Toughie No 1606 by Beam
Hints and tips by Toro
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Afternoon, all. Toro here standing in for Bufo.… Continue reading
Author: Toro
Toughie 1564
Toughie No 1564 by Giovanni
Hints and tips by Toro
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ***
A fairly challenging puzzle for a Tuesday with not too many easy “ins” apart from the fairly obvious clue down the spine of the grid.… Continue reading
Toughie 1560
Toughie No 1560 by Dada
Hints and tips by Toro
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ****/*****
I rarely look at grids, but this one is like a sandwich cut diagonally with stubborn joins of crust in the corners.… Continue reading
Toughie 1556
Toughie No 1556 by Excalibur
Hints and tips by Toro
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment **
I did this late last night in a tired and distracted state, which may explain both ratings. As always, a quirky puzzle from Excalibur with a mix of fun and bamboozlement. Apologies for the lack of images but I haven’t been able to upload them today for some reason.
Continue reading “Toughie 1556”
Toughie 1551
Toughie No 1551 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Toro
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
I’m filling in for Dutch today, who is preparing to go on the piste. This was a more straightforward solve than I was expecting on a rare visit to the Friday Toughie chair, and the style will probably have appealed more to those who enjoy tussling with clue components than to someone like me who has more of a liking for surfaces and inventive definitions.
[POSTSCRIPT: Gazza has suggested below that there is a personal message in six clues beginning with 1d. If there is, and it is what I think he means, then it’s not surprising this puzzle is not exactly brimming with levity (and my ratings are even less relevant than usual).]
Toughie 1544
Toughie No 1544 by Dada
Hints and tips by Toro
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
An oddly Giovanni-like offering from Dada today, but with a rather rushed feel about it. This week’s Rookie Corner puzzle by Maize is much more polished and satisfying and I urge you to do it if you haven’t already. Continue reading “Toughie 1544”
Toughie 1540
Toughie No 1540 by Excalibur
Hints and tips by Toro
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***/****
A surreal treat from Excalibur: no fewer than 16 definition clues (cryptic, straight-plus-cryptic, or double-straight), a playful parallelism, and a shapely trio. Plus the obligatory Yoda-isms (but only two, despite the Space Invaders motif in the grid). Continue reading “Toughie 1540”
Toughie 1536
Toughie No 1536 by Warbler
Hints and tips by Toro
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
Some great stuff in this amusing puzzle from Warbler that would be a good place to start for back-page solvers looking to venture into the world of the Toughie.
Toughie 1532
Toughie No 1532 by Busman
Hints and tips by Toro
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
My first encounter with Busman. I found it fresh and fun, if very much at the easy end of the Toughie spectrum — the second star for difficulty being due as much as anything to the fact that I was busy eating a fried breakfast while solving.
Toughie 1524
Toughie No 1524 by Samuel
Hints and tips by Toro
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
This was a quite a gentle and certainly an enjoyable start to the short post-Xmas week. Excuse the belated review.