Toughie No 3765 by Chalicea
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from a soggy-morninged Wirral. I found this to be a curious puzzle. Three-quarters (especially the southern section) were very much at the Floughie end of the scale, but the North-west was almost its own separate mini-Toughie, with some relative obscurities and a bit more head-scratching required; nothing outrageous, though, and very clearly clued as usual with Chalicea. 1a was my stand-out favourite today, with honourable mentions to 5a, 5d and 20d.
Thank you, Chalicea, for a gentle and pleasant start to the Toughie Week
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
Work are sending me off to California at the weekend (it’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it…) so next week you will have Gazza to explain and entertain. Thanks in advance to him for filling in and letting me off the leash!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31357
Hints and tips by Huntsman
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** Enjoyment ****
It is just starting to brighten up here in Harpenden after a dull & slightly drizzly start to the day. Hopefully it will stay dry this afternoon for what will be one of my last rounds at South Herts as a member having made the decision to join my local course at Harpenden Common.
For me today’s puzzle was certainly not Typically Tuesdayish & I found it a good deal trickier than yesterday. I usually tune straight into Anthony Plumb’s wavelength but not so today & as I laboured through a bottom ⬆️ grid fill I began to doubt it was one of his productions. Reading back through it post completion I’m still not sure so it will be interesting to see what others think. Either way I thought that there were some great clues & thoroughly enjoyed the solve despite the crumpet requiring a fair bit of early morning scratching.
I had ticks against 20,23,27&28a plus 4,8,14,16&17d. 20a gets my vote as pick of ‘em.
Chalicea is over in t’other place with one of her delightful trademark ‘floughie’ Toughies
As usual there is a selection of music to enjoy or ignore.
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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