Toughie No 3739 by Kcit
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ***/****
What a difference a day makes, eh? I raced through this. It’s all pretty fair and there’s no exotic vocab as such – I even vaguely remembered 26a. Moreover, the pangram was helpful. Now, I am not a horsey chap and this may well be fanciful overreach, but 1a and then 25d got me thinking. The latter (Sir Henry) trained 13a; and 12a, 20a, 8d & 9d were all racehorses. There may be others but my Google thumb was getting tired. Certainly, if there isn’t/wasn’t one called 11a (though presumably not 25a) I’m Kylie Minogue. But perhaps the heat has just further addled my brain. The floor is, as ever, yours to put me right …
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Toughie No 3737 by Shabbo
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment *****
It’s always a joy to see Shabbo’s name pop up. He’s clearly got the expected Tuesday non-difficulty level down pat, generously going out of his way to give us a toehold or ten (6d, etc). Ever so gentle, sure, but smoothly entertaining. If you like anagrams, you’re going to love it! The floor, as ever, is yours. PS … dinna fret – Whybird’s back next week!
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Toughie No 3735 by Django
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Solid stuff from Django today, with his usual flourishes. 1a tickled me from the off. I once filed a piece for The Independent about Britain’s “poshest” dump. There were working tumble-dryers discarded there willy-nilly – one still in its box, quickly snapped up by the hawk-eyed manager. There was even an on-site shop to sell the best of the plunder that included a W-reg Ford Fiesta (with MOT) and a speedboat. That’s Dorset for you!
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Toughie No 3731 by Silvanus
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
‘Tis always a (rare-ish) treat to see Silvanus pop up on a Thursday – elegant as ever and nowt too tricky, with a very faint French flavour. 22d was new to me but it’s generously clued and I had to run through a few comedians to crack 12a. Still, the deletion and definition couldn’t be clearer. Even 7d’s botany (my bête noire) is gifted on a plate. So, not tremendously tough, just tremendously entertaining. À vous la parole!
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Toughie No 3727 by Kcit
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***/****
Fairly breezy for a Thursday Toughie. 26a was unknown to me but the wordplay’s pretty clear. Having said that, 1a was the last to fall. Not because it’s tricky – it’s not – but because the definition is anathema to me. I have long tried – and failed miserably – to ban them. What on earth is their point? They just get in the bloomin’ way when you’re making the bed! The floor, as ever, is yours.
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Toughie No 3723 by Donnybrook
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Pretty straight(forward). 11a’s dramatist pushed my memory and 16a reminded me that I’ve never known how to spell his name. But both are generously clued and, as such, this was more of a skip than a jump. The floor is yours to tell me I’ve got the ratings absolutely spot-on yet again … or not!
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Toughie No 3719 by Django
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Pleasingly gentle from Django today. The only vaguely time-consuming element was checking the anagram fodder but – like a saint! – I’ve done it so you don’t have to. There’s some Beam-ish mention of boobs and blue tablets that makes the presumably accidental four-letter central Nina seem rather appropriate. There’s also the Miss Piggy reference that, for some reason, always makes me smile. ‘Tis all very jolly. The floor, as ever, is yours.
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Toughie No 3715 by Dharma
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****/*****
A rumbustious return from Dharma, full of his typical humour and honed surfaces, prompting a slow start but a quick finish. I found many of the downs marginally easier than the acrosses but that’s possibly because I had all the checkers by then – being pathetically English, I do like to doggedly work from top to bottom. Other methods are, of course, available. Hopefully, my 2.5 will find safer harbour than usual … the floor is yours to trumpet your agreement!
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Toughie No 3711 by Robyn
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Well, what an unexpected treat: an all-too-rare Toughie from Robyn. Then again, he does have other fish to fry these days. Not the friendliest of portcullis grids but, heck, it is a Thursday and the clueing is, of course, delightful – largely gentle-ish and supremely logical. A soupçon of French, football and (boo!) AI. Only the exotic 12a gave me any real pain, but its building blocks are clear. I could easily have added an extra half on for that alone but, on checking the clock, a muscular two it is. The floor is yours … howl at me if you must!
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Toughie No 3707 by Kcit
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Another pretty gentle Toughie from Kcit. There is, I suppose, a spot of vocab (13a, 7d) but it’s very generously clued. I briefly flirted with adding an extra half on for difficulty but almost immediately recanted – it is, after all, Thursday. The floor is, as ever, yours to say I was right wrong!
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