Toughie No 3673 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Welcome to another Toughie Week. I’m back in a Very Spring-like Wirral for this week. The migrants continue to arrive or pass through heading North; the sand martins are back exploring the nesting wall at RSPB Burton Mere, and I managed to successfully twitch the wryneck that spent a day in one of Burton village’s sheep fields. Well, just its head, really – I didn’t have much time en route for a stroll with The Present Lady Whybird through Burton Mere’s lovely bluebell wood.
We have a full-on Toughie from Dada today that could easily have slotted in a day or two later in the week. There are a few musical references, but I’m not sure there are enough to constitute a theme. My solve wasn’t helped by the Dead Tree arriving late, which meant I started on the iPad and only really got into the swing once I had a suitably-folded Broadsheet in my hands. I felt this was a rather quirky puzzle, with a few I’ve had to scratch my head over, but there are also a few absolute belters. I knew I was going to love 14d from the moment I saw it – the idea of an extra brock in reserve that it brought to mind made me smile, although I doubt that was the allusion Dada intended. Nothing to do with the solution, either. Anyway, 14d takes top spot in a 28a with 2d, and with honourable mentions for 1a and 20a. Thank you, Dada, for getting the mental cogs spinning.
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
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Sunday Toughie No 221
by Beam
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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I found this Toughie from Beam at the easier end of difficulty, but your experience may vary. I got an early start, as this was available at 23:18 last night, and although most of his trademark clues are here, we again have a slightly unusual Queen in 20d.
A generous 32 clues today and I have hinted half. I will try and give an extra nudge or two if required and able to do so.
Here we go, Folks…
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Enigmatic Variations 1743 (Hints)
Moral Tale by Stick Insect
Hints and tips by Gabriel / Jpeg
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Stick Insect is presenting us with a challenge relating to some kind of Moral Tale.… Continue reading
Toughie No 3672 by Elgar
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
Exactly what you expect from Elgar’s fortnightly visit to the middle of the paper. As clearly indicated by the clue to 21d, the Across solutions are all hiding items which a 15d might catch
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Toughie No 3671 by Silvanus
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***/****
Not too tricky and typically fair. I suspect 25a, for one, would have taken longer to unpick without crossers but – with them – it flew in. So … pretty gentle for a Thursday, I’d say. All yours.
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Toughie No 3670 by Weatherman
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ***
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Sunday Toughie No 219 by Silvanus
Review by Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 5th of April 2026
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Toughie No 3669 by Shabbo
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Greetings! This week your Itinerant Blogger finds himself in a cottage on the Eaton Manor estate close to Church Stretton – views of Wenlock Edge (complete with Brown Hares on the slopes) to one side, and Long Mynd across the valley. Blackcaps and Nuthatches singing in the garden (and the latter also bizarrely from top of the tower of St Edith’s Church), red kites over the valley. It’s a tough assignment, but someone’s got to do it…
We have another high-quality puzzle from Shabbo to start our Toughie Week. I had just enough of a battle with a few of the clues to take this into Gentle Toughie Territory. Even with some of the gentler clues, I found I had to force myself to break the clues down into their elements and not get distracted by the surfaces. Like Django, but usually more concisely, Shabbo has a knack of leading me down the garden path! My favourites today were the Operatic Repairmen in 22a, the distracting surface in 2d and the narrative anagram in 14d. Thank you, Shabbo, for the entertainment.
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
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Toughie No 3668 by Luxor
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Welcome to Luxor, a new Toughie setter whose name will be known to those who solve the Enigmatic Variations puzzles. I was a bit apprehensive on seeing the new name but I needn’t have worried; this puzzle is pretty gentle for a Friday Toughie.
Thanks to our new setter for the enjoyment.
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Toughie No 3667 by Prime
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ***/****
This seemed quite tricky mid-solve, so I was surprised to look at the clock afterwards – it was actually pretty speedy. I think such contradiction was largely because it took me a moment to find a way in and most of the shorts needed at least one crosser to crack. There is a smidgeon of vocab (12a) and a dollop of religion (12d, etc) but nothing outlandish and all fairly clued. Over to you. Continue reading “Toughie 3667”