Toughie No 2988 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Dutch
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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
Toughie No 2972 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Dutch
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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.
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Toughie No 2940 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Dutch
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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
Toughie No 2924 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Dutch
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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
Toughie No 2908 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Dutch
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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
Toughie No 2892 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Dutch
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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
Toughie No 2876 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Dutch
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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
Toughie No 2852 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Dutch
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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
Toughie No 2828 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Dutch
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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