Putting the words to lights – crossword clues explained in plain English
Osmosis is Michael Warburton. He is also Scorpion of the Independent and Aardvark of the Financial Times.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
Another near-pangram, no Z. I slowly got through 3 quadrants then came a cropper in NE – took me ages – my last ones in were 6d and 13a (and I’m still not sure I’ve parsed 13a right – PS: I didn’t!… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ****/***** – Enjoyment *****
Only one letter of the alphabet omitted today (J). I thought we might have a pangram, but not quite. I’m not at all sure about 22a – if anyone has any better ideas, please let me know.… Continue reading
Toughie number 2956 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Dutch
Difficulty: ***** Enjoyment ****
I found this tricky with some devious definitions. However we have a very nice pattern one block in from the perimeter.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought Continue reading “Toughie 2956”
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
I was slow to get going in the top half, but the rest seemed more tractable. Thankfully, there were a few easier clues. Again, Osmosis has omitted almost half the alphabet.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
Again, Osmosis omits 12 letters of the alphabet. This seemed a little easier than past puzzles, though it still took me 4* time and I’m not seeing the parsing of 27a.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
In retrospect this all looks reasonable, but I struggled to the point where it started affecting my enjoyment. Again, Osmosis omits many letters of the alphabet from the grid.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
We are again missing 12 letters of the alphabet in the grid. A tricky and nicely-crafted puzzle. I managed to complete the grid in just under 5* time but still had some parsing to do when writing up the blog!… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
Osmosis uses just 14 letters of the alphabet. Today is the first time I’ve been able to use this to my advantage: once I had a Y, I knew what the two algebraic variables were likely to be.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
I found parts of this quite difficult. Again, Osmosis has omitted 12/26 letters of the alphabet (though we have Z).
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ***/****
Today’s Osmosis felt a bit easier than some of his recent puzzles. Once again, he omits eleven letters of the alphabet in his grid. I appreciated the clues more on writing up the blog than during the solve, which often happens.… Continue reading