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 ***
When I saw that today’s puzzle was by Osmosis, I knew I was in for a tough battle and so it proved to be. In his other guise at the Independent, he tends to produce the most difficult puzzles there. Here there are some really clever clues, but one or two that cause some tooth-sucking. Apologies too for the lateness, a difficult Thursday for me.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
You have to work to get the answers in this very enjoyable puzzle. One or two clues have wordplay that takes a bit of unravelling, but there is nothing here that is beyond the capabilities of the average Toughie solver. That’s what I wrote twelve weeks ago, the last time I reviewed a Toughie from this setter, and little seems to have changed!
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Once again we have a challenging Toughie from Osmosis with some pretty complicated wordplay. With some of the clues I felt like I’d taken a piece of equipment apart and put it back together, only to find that I’d got a bit left over! An extraordinary number of the clues involve a reversal of some or all of the letters. I really enjoyed battling with this one.
Continue reading “Toughie 177”
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
A fairly ferocious puzzle from Osmosis today and one that pushed me to my solving limits. Most of the clues have excellent surface reading and it is easy to see that the puzzle has been carefully put together. All very clever cluing which took some time and effort to untangle. This is turning out to be a splendid week for the Toughie puzzles.
I’ve tried to explain clues as best as I can, and would welcome youir comments. As usual, the blank bit between the curly brackets can be highlighted to reveal the answer.
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
You have to work to get the answers in this very enjoyable puzzle. One or two clues have wordplay that takes a bit of unravelling, but there is nothing here that is beyond the capabilities of the average Toughie solver.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I made steady progress through this puzzle – very few easy clues, but only one or two really difficult ones.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Some good, some devilish.