Sloop John Bee – Page 41 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Sunday Toughie 25 (Hints)

Sunday Toughie No 25 by Zandio

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

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Welcome to the Silver Jubilee of Sunday Toughie puzzles. Twenty Nine clues today split 16a/13d, most of them tripped off my stylus with an appropriate Sunday Toughieness, but two have foxed me greatly, more of which later when I have decided if they need hinting. Last night’s refreshment came courtesy of the fine distillers at Bruichladdich, this morning I am drinking a Brazilian blend that came with my new espresso machine. It is a tad too darkly roasted for me but you don’t look a gift horse in the mouth and I will be drinking it for a while. Anyway here goes with Sunday Toughie 25.

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Sunday Toughie 24 (Hints)

Sunday Toughie No 24 by Robyn

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

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Not as brain mangling as some Sunday Toughies but still a definite toughie. I may have not got some of my parsings 100% but somewhat distracted by Mama Bee’s first cataract op. Refreshment last night was Staropramen and Laphroaig, this morning it is Guatemalan Red de Mujeres, organic coffee with notes of raspberry, toasted almonds and toffee.

Here goes with 15 of 30 clues hinted, I hope you find enough checkers to help you.

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Sunday Toughie 23 (Hints)

Sunday Toughie No 23 by proXimal

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

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I stared at a virtually empty grid for ages until the pennies started to drop, but that was a real toughie. On the grounds of difficulty, I am struggling to leave any unhinted but here we go. I will try and toss in a bonus pic hints but as most of Sunday so far has been spent wrestling with this I may be brief. This won’t get the baby bathed so here we go…

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Sunday Toughie 22 (Hints)

Sunday Toughie No 22 by Zandio

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

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Not the trickiest Sunday Toughie so far but I still had a bit of trouble in the SW. I solved this whilst watching Macca at Glastonbury, who seemed to be having a bit of trouble in the South West too but he got better as the set went on. (Terence said he thought it was good from first to last and he has put a clip up on Senf’s blog so check it out there.) I had a full grid by the time Lauren Laverne had finished the post-gig analysis and I had finished a wee dram. Seven hours of kip and coffee to hand here goes with the hints…

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Sunday Toughie 20

Sunday Toughie No 20 by proXimal

Review by Sloop John Bee

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This puzzle was published on the 12th of June 2022

This was a tricky little devil that took me a lot longer to solve than the previous proXimal I blogged for the holidaying Deep Threat (Two days earlier #30,010). It is impressive how the other SJB (Steven J Bartlett) can pitch his puzzles with just the right level of difficulty between his back page and toughie puzzles. I believe I get one more go in DT’s blogging chair on the 1st of July, I wonder who I will get then.

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Sunday Toughie 21 (Hints)

Sunday Toughie No 21 by Robyn

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

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Another tricky toughie that delayed the final swig of Laphroiagh until the wee small hours. I am awake now, refreshed and suitably caffeinated, ready to hint at today’s Robyn Toughie. As is usual for these toughies I am struggling to curtail my hinting to about half. Pictures may help to nudge in the right direction.

In Big Dave’s absence, Tilsit has been taking his responsibilities as the head of the Village Elders seriously and has been exercising his RED pencil on some comments. He may even want to cut some of my hints down!

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