Sloop John Bee – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

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Sunday Toughie 150 (Hints)

by Sloop John Bee  

Sunday Toughie No 150

by Beam

 

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

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Well that was a surprise! Beam has shone over my Saturday night/Sunday morning. Once I got over the surprise it went smoothly. All the usual 20d’s are there (Average 5.3 words per clue, sweetheart and a queen) I am sure there are other Beam trademarks but my experience of Beam is somewhat limited as his toughies usually fall on my busy work days

14a and 16d clues and I have hinted just under half – a bonus nudge may be available if you are still stuck

Here we go, Folks…

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Sunday Toughie 149 (Hints)

by Sloop John Bee  

Sunday Toughie No 149

by proXimal

 

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

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It took me a little longer than normal to 7d this last night but I was watching the snooker. The Snooker was a bit of a grind, and the crossword was done before the final frame. I hope **** recovers as he is playing in the final right now (I redacted myself as you may be watching the highlights later)

As usual proXimal starts with an easy (to Sloop John Bee) Spoonerism we  have a couple of extraction/compound anagrams and several homophones. Dinner would appear to be 13a served with a Spanish red 

I have hinted half of an even 14a and 14d clues and hope you find the checkers to “pot the final black”

Here we go, Folks…

Continue reading “Sunday Toughie 149 (Hints)”

Sunday Toughie 148 (Hints)

by Sloop John Bee  

Sunday Toughie No 148

by Robyn

 

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

 

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Robyn on Toughie duty today and I found it quite tricky last night, but on reflection, I can’t quite see why. Apart from a sure-fire candidate for (THE LIST™ Terence) 13d remains unhinted as it is a partial anagram with plenty of checkers, but a French term for Scottish Dances I ask you! I would bet that not many of you leapt to the answer without the checkers

Plenty of Greeks, Romans, Shakespeare and golf along with a couple of boats. We have 14a and 16d clues and I have hinted half. I hope you get enough checkers to find the rest

16d gets my COTD by a nose from a close field what did you like?

Here we go…

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A date for your diary… Big Dave’s 16th Birthday Bash

by Sloop John Bee  

25th January 2025

The Blog will be celebrating its sixteenth birthday next January 28th 2025. With help from the Guardians of the Blog (Cryptic Sue, MrK, Gazza and Prolixic) as well as John and Jane “Elgar”, I am reviving the Big Dave Birthday Bash and want to bring it to the attention of as many of you as possible.

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Sunday Toughie 147 (Hints)

by Sloop John Bee  

Sunday Toughie No 147


by Zandio

 

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

 

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Zandio with his usual entertaining not to tuff tuffie. I found it quite hard to choose which clues to hint but here are half of 14a  and 14d clues and I hope there are enough checkers to get you over the line

There are quite a few literary references to styles of writings from Aesop to Hans Christian Anderson but I may be going 16a to call it a theme

Here we go…

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Sunday Toughie 146 (Hints)

by Sloop John Bee  

Sunday Toughie No 146

by proXimal

 

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

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As usual proXimal was a little tougher than my other Sunday Toughie regulars but I think I have got there eventually

We have 14a and 14d clues today with the trademark proXimalisms™ dealt with early doors I have hinted 13 of 28 clues leaving me a bonus hint for the first to ask

Here we go, Folks…

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