Toughie No 1228 by MynoT
A load of 20 across?
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
A relatively straightforward Toughie from MynoT. One enjoyment star has been docked for the howler in 6 down.
Category: MynoT
MynoT is Tony Martin
Toughie 1204
Toughie No 1204 by MynoT
Hints and tips by Bufo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
I filled the grid in without much difficulty but there were four answers whose wordplay had eluded me. I have since sorted these out with varying degrees of success (from total success to total failure)
Toughie 1186
Toughie No 1186 by MynoT
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
I get the impression that MynoT puzzles are an acquired taste, you either acquire it or you don’t. I must confess that, with the exception of the boring run of puzzles featuring successive letters of the alphabet, I am in the former camp.
Toughie 1166
Toughie No 1166 by MynoT
Over, Under, Sideways, Down
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
A fairly benign offering from Mynot, which features apposite answers on the four sides.
Toughie 1142
Toughie No 1142 by MynoT
Fairy Tales
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
A gentle start to the week. At one time I thought this puzzle was going to put up quite a fight, but suddenly it all fell into place.
Toughie 1126
Toughie No 1126 by MynoT
The Sound of Music
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
Five years ago today I set up what was then called Big Dave’s Toughie Blog, with the first set of Toughie hints published the following day. I was really chuffed to get 26 page views that day, rising to 101 the following day. The comparable figure for yesterday was 13,360. Gazza’s first review was published on 12th February followed by Libellule’s on 13th February. Of the early visitors, Paul is still with us, albeit under a different alias, and Big Boab first looked in on 3rd February.
MynoT on a Tuesday? Yes, it’s certainly one of his easier puzzles.
Toughie 1104
Toughie No 1104 by MynoT
Hints and tips by Bufo
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Not very time-consuming. I don’t care for this grid with all the black squares. I feel as though I’m being short-changed. Mynot’s puzzles often have a ‘theme’ but I haven’t spotted anything in this puzzle. Have I missed something?
Toughie 1080
Toughie No 1080 by MynoT
Hints and tips by Bufo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
My heart sank when I saw that my first blogging assignment for four weeks was to be a MynoT puzzle. But I soon cheered up when I found it to be a really a good puzzle and a vast improvement on many of MynoT’s offerings. Once again I showed that I am one of the world’s worse nina spotters because I didn’t see the rather obvious nina until after I’d finished the puzzle. But this was probably a good thing because had I spotted it early on I might now be complaining that the puzzle was too easy! There were a couple of answers that I hadn’t met before but these could readily be worked out from the wordplay.
Toughie 1051
Toughie No 1051 by MynoT
Bring Back the Alphabet?
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
In the past I (as well as other bloggers) may have given the impression that I was fed up with MynoT’s ‘alphabetical’ series and wished that he would move on to something else. Now that he has moved on I sort of wish that he hadn’t, because what we have now is decent enough as a puzzle but it’s not really a Toughie and there is a lack of sparkle. Of course there may be a Nina or theme there but if there is it’s passed me by.
Continue reading “Toughie 1051”
Toughie 1020
Toughie No 1020 by MynoT
Is there a nina?
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment **/***
An acceptable though somewhat unexciting puzzle. The only minor problem was with 28 across where I had to make up the answer from the anagram. MynoT’s puzzles usually have a nina. If there’s one here I haven’t spotted it, but then I am one of the world’s worst nina spotters. I’m sure that if there is one some clever person will let me know.