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.
Toughie No 3636 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
A typical Osmosis offering containing lots of clever wordplay which I enjoyed. Getting 6d and all the 3-letter answers early gave me a good start. 23a took me longest to parse.
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Toughie No 3612 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
There are a few gimmes here but in the main this required a fair bit of work. There are no anagrams (that’s fine by me) and I enjoyed the challenge a lot. Thanks to Osmosis.
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Toughie No 3588 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
We have a typical Osmosis puzzle with cunningly-disguised definitions, clever wordplay, nothing really obscure and a welcome lack of anagrams. I enjoyed the challenge – thanks to Osmosis.
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Toughie No 3572 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
A properly tough Friday-level puzzle with no anagrams which I enjoyed doing battle with. Thanks to Osmosis.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
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Toughie No 3548 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
This is a proper 19d from Osmosis with loads of clever wordplay, a lack of anagrams and a minimum of obscurities. I made solid progress through the puzzle until I got held up (largely due to 7d) in the NE corner. Many thanks to our setter for the entertainment.
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Toughie No 3524 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
Osmosis is at his most devious today. This took me some time but getting the spine of the grid (5d) early was a big help. I did enjoy the struggle – many thanks to our setter.
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Toughie No 3500 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
Osmosis has brought his usual bag of tricks to this puzzle which I really enjoyed working through. He’s given us almost (but not quite) a pangram, a pleasing lack of anagrams and pairs of the more unusual letters juxtaposed in the centre of the grid.
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Toughie No 3460 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
Osmosis always gives us a proper Toughie with cunningly disguised definitions and clever wordplay. Today there are no anagrams and only the absence of K stops the puzzle from being a pangram. I enjoyed working through it – thanks to our setter.
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Toughie No 3428 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Thanks to Osmosis for a Friday-level Toughie which I enjoyed working through. I was slow to start but eventually gained a foothold in in the SW corner and proceeded slowly but steadily in a clockwise direction, finishing in the SE. Osmosis has given us a lot of clever wordplay and no anagrams.
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Toughie No 3412 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
Many thanks to Osmosis for what I found to be a pretty tricky puzzle with his usual clever wordplay and no anagrams. I had some difficulty in deciding what to underline for a few clues.
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