Toughie No 3735 by Django
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Solid stuff from Django today, with his usual flourishes. 1a tickled me from the off. I once filed a piece for The Independent about Britain’s “poshest” dump. There were working tumble-dryers discarded there willy-nilly – one still in its box, quickly snapped up by the hawk-eyed manager. There was even an on-site shop to sell the best of the plunder that included a W-reg Ford Fiesta (with MOT) and a speedboat. That’s Dorset for you!
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Toughie No 3734 by Prime
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
An excellent mid-week Toughie
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Sunday Toughie No 235 by Silvanus
Review by Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 26th of July 2026
As this is my last review blog, and the hints blog was rather brief, I have gone a bit overboard today. I will continue hinting on Sundays, but Gazza will be reviewing the Sunday Toughie going forward
I hope I have not made the mistake of not checking the fodder for anagrams and apologise to Light for that error last week.
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Toughie No 3733 by Beam
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Whybird is off on his holidays so I’m standing in today.
Beam is obviously the flavour of the month at Telegraph Towers – this is his second Toughie in three days. All his trademarks are present today in a gentle and enjoyable puzzle.
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Sunday Toughie No 236
by Beam
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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Beam has brought all his trademarks today, with a generous 16a and 16d clues today. I have hinted at half, but will try and give a nudge if asked.
Mama Bee wants to go shopping, so I may have to work around her needs.
Here we go, Folks…
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Toughie No 3732 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****
A typical Osmosis puzzle with tricky wordplay and well-disguised definitions throughout. Many thanks to him.
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Toughie No 3731 by Silvanus
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
‘Tis always a (rare-ish) treat to see Silvanus pop up on a Thursday – elegant as ever and nowt too tricky, with a very faint French flavour. 22d was new to me but it’s generously clued and I had to run through a few comedians to crack 12a. Still, the deletion and definition couldn’t be clearer. Even 7d’s botany (my bête noire) is gifted on a plate. So, not tremendously tough, just tremendously entertaining. À vous la parole!
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Toughie No 3730 by Zenas
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
A proper Toughie, which is what we have come to expect from Zenas
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Toughie No 3729 by Chalicea
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
Welcome to another Toughie Week.
For once I managed to Guess the Setter, so started with a win, and the North went in fairly rapidly. However, Chalicea has thrown a couple of curve balls today that had me scrabbling around to check both existence and meaning, and I also came up with what I thought was a reasonable answer for 27a which, being incorrect, made the SW trickier. I particularly liked 1a, 4d, 6a, 13a 28a and 30a but I’m giving my Gold Medal position to 16d.
Thank you, Chalicea, for an enjoyable start to the week.
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
I am taking a brief sabbatical for the next couple of weeks in an attempt to catch up with some “glorified seagulls”. Next week, you will have Gazza and the following week ALP, so thanks to both for filing in.
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Sunday Toughie 235 by Silvanus
Hints & Tips by Sloop John Bee
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