Toughie No 644 by Giovanni
Wisdom of The Fool
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
This is only marginally more difficult than one of Giovanni’s Friday back-pagers though it probably has more clues where a smattering of general knowledge is useful. As is often the case I got both long anagrams from the enumeration first and worked out the fodder afterwards (which is why I’m not very keen on long multi-word anagrams). There’s a factual error in 2d but that didn’t impair my enjoyment of the puzzle.
Tell us what you thought of it and please remember to indicate how entertaining you found it by clicking on one of the stars below.
Continue reading “Toughie 644”
Toughie No 625 by Giovanni
Hints and tips by Bufo
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +<
BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
Trickier than many a Giovanni Toughie (but none the worse for that). The northeast corner eluded me for a time when I had to think hard about 4 down and 6 down.
Continue reading “Toughie 625”
Toughie No 613 by Giovanni
Hints and tips by Bufo
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
I must have been on Giovanni’s wavelength this morning because I breezed through this with no problems (except that I had to convince myself that the definition in 1 across is OK)
Continue reading “Toughie 613”
Toughie No 595 by Giovanni
The Grumpy Old Man is back again!
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *
My problem with Giovanni’s puzzles is that you never know which Giovanni is going to turn up. I found this one to be a boring slog and I didn’t enjoy it at all.
Continue reading “Toughie 595”
Toughie No 580 by Giovanni
Hey Donny, Donny
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Giovanni’s Toughies are not normally that much harder than his back-page puzzles and that applies today. This is pretty much on a par with his Cryptic last Friday, largely because even if you don’t know a word (as I didn’t 22d) the wordplay will normally lead you unerringly to it. It does have some very clever and enjoyable clues.
Let us know how you fared with it in a comment and please click on one of the stars below to show how you rated it.
Continue reading “Toughie 580”
Toughie No 573 by Giovanni
Hints and tips by Bufo
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
A typical Giovanni Toughie – perfectly fair and not overtough
Continue reading “Toughie 573”
Toughie No 557 by Giovanni
Hints and tips by Bufo
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
This was a very pleasant puzzle from Giovanni. I didn’t find it too difficult although I did slow down in the north-east corner where 8 down was new to me and the wordplay at 6 across evaded me for a time.
Continue reading “Toughie 557”
Toughie No 539 by Giovanni
What do you want?
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
A very enjoyable puzzle from Giovanni today. I liked the sixties reference, even though it eluded me at first.
Continue reading “Toughie 539”
Toughie No 524 by Giovanni
Polymaths Required!
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Giovanni has given us a Toughie which covers a broad spectrum of knowledge from Greek mythology to jazz musician via a meteor shower. As always his definitions are very precise and his wordplay is exceedingly fair. I struggled with it a bit (especially 4d) but enjoyed it a lot.
Let us know how you got on in a comment and please don’t forget to signal how much you enjoyed it by clicking on one of the stars below.
Continue reading “Toughie 524”
Toughie No 511 by Giovanni
Hints and tips by Big Dave
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
A very pleasant but not too difficult puzzle from the Maestro.
Continue reading “Toughie 511”