Toughie No 380 by Osmosis
Not so Glum
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
This is my second Osmosis puzzle this month and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. There’s less of the very complicated wordplay that we’ve had from Osmosis in the past (in particular, not as many reversals), but there are some delightfully quirky clues. There are also lots of references to people and places, but I think that they’re all reasonably well-known, except possibly for the footballer who may not be known to younger solvers.
As always we’d love to get your views, so please leave a comment.
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Toughie No 364 by Osmosis
Let’s Play a Game of Reversi
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
I know that Osmosis is not everyone’s cup of tea with his complicated wordplay and seemingly endless supply of reversals, but I normally enjoy battling with him and I enjoyed this one. Let us know what you thought of it, and please remember to click on one of the five stars below.
I won’t be blogging again until next Tuesday, since Gnomethang is standing in for me on the Friday Cryptic.
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Toughie No 352 by Osmosis
All Our Yesterdays
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
Today’s puzzle contains an extraordinary number of names, both of people and places, and most of the people mentioned are no longer with us. Osmosis also takes a few liberties with the wordplay, but in spite of everything I did enjoy battling with it, and there are some really good clues.
What do you think of it? Tell us in a comment (and let me know if you think I’ve got any of the explanations wrong!).
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Toughie No 338 by Osmosis
Please check your indicators are working
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ***
If you like your Toughies tough this one’s definitely for you… or was it just me? After 15 minutes I had only a handful of answers and wasn’t sure where the next was coming from. The problem seemed to be a fairly large number of long-ish clues and quite abstract surface readings which looked hard to break down but, as it turned out, the main difficulties were unusually presented (and occasionally questionable) wordplay indicators.
Although my enjoyment rating of three stars reflects the fact that not many clues were really satisfying to solve, there were some super ones as well, 29a probably being the pick of the bunch – this, and the others I liked, are shown in blue.
We really appreciate your comments, so please give us your thoughts on this puzzle. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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Toughie No 320 by Osmosis
Looking Backwards
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
I had guessed that Osmosis was today’s setter even before I had it confirmed, largely based on his trademark complicated wordplay and the extraordinary number of reversals. There were some entertaining clues, but others seemed a bit forced.
Let us know what you thought by leaving a comment!
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Toughie No 308 by Osmosis
Nailing Jelly to a Wall
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Half the fun of an Osmosis puzzle, for me, is untangling some of the very convoluted wordplay with which he populates his puzzles. This one is no exception, and it also gives us a number of laughs. I really enjoyed it, but there are a number of questionable indicators (and one very dodgy homophone) which may provoke the odd comment!
Let us know what you thought of it – all comments are welcome.
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Toughie No 293 by Osmosis
A Tale of Four Corners
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
Tilsit had another overlong stay at the hospital this morning so I have dragged myself away from my year-end accounts to solve and review this puzzle. Having seen earlier plaintive cries in the daily review comments from those who were stuck, I was expecting the worst, but it wasn’t that bad. I whizzed through the NW corner, gave up on the NE, sailed through the SW and struggled a bit with SE before finally returning to tidy up the NE. As I progressed I realised that younger solvers might well have heard of the pop group formerly fronted by the late, much lamented, Sid Barrett but could well struggle with the entertaining Ms Bryan, a lady who was still performing the splits on stage while well into her seventies.
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Toughie No 272 by Osmosis
What a difference a grid makes!
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Anax commented on the last puzzle from Osmosis that the E/E grid, where the answers appeared in the even numbered rows and columns, made solving harder than it might otherwise have been. This time we have an O/O grid and the puzzle was considerably easier. I felt that the enjoyment was considerably reduced by some very convoluted wordplay, much of which I only managed to resolve after completing the puzzle.
Leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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Toughie No 255 by Osmosis
At full stretch
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ***
This was a bit of a monster, not helped by the E/E* grid and a preponderance of very common cross-checking letters; 8a was a case in point, a ten minute slog with only -A-E- available. The clues were a mix of some truly stunning bits of inventiveness and the occasional grumble, typified by the past participle “welcomed” in 9d.
*E/E means even/even – in which the answers appear in the even-numbered rows and columns.
Please add your comments and questions; and don’t forget the curly brackets contain the answers – left-click and drag the cursor over them if you get really desperate.
Clues in blue are the ones I enjoyed most of all.
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Toughie No 237 by Osmosis
The Nectar of the Gods
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
As usual Osmosis has produced a challenging Toughie, where getting the answer is often much simpler than working out the wordplay. This is an example of how a Toughie can be tricky and entertaining without resorting to very obscure words or the names of people that few have ever heard of.
Let us know what you think of it via a comment.
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