Toughie No 1038 by Shamus
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
I found a lot of the wordplay in this puzzle to be over-convoluted.
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 1024
Toughie No 1024 by Shamus
Hints and tips by Bufo
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ***/****
I got the impression while solving this that every other clue contains an anagram. In fact there are only 9 anagrams though they are clustered in the first few across clues and the last few down clues. Still it made a change from the Thursday puzzle two weeks ago that contained no anagrams at all. I found it to be an enjoyable puzzle that caused no major problems.
Toughie 1012
Toughie No 1012 by Shamus
Thursday’s are looking up!
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
This was trickier than I expected it to be. The time taken to work out the last few clues took me into 4* difficulty territory. I didn’t mind because it was a very enjoyable puzzle with some nice touches.
Toughie 994
Toughie No 994 by Shamus
Who’s the b*st*rd in the black?
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
As many of you have already found, one of today’s clues is flawed. Expect an apology in tomorrow’s newspaper.
Toughie 978
Toughie No 978 by Shamus
Mulling it over
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
A tougher-than-usual Tuesday Toughie, but one that I enjoyed.
Toughie 964
Toughie No 964 by Shamus
Hints and tips by Bufo
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BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ***
Yet another gentle Thursday Toughie.
Toughie 948
Toughie No 948 by Shamus
Hints and tips by Bufo
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ****
I started slowly but picked up speed and finished in a time that was slightly above my average. Hence the ***/**** rating. I thought it was an enjoyable puzzle which contained nothing too obscure
Toughie 932
Toughie No 932 by Shamus
Hints and tips by Bufo
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
I thought this was a very straightforward puzzle. I’ve nothing else to say
Toughie 915
Toughie No 915 by Shamus
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Shamus has given us a relatively straightforward Toughie today.
Your comments as always are welcome. Please take the time to register your enjoyment factor by clicking on one of the stars below.
Toughie 897
Toughie No 897 by Shamus
Hints and Tips by Bufo
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
A good afternoon to one and all. I hope that the weather’s better where you are than it is here. It’s definitely a day for hibernating. I often struggle with Shamus puzzles and I did so again today with quite a bit of thought being needed to unravel some of the longer complex clues. There’s only one anagram to be seen and so it isn’t a puzzle for the anagram lovers.