Shamus – Page 13 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Category: Shamus

Shamus is Philip Marlow [The fictional character Philip Marlowe, created by Raymond Chandler, lived in Shamus Town, a loosely disguised Los Angeles]. He sets puzzles as Hypnos in the Independent and Sleuth in the Financial Times. He also sets some of the questions on “Only Connect”

Toughie No 120

by Big Dave  

Toughie No 120 by Shamus

Today’s hints and tips by Big Dave

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****

You can always rely on Shamus to set a challenging crossword, but one that is solvable with a little patience.  One or two trickier answers and some even trickier wordplay made this another very enjoyable puzzle.

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Toughie No 107

by Big Dave  

Toughie No 107 by Shamus

Shamus sets another relatively easy puzzle

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***

After yesterday’s epic, today we have a much easier, but nonetheless enjoyable puzzle.  If you are new to Toughies, you should start with one like this.  I should point out that the difficulty ratings that I give are relative to the type of puzzle, so three stars here would be at least four on a regular cryptic.

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Toughie No 96

by Big Dave  

Toughie No 96 by Shamus

An enjoyable puzzle, but not too difficult

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****

One or two clues you need to find the answer, and then work out the wordplay, but generally this is a solid puzzle, with none of the tenuous clues we have had recently.

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