Toughie No 342 by Elgar
Little ****
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
I chose to tackle this over breakfast at a nearby Little Chef. It can be said that ideal conditions for tackling an Elgar are a pleasant, airy environment with perhaps a plateful of good food and cafetière of refreshing coffee to provide those “set it aside for a moment” opportunities. That didn’t stop me from going to the Little Chef though.
And, frankly, it didn’t help as I found this puzzle a bit of a monster in places. Predictably, I’m starting this write-up with no understanding of some of the wordplay constructs, and (since the fingers are currently busy) legs are crossed that those little lights will dawn as I write.
Favourite clues are in blue, as usual.
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Toughie No 329 by Elgar
The F Word!
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
A pinch and a punch it’s the first of the month and an entertaining puzzle by Elgar which has a definite eye on the calendar. Compared to some we have seen recently, this is a true Toughie that should delight the connoisseur and really stretch the newer solvers.
Elgar has worked so hard to ensure that all the across clues and several down clues all contain the F Word, and each one refers to a different word that means the F Word; a quite breath-taking feat. I would recommend having Mrs Bradford and her marvellous book at your side, if you still plan to tackle this and haven’t done so.
As usual the clue answers are hidden between the curly brackets for you to highlight with your mouse, if you wish to see them. We welcome your comments after the blog and you can rate the puzzle with our star system.
Masochists needing a further fix of today’s setter can find one just for today at this web link: –
http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/puzzles/crosswords/cryptic/
As an extra bit of help today, here are the words for fool used in the puzzle, but not in any particular order!
ASS, CLOT, DOPE, GIT, GOWK, NERD, OAF, PRAT, SAP, TWIT
Off we go!
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Toughie No 322 by Elgar
Under pressure!
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
I feel awful about this. Time constraints mean I’m writing this review in a desperate rush, so I can’t be as expansive as usual in my comments.
This was a tough one for me, the NW corner taking an age to fall into place. Some wordplay I didn’t understand at the time of completing the grid but, on reflection, it’s the usual mix of entertaining wickedness from Elgar – a fine, occasionally naughty, but ultimately satisfying challenge.
My favourite clues are in blue.
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Toughie No 314 by Elgar
This is what Fridays are for
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
The last time I reviewed an Elgar puzzle it was a “blind” solve; had no idea who had set it. This time I was forewarned so was on the lookout for his trademark trickery which, naturally, shines through in this mega-tough but highly entertaining (occasionally very naughty) puzzle. 4d, 5d and 12d are sure to raise both giggles among the knowing and temperatures among the sweet and innocent, but it’s all good fun.
It was a tricky solve in most areas, but the SE corner put up most resistance, and (as always seems to be the case with me) a number of answers went in without parsing the wordplay, so I’m hoping those pennies will drop as I write.
Favourite clues are in blue although, because there were a lot of them, I’ll try to narrow it down to my top half dozen or so.
Please do leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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Toughie No 302 by Elgar
Yes, but why?
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment **
With most crosswords – especially those of the harder variety – you can expect to fill in one or two answers without fully understanding the wordplay. For me this must have been some kind of record; certainly one of the quicker fills I’ve done, but with around half a dozen clues I couldn’t unravel. Until I went back in for a closer look, 10a, 26a, 2d, 3d, 11d, 19d and 23d had me flummoxed and there were a couple I wasn’t absolutely sure I’d got right until I saw the solution grid.
Big Dave came to the rescue with the explanations for some – I’m amazed that he worked them out because some of the clueing liberties taken are close to outrageous. I can’t use that as a reason to mark down the enjoyment; in all honesty my Telegraph solving career is still in its infancy and not all of its wiles are fully ingrained yet. But I didn’t find the clues particularly convincing and some of their surfaces felt almost random.
So, a pretty tough one I think. I’ve shown my favourite clues in blue – let me know which ones floated your barge, or indeed which ones sank your kayak.
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Toughie No 290 by Elgar
An A to Z of Stifled Giggles
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Seeing as Elgar and I evidently share precisely the same brain I just flew through this one with barely a pause, but that’s not always a good thing, you know. You miss things. You miss subtleties. You put in answers and don’t really understand why they’re right.
This pangrammatic Friday frolic was bursting with good moments although it’s a case of fingers crossed that by the time I reach some of the clues I’ll have twigged what was going on (although, in all honesty, 10a isn’t far away and that’s the first piece of puzzledom).
Favourite clues are shown in blue.
Leave a comment telling us what you thought. I don’t expect to see responses in the hundred but it would be nice to get well into double figures! You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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New Year’s Eve Toughie No 277 by Elgar
2 + 9 = 15
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Elgar gives us yet another treat and a completely unexpected theme linking all of the answers.
SPOILER ALERT – only reveal the next sentence if you are really stuck
{All answers contain at least one instance of the letters RE, which are ignored in the wordplay – except for 10a, which is odd (unless I’m missing something). The first number in brackets refers to the number of letters used in the wordplay.}
My favourite clues are shown in blue (although it feels like a slightly odd thing to do – normally I’d highlight such clues only if they adhere to standard cryptic format).
For the utterly bamboozled, answers are shown within curly brackets – click and highlight to reveal them. And please chip in and let us know what you thought of the puzzle.
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Toughie No 100001 by Elgar
Christmas Streamer
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
This is a marvellous piece of crossword construction by a superbly entertaining setter. As we’ve come to expect there is a smattering of rule bending but we wouldn’t have it any other way, and the rewards are spectacularly good. With so many answers contributing to the message it’s inevitable that a couple of obscurities have crept in, but that didn’t spoil the fun for me.
The message itself takes up no less than 12 grid entries – in order, 20d, 12a, 28a, 15d, 10a, 1a, 17d, 5a, 21a, 30a, 16a and 9a – a mighty achievement and you’ll see how these placings pretty much forced everything else into place. The message forms the first lines of a poem by George R Sims.
My favourite clues are shown in blue – how do they compare with yours? Leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
A Very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
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Toughie No 274 by Elgar
Christmas cracker!
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
Seasonal Greetings from the snowy Calder Valley!
An absolutely stunning festive puzzle from Elgar today, which not only features a special Christmas favourite as the theme but a rattling good set of clues to boot. Only one clue I have a bit of a grumble about but I can see what our setter is aiming at with it. A couple of new words to me as well, but that’s all part of the fun of solving a Toughie. If you are really, really stuck, there’s a big hint at the very end of the puzzle.
As a chum of Elgar’s I am probably a bit biased, but this shows a compiler at the top of his game and why he is often regarded as a “setter’s setter”. I am already looking forward to his next one which may well be lurking around Clued Up tomorrow. Don’t forget that you can have a free trial this week, so do make sure you get the two special puzzles on the site tomorrow. If for any reason you miss them, I am sure one of the nice bods around these parts may oblige!
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Toughie No 268 by Elgar
A trip down memory lane
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
A quick look at the CluedUp leaderboard this morning showed that only a handful of people had finished this puzzle, so I immediately had an idea as to the setter! Today’s answers include references to the fifties, sixties and seventies – making it a bit hard for the youngsters among you, but bringing smiles to the faces of the rest of us.
A lot of favourite clues today, the best of which I have highlighted in blue.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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