Toughie No 3649 by Hudson
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from a sunny, Spring-has-started Wirral. The first wheatear of the year has been seen on Hilbre Island, and Burton Mere Wetlands now has about a hundred Avocets dominating the main scrape (with more to come, hopefully), as well as a Mediterranean Gull looking to set up a territory on one of the islands.
I found today’s puzzle to be something of a curiosity. Apart from the fact that it is a pangram that I actually noticed (which makes it unusual!) it felt like it was a bit of a struggle to solve, but when I actually checked, I’d done it all in 1* time. It’s definitely not a Floughie, though, and there were a couple of senses employed that had me checking the reference works to confirm my suspicions. My prizes today go to 6d, 10a and 27a – a trio of clever clues with very neat surfaces. Thanks to Hudson for getting the morning cogs whirring!
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
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Toughie No 3645 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Namaste! Many thanks to Gazza for filling in for the past two weeks whilst I “trundled” around India seeing most of the cast of the Jungle Book, through some absolutely wonderful wildlife experiences– although the leopards weren’t black – and eating equally wonderful food . I thought I might return somewhat lighter and slimmer, but that hasn’t happened at all. Fortunately, the return flight from Delhi was direct to Heathrow, and the normal route is well north of the Gulf, so everything went smoothly. I’m disappointed to see I missed blogging a Tuesday Django – I’d been looking forward to that pleasure, so I hope the chance comes around again soon.
I was hoping for a gentle reintroduction to the blog, but that hasn’t happened. Dada has given us a quirky puzzle, which I think would have fitted in reasonably well later in the week. Perhaps the cough and head cold I have acquired, coupled with the “safari massage” my body has endured, has deadened my senses somewhat, but I found this rather tricky. My podium places are occupied by 2d, 16a and 21a today.
Thanks to Dada for a re-baptism of fire.
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
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Toughie No 3633 by Shabbo
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment *****
Warm wishes from a damp, grey Wirral!
We have a wonderful puzzle from Shabbo today – Floughie it ain’t, but equally there is no obscure GK or archaic vocabulary required. With the possible exception of 26a, the toughness arises mainly from the very cleverly constructed clues, all with very smooth surfaces. Many of them are set up so they look like they should be solved one way, which turns out to be a dead end, but then turns out to be “clearly” something entirely different. And all done with a remarkable economy of words, too.
I struggled to get going, eventually getting a foothold with 23a, and then worked from SE to NW as the respective pennies went clunk. 1a gets my top spot today, as well as being my last one in, but there are too many other very good clues to list – smiles all over the age today.
Thank you, Shabbo, for an excellent challenge.
Please let us know how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
I have a short break from the Blog for the next couple of weeks whilst I have a tour around India trying to see, but avoid being eaten and/or trampled by, various large felines, canines, reptiles and herbivores. You will have the pleasure of Gazza on a Tuesday for the rest of the month, so thanks to him for stepping into the breach.
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Toughie No 3629 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Hello and welcome to another Toughie week. Could someone kindly go out and switch the Wirral’s daylight on, please? It still feels like nighttime, although I know it isn’t, thanks to a disturbed night courtesy of Lord Alfie-du-Sniffs who dragged me from my slumbers twice for access to the garden… I should take that as a positive, but I’d much rather he hadn’t helped himself to whatever dubious substances he found whilst fossicking around Birkenhead Park yesterday!
We have something of a challenging puzzle from Dada today – definitely no Floughie for me. My heart sank when I saw the grid – I always find the proliferation of unchecked initial letters to be a challenge. Then I thought we might be on for an easy-to-spot Nina that may have helped, but, alas, no such luck – at least not as far as I can see! The solve wasn’t helped by getting my first one in (9a) wrong – being too clever for my own good. There are some quite tough nuts to crack amongst a smattering of “Gimmes”, and to my taste there are too many onomatopoeic-like terms employed. But there are also some gems, and some “usual suspects” with lesser-spotted – but perfectly fair – meanings to get the cogs whirring. Rosettes from me today for 15a (my last one in), 20a and 4d, but my overall prize goes to 2d.
Thanks to Dada for unlocking the mental machinery, and for the first time in a while providing me with an obvious bird illustration!
Please let us know how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle
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Toughie No 3625 by Hudson
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from a grey, wet, windy Wirral. It is only two weeks since we had a Tuesday Hudson, so I was pleasantly surprised to see his name appear when I opened my slightly damp Dead Tree this morning. However, we have a very different beast today compared with the previous one – still a lot of fun, but a puzzle that I felt would not have been out of place later in the week (not that I am complaining). There are a couple of gimmes to get the ball rolling, but then it is into full-on Toughie territory, with a smattering of GK that needed to be checked. The clues are all fair and clear, even if some of the parsing took a bit of effort (I’m looking at you, 1d and 12a…) and are combined with Hudson’s smooth, narrative (often deceptively so) surfaces. With Honourable Mentions for the Italian hothead, and 17d and 20d, my podium places go to the 14a/18a double act, with 11a on the top step by a nose.
Thank you, Hudson, for a comprehensive, but tasty, stiffener to start the week!
Please let us know how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
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Toughie No 3621 by Chalicea
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Hello and welcome to another Toughie week. I was expecting Chalicea to be on duty today, and I wasn’t disappointed. I found this a notch or two above her normal difficulty level – definitely not in Floughie territory – and thoroughly enjoyed having to dig around in slightly more obscure areas of vocabulary. I’m also pleased that I can use “synonym” in the hints, unlike last Tuesday. I have plenty of Smileys over the clues, notably 1a, 2a, 3d and 12a, but my favourite is the very elegant (if not too difficult) 4d. You’ll need your sticky-backed plastic or other type of adhesive for a few of the clues, but not too many need you to ask a responsible adult for help with scissors!
Thank you, Chalicea, for a fun start to the week!
Please let us know how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle
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Toughie No 3617 by Hudson
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment *****
Welcome to the Toughie week, and what a way to start it! Hudson has given us a treat. Given some of the pieces of general knowledge I had to check up, I would not have described this as a Floughie, but I found I had completed it in Floughie time. In fact, my only criticism is that it was all over too soon – another 15 or 20 clues at this standard would have been very welcome indeed. There are some great surfaces, with some sneakiness and some clever crypticness, all set out in concise terms. What’s not to love? I’ve selected 2d, 11a, 15d and 19a for my Roll of Honour, but there are so many to choose from, it might have been easier to pick the few that were merely “good”. Thank you, Hudson, for a cracking puzzle, although 2d has caused some angst with having to avoid it in the hints!
Please let us know how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle
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Toughie No 3613 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Happy New Year from Neston! The weather has turned, and the snow and ice are gradually being washed away. A shame, as both Lord Alfie and I (especially the former!) enjoy early morning strolls on crisp snow. On the plus side, looking for the short-eared and barn owls at the Old Baths won’t feel quite so much like a cryogenic experience.
Dada’s puzzle today has provided something of a jolt after the Festive period. It took a while before I started to get onto the right sort of wavelength. There are plenty of inventive, lesser-spotted pieces of word play, but all very fair. I’ve given my prizes today to 1a, 11a, 19d and 21d. Thank you, Dada, for effecting a thorough clean-out of the mental cobwebs.
Please let us know how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle
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Toughie No 3609 by Chalicea
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Hello, good whenever and welcome from a grey, but calm, Wirral today.
Chalicea has turned up the difficulty dial a little in places for this puzzle; this is certainly not a Floughie, but was finished in just about in one-star time for me. Amongst a few “gimmes” are some slightly more unusual senses and at least one pitfall for the unwary solver, although nothing that requires knowledge of what I would class as obscurities. All very fairly and clearly clued, too. My podium places today go to 25a, 14d and 18d. Thank you, Chalicea, for an enjoyable solve.
As this is my final blog of 2025, I will take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year.
Please let us know how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle
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Toughie No 3606 by Stick Insect
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Greetings once again from the Wirral. Yes, you must be on the Big Dave De-colonised Universal Non-Patriarchal Behavioural Trait List, and you’ve got me blogging for a second day in succession. Things Can Only Get Better… but then look how that turned out!
Stick Insect, to whom, many thanks, has given us a very gentle puzzle by normal Wednesday standards, which made for a relaxed and enjoyable solve. The boundary clues were all solved pretty quickly which aided the process, with just a few that took a bit more thinking about (and which pretty much occupy my podium spots) but nothing too drastic. My prizes places go to 7d, 17a, with 25a with 27a equal at the top for their condensed cleverness.
Merry Christmas to all of the setters, bloggers, commenters and readers who don’t comment (and I’d love to hear from you)!
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