Sunday Toughie No 181
by Light
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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Not as easy as last week from Beam, not as hard as the last from Light. I had to scratch my crumpet several times and slept on a couple of parsings, but I think I have them now.
14a and 16d clues today and I have hinted half. I hope you get the checkers to finish. I will try and provide a bonus hint if required and connectivity permits.
As you will see, I have been experimenting with spoilers – I hope they work
Here we go, Folks…
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Enigmatic Variations 1703 (Hints)
Opening by Gaston
Hints and tips by Gabriel and Jpeg
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Gaston to my middlebrow brain hints at Beauty and the Beast – of which my main memory is that of my son sitting on my lap when the Disney film was released and since he was so excited he…
Gemini wasn’t much help: e.g.… Continue reading
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3325 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where we have another Province wide State of Emergency because of the once more increasing wildfire situation. Some Northern communities are being evacuated for the second time and some for the first time. Resulting from drifting smoke, air quality across the Province is very poor. An Air Quality Index (AQI), on an 11-point scale, from 1 to 10 and ‘Plus’ is calculated using a very peculiar formula. An AQI of 1 is Low Risk, 10 is High Risk, and Plus (anything more than 10) is Very High Risk. For the last few days we have been at least 9. Very unpleasant when one goes outside.
For me, and I stress for me©, Dada reasonably friendly until I had a cataclysmic senior moment in the SE – five anagrams (one partial), one lurker, and one homophone all in a symmetric 32 clues; with 16 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, you should be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. And, remember, my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30977 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by crypticsue)
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Sunday Toughie No 180
by Beam
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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Beam here with quite a friendly Sunday Toughie, all his trademarks are present, and apart from the sailors at 1d, I don’t think this will trouble THE LIST™committee or solvers too much. All the Beam trademarks are present with a fair bit of “ooh er missus” 17a double entendre.
We have a generous 16a and 16d clues, and I have hinted less than half, allowing me to provide a nudge or two if required.
Here we go, Folks…
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Enigmatic Variations 1702 (Hints)
Low Rider by Kolya
Hints and tips by Phibs
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Not that I pay any attention to TV ads, of course, but the name of our debutant setter immediately put me in mind of ‘the window to watch’ (that will make no sense whatsoever to younger readers), and the title of the puzzle has got me singing (sotto voce, thankfully for all concerned) the War song of that name (“All – my – friends – know the low rider” etc), used for several years as part of Marmite’s ‘Love it or Hate it’ campaign. Great to have a puzzle from a setter new to the EV series, this time perhaps with Russian connections or a fondness for The Brothers Karamazov. Demonstrating that setters are not unlike buses in their habits, another newcomer will be along in just two weeks’ time.
I asked Claude, “We are told that a themed crossword puzzle includes four notable examples of a ‘low rider’ and that one example must be illustrated ‘at a stretch’ in the completed grid? What might we be looking for?”
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Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3324 (Hints)
Hints and tips by Senf
A very good Sunday morning from Winnipeg where, after almost a week in a Turkish Bath with an occasional thunderstorm, we are forecast to have some sensible low to middle 20s temperatures before we go back into Turkish Bath conditions.
For me, and I stress for me©, Dada less friendly than he has been recently – six anagrams (two partials), one lurker, and three homophones all in a symmetric 30 clues; with a generous 16 hints ‘sprinkled’ throughout the grid, you should be able to get the checkers to enable the solving of the unhinted clues. And, remember, my electronic blue pencil is at the ready and the Naughty Step is OPEN!
Candidates for favourite – 10a, 18a, 24a, 5d, 17d, and 20d.
As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, a number of the what I very subjectively perceive to be the more difficult clues have been selected and hints provided for them.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 30971 (Hints)
The Saturday Crossword Club (hosted by crypticsue)
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Sunday Toughie No 179
by proXimal
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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I met proXimal at The George last Tuesday (among many others, Karla, Donnybrook, Weatherman, Eccles, Elgar, Kitty, Cephas, Shabbo being a few I can remember before the Small Beer and Sun on thinning brow addled my faculties!) and he promised me a quite tricky Spoonerism to start today. He was right! – It was quite late in the solve before the correct apostle revealed himself.
I also learned that his blogging name is from the Latin for in favour of pro and Ximal – Of or pertaining to the cryptic crossword style used and defined by “Ximenes” (Derrick Somerset Macnutt), whereby an acceptable cryptic clue must have a precise definition, a fair and strictly grammatical subsidiary indication, and no redundant elements beyond these. You can take it that all his clues follow these guidelines and are fair to the solver.
14a and 14d today, and I have hinted half, a few tricky clues hit the cutting room floor, so I will try to provide a nudge or two if the Brass Band competition on Wetherby Ings permits
Here we go, Folks…
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Enigmatic Variations 1701 (Hints)
Odd Couples by Luxor
Hints and tips by Gabriel
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So we need to find 6 clues in acrosses and downs respectively that have their definitions swapped.… Continue reading