Sunday Toughie No 195 by Zandio
Review by
Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 19th October 2025
Category: Zandio (Sunday)
Sunday Toughie 195 (Hints)
Sunday Toughie No 195
by Zandio (With a little help from CL)
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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Here We Go…
Sunday Toughie 191 (Review)
Sunday Toughie No 191 by Zandio
Review by
Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 21st September 2025
Sunday Toughie 191 (Hints)
Sunday Toughie No 191
by Zandio
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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A very clever Sunday Toughie I really enjoyed solving last night, some typical Zandio Roman numbers and some great PDMs. The linked 14a and 18a are a particular favourite, along with 27a, but 24a gets the gold today. What were your favourites?
14a and 14d clues today, and I have hinted at half. I hope you find the checkers to fill the grid, and I will give a nudge or two if required, and entertaining Mama Bee permits.
Here We Go…
Sunday Toughie 186 (Review)
Sunday Toughie No 186 by Zandio
Review by
Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 17th August 2025
Sunday Toughie 186 (Hints)
Sunday Toughie No 186
by Zandio
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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Almost forgot a pre-amble, An even 14a and 14d clues and I have hinted half. I hope you find the checkers to finish.
I will provide a bonus nudge if needed, not that I expect you will. This tripped off the laptop in a rather brisk fashion.
Here We Go…
Sunday Toughie 182 (Review)
Sunday Toughie No 182 by Zandio
Review by
Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 20th July 2025
Sunday Toughie 182 (Hints)
Sunday Toughie No 182
by Zandio
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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A veritable herd of Wildebeest today and I really enjoyed it. When we were heading across the plain with nyala and gnu’s, I was sure we were heading to the Serengeti.
Some quite tricky constructions have hit the cutting room floor, I will try and give a nudge if you are struggling. Zandio brought us some devious manipulation of Roman numerals in his Friday backpager, and a similar (unhinted) construction appears again.
5d and 18a share the second step on my podium, just below 15a – which did you like?
Lurkers and anagrams are largely unhinted, and I have hinted 6 across and 8 down of an even 28 clues today. I hope you find enough checkers to find the rest.
Here We Go…
Sunday Toughie 178 (Review)
Sunday Toughie No 178 by Zandio
Review by
Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 22nd June 2025
Sunday Toughie 178 (Hints)
Sunday Toughie No 178
by Zandio
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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A great Toughie from Zandio today, I managed to see it at about 11:30 last night and it didn’t take me much past midnight to fill the grid. Parsing it this morning took longer. The Spoonerism and nod to our new Tuesday Toughie blogger is probably my favourite today, but plenty of podium candidates.
I don’t think it is sufficient to call a theme but a couple of military units hit the cutting room floor, and another sneaks into 28a. I will try and nudge unhinted clues, if you identify some or all of the picture for 28a
We have 14a and 16d clues today and I have hinted half.
Hello, compiler here. Thanks very much for taking the time to solve, analyse and discuss.
I hope you might take a look at this weekend’s Sunday Toughie. I was in Yorkshire last month visiting Chris Lancaster, the Telegraph Puzzles Editor, and I had a newly-filled grid which I asked him to print out for me so I could write clues on the train journey home. Chris kindly did, and then immediately started suggesting ideas for clues. The upshot is, there are several clues in the Sunday Toughie that originated with Mr Lancaster. I’m pretty sure one of them will be the favourite clue of the day — an absolute corker (which I can say because it wasn’t my idea). Hope you enjoy it.
Thanks again for the feedback today. Have a great weekend.
14a, 1d, 2d and 19d were fighting it out for my podium, but I am not going to try and guess which clues Zandio is referring to; I enjoyed them all. I would like to have hinted many more, but the convention on prize puzzles limits me to about half hints. Even the Spoonerism missed the cut today (btw it is Russian)
We have 14a and 16d clues today, and I have hinted at half. Several lurkers that may trap the unwary and anagrams, including an &lit anagram, missed the cut, too.