Toughie No 3461 by Chalicea
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***/****
Very, very gentle from Chalicea today. No exotic fabric, no (thank goodness) periodic table – just a fun spatter of botany and Greek.… Continue reading
Toughie No 3457 by Zenas
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ***/****
We’ve got a Nina from Zenas today, which was mercifully easy to spot.… Continue reading
Toughie No 3453 by Dharma
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Very Dharma today: generous definitions spiced with fizzy wordplay and some big swings.… Continue reading
Toughie No 3449 by Dada
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***/****
Dada’s been pretty friendly today, peppering us with anagrams and some jolly lingo (17a, 19a, etc).… Continue reading
Toughie No 3445 by Chalicea
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment **/*** – Vocab ***
Lumme, Chalicea has been quintessentially Chalicea today, working her magic dictionary – and my app-scrolling thumb – hard.… Continue reading
Toughie No 3441 by Zenas
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
I truly didn’t/don’t know quite how to rate this for difficulty as I raced through the solve, thanks largely to very fair definitions, but the full parse took longer.… Continue reading
Toughie No 3437 by Donnybrook
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
I think most of us would clock this as a Donnybrook number – even without the byline – at a hundred paces.… Continue reading
Toughie No 3433 by Hudson
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***/****
Well, this was a * breeze until I hit 16d’s “plan to avoid bankruptcy” and 20d’s “Joe”.… Continue reading
Toughie No 3430 by Prime
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
I fear you’ve got another double from me as Sue is still off on her jollies.… Continue reading
Toughie No 3429 by Dada
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Dada’s in an avuncular mood today, gifting us a gentle-ish romp that felt airy and upbeat.… Continue reading