Toughie No 500 by Didi Guess
Distinctly Difficult Delight
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
We have a super puzzle today to celebrate the 500th Toughie, set by the mysterious DiDi Guess (with, as is explained in the paper and on-line, the considerable assistance of eight better known setters). We are promised a breakdown of who set which clues tomorrow, so that means we have the opportunity to show how well (or badly) we recognise the characteristics of the individual setters by making educated guesses today.
As is quite usual for me I missed the theme completely until I’d finished (at least I did spot it then – I quite often miss these things altogether until somebody points them out). It’s all to do with the Roman numeral for 500.
So, let us know how you liked it and who you think set which clues and then we’ll all have a good laugh tomorrow when we find out the correct answers. I’ve put a few of my thoughts at the bottom of the review.
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Toughie No 496 by Giovanni
I’ll never view Tapestries the same way again
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I really enjoyed this Giovanni Toughie. Let us know how you found it in a comment and please remember to click on one of the stars below to show how much you liked it.
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Toughie No 480 by Giovanni
Looking On The Bright Side
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Good morning from a very cold, white Devon, where it looks as though the snow has decided to stick around until next year, but never mind – we’ve got past the shortest day and it can only get better from now on, can’t it?
We have a middle-of-the-road Toughie from Giovanni today, neither too easy nor too difficult (though I had to consult Chambers quite a lot). Let us know how you fared in a comment, and please take the time to click on one of the stars below to register how much you liked it.
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Toughie No 467 by Giovanni
Speak proper like what I do!
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *
Once upon a time I used to look forward to Giovanni puzzles, but I did not enjoy this one. It was not helped by two poor homophones, one of which was the worst I have seen in a long time. I’m sure some of you will disagree – feel free to comment
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Toughie No 452 by Giovanni
A Surfeit of Names
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
There are lots of proper names in this puzzle – forenames, surnames, towns, regions and countries. There are also a few words which are new (to me at any rate) but Giovanni, as usual, makes the wordplay fairly straightforward for these.
As always, we like to get your opinions in a comment, and please remember to show how much you enjoyed it by clicking on one of the stars below.
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Toughie No 436 by Giovanni
A Game of Two Halves
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I breezed through the bottom half of this but had more trouble in the top half. It has a nice variety of clues (with only three anagrams, hurrah!) and (for me) two new words. I enjoyed solving it, and, as always, I’d like to hear your views.
Please don’t forget to register your liking or otherwise for the puzzle by clicking on one of the stars below.
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Toughie No 424 by Giovanni
The Lonesome Crustacean
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
I don’t think that this is substantially different, in terms of difficulty, from some of Giovanni’s normal cryptic puzzles on Fridays. There are a couple of uncommon words (or rather, uncommon meanings of common words), but nothing that’s not gettable from the wordplay. Do you agree or not? Let me know in a comment.
Please remember to click on one of the stars below to show how much you enjoyed the puzzle.
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Toughie No 408 by Giovanni
Drunk and Drunk Again
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
I thoroughly enjoyed this puzzle which is a proper Toughie and has some cracking clues, although I think that there’s an error in 3d.
Let us have your opinion of it in a comment, and please don’t forget to click on one of the stars below to indicate how well you liked it.
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Toughie No 395 by Giovanni
Sounds of the Sixties
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
You never quite know which Giovanni is going to turn up when you tackle one of his Toughies. Having said that, it didn’t take me long to realise that I was in for a struggle today. The usual smattering of religious references and (almost – see 24a) impeccable cluing produced an excellent puzzle.
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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Toughie No 385 by Giovanni
Hints and tips by Bufo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I enjoyed this puzzle and thought it was the right standard for a toughie. Although there were a lot of less common words used I didn’t find any of them overly obscure and I finished it without recourse to dictionaries, etc. However, I didn’t care for the grid with its four poorly-connected corners. I had problems with the bottom right but this was caused by my carelessly writing the author’s name in at 23 down and thence being unable to solve the acrosses.
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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