Toughie No 2900 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment *****
Sparks gives us a fun pangram today
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
1a Head of Playboy almost sacking cover model? (5)
PEARL: The first letter (head) of Playboy plus a 6-letter word meaning almost without the outer letters (sacking cover)
4a Hitter hit fans of a Cardinal (9)
THIRTIETH: An anagram (fans) of HITTER HIT.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2868 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
A nice puzzle from sparks with some ready entries but also quite a few that had me puzzling a while. I’ve had laptop frustrations today, so no pictures, i’m afraid.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2827 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
It’s been some considerable time since I had the pleasure of blogging a Sparks production so I was delighted to find him appearing on a Thursday. Thanks to him for the enjoyment.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2804 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Halcyon
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Dutch has become unexpectedly unavailable to blog today and CrypticSue (you can see Crypticsue’s blog below – BD) has suffered a power cut.
Regular commenter Halcyon has kindly provided the following hints and tips
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2788 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ****
A few answers I was not familiar with and the parsing of 13a took me just over 3* time. Sparks often has a Nina of some kind, but, despite being intrigued by the double-unches, I didn’t manage to see anything – perhaps you will (ah, see comment 2 by Fez!)… Continue reading
Toughie No 2764 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
A gentle offering today from Sparks. Just as well, I started this a bit late. Sparks often has a Nina of some sort but I have not yet spotted anything
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.… Continue reading
Toughie No 2748 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment *****
Sparks includes a little theme in a fun puzzle – maybe you can help me with 6d! Continue reading “Toughie 2748”
Toughie No 2716 by Sparks
Hints and tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ***
Not sure where Dutch is today, but here’s a quickly bashed out set of Hints and Tips Continue reading “Toughie 2716”
Toughie No 2700 by Sparks
Hints and tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
A lovely proper Friday Toughie from Sparks Continue reading “Toughie 2700”
Toughie No 2684 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
Ah, only just spotted the Nina. The central row is the pen name of the gentleman in the outer columns. I found this slow progress with quite a few things that I needed to look up, but a lot of fun along the way.… Continue reading