact, my only criticism is that it was all over too soon – another 15 or 20 clues at this standard would have been very welcome indeed. There are some great surfaces, with some sneakiness and some clever crypticness, all set out in concise terms.  What’s not to love?  I’ve selected 2d, 11a, 15d and 19a for my Roll of Honour, but there are so many to choose from, it might have been easier to pick the few that were merely “good”.  Thank you, Hudson, for a cracking puzzle, although 2d has caused some angst with having to avoid it in the hints!

Please let us know how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle

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DT 31135

Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31135
Hints and tips by Huntsman

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BD Rating – Difficulty *   Enjoyment *** 

The usual fairly gentle Tuesday offering to ease us into the demands of sterner tests as the week progresses. I thought the puzzle (by Anthony Plumb I assume) maybe a tad trickier than yesterday but I doubt that it will detain experienced solvers for too long. I haven’t had a chance to look at it yet but I see Hudson is over in t’other place so that’s as good as guaranteed to be a cracker & I’m sure both Rob & Whybird would welcome comment.

As usual there are an assortment of musical clips to enjoy or ignore. Apologies that the title of a couple of ‘em give the game away but couldn’t resist including ‘em again.

In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.

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