Toughie No 190 by Kcit
Elegant and Enjoyable
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from a soggy Calder Valley (Hebden Bridge sur mer!) and here are the results of Thursday’s Toughie Jury. In his various guises, Kcit is one of my favourite setters and like Giovanni produces beautifully consistent and elegant puzzles. Today’s is no exception and contains clues to make you smile, as well as clues that are technically sound and accurate.
Incidentally some news for those of you who also tackle the Guardian puzzle. One of their long-running setters, Albie Fiore, who compiled under the pen-name Taupi (and Satori in the FT) died yesterday. Albie’s puzzles were usually fiendishly difficult, but always fair and contained elegance and wit in every clue. A sad loss to the world of crosswords. My condolences to his wife and family.
Don’t forget you can rate the puzzle by awarding it a star rating below left. Your comments are always welcome and positively encouraged. New posters always take a little longer to appear as the first post has to be approved to check for spammers. Continue reading “Toughie 190”
Toughie No 165 by KciT
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
This is another good Toughie which is not as difficult as some, but is full of well-constructed and entertaining clues.
As Big Dave mentioned in his Toughie review last Friday, we are changing our approach to the Toughie reviews slightly, on the basis that solvers at this level do not need to have every nook and cranny of the wordplay explained. You’ll notice that for some of the more complicated clues I’ve still explained the wordplay in full, whereas for others I’ve just given general hints. I should really appreciate getting feedback as to whether I’ve got the blend right or not. If there is anything that needs further explanation please mention it in a comment and I’ll try to expand on it.
Continue reading “Toughie 165”
Toughie No 148 by Kcit
Not as difficult as it looks
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
I’m still struggling with the effects of Saturday’s hard drive crash combined with an Internet connection that is varying today from poor to non-existent. Will be back with this puzzle after a trip to the dentist. Can the day get any worse?
Well, I finally managed to get around to this puzzle, and it looked at first as if it was going to be difficult. However, the setter was very kind with all four long answers being anagrams. One or two curiosities, but overall not a bad puzzle.
Continue reading “Toughie 148”
Toughie No 133 by KciT
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
This is a fairly tough Toughie with a few obscure words. I liked some of the clues and disliked others, but the whole thing was certainly an enjoyable challenge.
Continue reading “Toughie No 133”
Toughie No 122 by Kcit
Today’s hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Today’s Toughie is one of the easier ones, which means it’s a good one to start if you haven’t tried them before. My two star difficulty rating would put it at about three stars for a regular daily cryptic.
[OK BigBoab, there are one or two tricky words, but then you finish this puzzle wiser than when you started!]
Continue reading “Toughie No 122”
Toughie No 89 by Kcit
A fair bit harder than yesterday
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Some across clues:
Continue reading “Toughie No 89”