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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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 3665 by Django
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from a very Spring-like Wirral – just as long as you can stay in the sun and out of the rather toothy wind!
I was delighted -and somewhat nervous – when I saw Django’s name when I opened my Dead Tree. I missed his recent Tuesday appearance and was hoping for a repeat visit. However, I was also well aware that I don’t always find his puzzles straightforward, so solving against a deadline adds an element of peril. I always start by getting lost in Django’s narratives – I read the clues as mini stories, and forget to take them as directions to an answer, and it takes a little while before I start to treat them like a puzzle. That’s a large part of what I like about Django’s crosswords, and today was no exception.
We have an interesting mix of (relative) “gimmes” to get the ball rolling, some good mid-rage difficulty clues and some that took quite a lot of head-scratching to tease out, hence the elevated overall difficulty rating. A fun challenge, though, and many thanks to Django for giving the brain cells a jump-start! I’m giving rosettes today to 12d, 16d and 19d. However, top prize goes to 24d, for the amusing mental image.
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
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Toughie No 3661 by Hudson
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Welcome to another Toughie week.
We have another high-quality puzzle from Hudson today. There is a martial theme, or at least a connection between several of the clues, although I am not sure if there is an underlying reason for the link: I am happy enough to have noticed a theme of any kind! I thought I was heading for solving in Floughie time, but then a combination of solving 15d and parsing 20d and 24a took this comfortably into ** territory. I hope you have your lexicographic secateurs to hand, there’s a fair bit of pruning to be done.
Once the penny dropped for 20d, this jumped right to the top of my prize list by a distance, which is perhaps rather unfair on 13a and 29a, as either of these could have been “Top Clue” in other puzzles. Thank you, Hudson, for a wonderful start to the week.
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
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Toughie No 3657 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Croeso o Gymru! This week’s travels find me in a very nice cottage on the Bodnant Estate, overlooking the Conwy valley and the village of Dolgarrog. The Present Lady Whybird, Lord Alfie and I are enjoying a few days of downtime following Lady W’s latest sewing retreat, coincidentally situated in the aforementioned village. Anyone would think there was a plan… We’ve had a hefty dose of spectacular early spring weather, but we are now experiencing something more traditionally North Walian. As with the last time I was in this area, several hours over a couple of days in St Mary’s Churchyard, Caerhun, involved plenty of obliging finches (Gold, Green, Chaf) but not Haw. There’s always a next time, and the Roman archaeology is interesting.
Dada, to whom, many thanks, has given us a very enjoyable puzzle today, towards the more straightforward end of the spectrum, I felt, which is especially welcome as I’ve been solving on the iPad rather than my much preferred Dead Tree. Just a couple of pieces of explanations had me scratching my head a little, but nothing too strenuous. I did wonder if Dada had dined on an Atlas given the number of geographical references. My prizes today go to 18a, 19a, 27a with 14d getting an honourable mention
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
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Toughie No 3653 by Shabbo
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment *****
We have another excellent puzzle from Shabbo today. Absolutely perfect for a Tuesday, plenty to get stuck into, but nothing outrageously difficult or obscure. I thought it was going to be a struggle when I looked at 1a and that pesky question mark, and indeed it took quite a while before I managed to get a proper foothold in the North, the South going in much more easily. So definitely a Crossword of Two Halves for me, but still done in just a smidge over one-star time. The main difficulty factor came from Shabbo’s very clever surfaces and deceptions which I really enjoyed unpicking. Thanks, Shabbo, please keep spoiling us!
I have a host of favourites today -1a, 3d, 5d, 9a, 14d, 17d and 26a are all excellent. I’m going to need a bigger podium!
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
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Toughie No 3649 by Hudson
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from a sunny, Spring-has-started Wirral. The first wheatear of the year has been seen on Hilbre Island, and Burton Mere Wetlands now has about a hundred Avocets dominating the main scrape (with more to come, hopefully), as well as a Mediterranean Gull looking to set up a territory on one of the islands.
I found today’s puzzle to be something of a curiosity. Apart from the fact that it is a pangram that I actually noticed (which makes it unusual!) it felt like it was a bit of a struggle to solve, but when I actually checked, I’d done it all in 1* time. It’s definitely not a Floughie, though, and there were a couple of senses employed that had me checking the reference works to confirm my suspicions. My prizes today go to 6d, 10a and 27a – a trio of clever clues with very neat surfaces. Thanks to Hudson for getting the morning cogs whirring!
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
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Toughie No 3645 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Namaste! Many thanks to Gazza for filling in for the past two weeks whilst I “trundled” around India seeing most of the cast of the Jungle Book, through some absolutely wonderful wildlife experiences– although the leopards weren’t black – and eating equally wonderful food . I thought I might return somewhat lighter and slimmer, but that hasn’t happened at all. Fortunately, the return flight from Delhi was direct to Heathrow, and the normal route is well north of the Gulf, so everything went smoothly. I’m disappointed to see I missed blogging a Tuesday Django – I’d been looking forward to that pleasure, so I hope the chance comes around again soon.
I was hoping for a gentle reintroduction to the blog, but that hasn’t happened. Dada has given us a quirky puzzle, which I think would have fitted in reasonably well later in the week. Perhaps the cough and head cold I have acquired, coupled with the “safari massage” my body has endured, has deadened my senses somewhat, but I found this rather tricky. My podium places are occupied by 2d, 16a and 21a today.
Thanks to Dada for a re-baptism of fire.
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph
No 31165
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Huntsman’s away on his jollies so I’m afraid you’re stuck with me. We have the usual Tuesday fare – typically fair and suitably gentle with credible surfaces. Over to you.
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Toughie No 3633 by Shabbo
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment *****
Warm wishes from a damp, grey Wirral!
We have a wonderful puzzle from Shabbo today – Floughie it ain’t, but equally there is no obscure GK or archaic vocabulary required. With the possible exception of 26a, the toughness arises mainly from the very cleverly constructed clues, all with very smooth surfaces. Many of them are set up so they look like they should be solved one way, which turns out to be a dead end, but then turns out to be “clearly” something entirely different. And all done with a remarkable economy of words, too.
I struggled to get going, eventually getting a foothold with 23a, and then worked from SE to NW as the respective pennies went clunk. 1a gets my top spot today, as well as being my last one in, but there are too many other very good clues to list – smiles all over the age today.
Thank you, Shabbo, for an excellent challenge.
Please let us know how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
I have a short break from the Blog for the next couple of weeks whilst I have a tour around India trying to see, but avoid being eaten and/or trampled by, various large felines, canines, reptiles and herbivores. You will have the pleasure of Gazza on a Tuesday for the rest of the month, so thanks to him for stepping into the breach.
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