Toughie No 3683 by Bandit
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty ** – Enjoyment *****
Crackerjack. Bandit’s taken some big swings here with brio and invention. They didn’t all (quite) land for me, but most did. And one has to applaud such welcome novelty: smart, fair wordplay and some sparky definitions. SO refreshing.
I didn’t find this too tricky as 1a’s slight quirk set the tone from the off – it’s always a glorious sign when the first clue does that. Get on the setter’s wavelength early on, lap up a couple of gimmes and you’re away.
Added to which, he’s enabled me to self-indulgently clip G. Love, Rocky, Dury, Withnail, Loudon, Ivor, the Tour de France AND a spot of boss reggae … that’s a full house! So it could only be a fiver from me. With – I trust – 3ds at hand, the floor is yours.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31233
Hints and Tips by Senf
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment *****
A very good Thursday morning from Winnipeg where it is still cool, in fact cool enough for occasional fluffy white precipitation but it is melting on contact with the ground.
For me, and I stress for me© (I have to say that for Terence), once again not half of a Dream Team Thursday, Bandit on duty for their third(?) Toughie, but no doubt that this is the work of a very benevolent Master of Brevity and there is not an error in my Difficulty rating. The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and appearances from the Queen and his swEetheart appearing in the back pager with an average of exactly 5 words per clue. Also, like Dada, Ray T still seems to be making occasional use of a personal thesaurus. I hope you have your Crimson Tomes at hand!
Remember that Reading the Hints before commenting can be beneficial!
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EV1744
Reassuring by Chalicea
Solution
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Toughie No 3682 by Django
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31232
Hints and Tips by Deansleigh
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** Enjoyment ****
Good morning everyone, and welcome to the Wednesday back-pager blog. I found today’s puzzle to be quite tricky – a midweek mind-mangler – but it was a very satisfying solve. Amongst a plethora of excellent clues, my podium picks are 20a, 23a, 27d and my favourite, the weary threesome in 16a. I also enjoyed the Quickie pun. Many thanks to our setter.
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Sunday Toughie No 222 by Light
Review by Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on 26th April 2026 Continue reading “Sunday Toughie 222 (Review)”
Sunday Telegraph Cryptic No 3366
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 26th April 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata. I quite friendly puzzle from Dada this Sunday that I enjoyed solving and now I present to you a full review of his puzzle. Hope to have your valuable feedback and comments. Continue reading “ST 3366 (Full Review)”
Toughie No 3681 by Chalicea
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
A welcome return to the Setter’s Chair for Chalicea today, and whilst this is generally at the gentle end of the spectrum (and a very much needed emollient for the bruises left after the battering from Elgar’s Friday Beast) there are a few that required a bit of thought, and a new word for me necessitating a dive into the BRB. Whilst 1a, 16a, 17d and 18d get honourable mentions, I can’t look beyond 7d for my gold medal place today. Thank you, Chalicea, for a very enjoyable start to the Toughie Week.
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31231
Hints and tips by Huntsman
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BD Rating – Difficulty * Enjoyment **/***
It’s starting to brighten up a wee bit here in Harpenden but there’s pockets of still much needed wet stuff on the way.
Having overslept this morning (as well as struggling of late with completing puzzles in what I would consider a reasonable time) I was happy that today’s Plumbing assignment was extremely gentle even by Tuesday standards. As ever concisely clued & perfectly pleasant for the short time it lasted though I wouldn’t regard it as one from his top drawer so it’ll be interesting to see what others make of it.
Chalicea is similarly benevolent over in t’other place with a perfect puzzle for anyone wishing to dip their toes in Toughie waters for the first time – you’ll find the water warm & Whybird on hand if it gets choppy.
As usual there is a selection of music to enjoy or ignore.
In the hints below the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED & the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the Click Here buttons. Please leave a comment below telling us what you thought & how you got on with the puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31230
Hints and tips by Smylers
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BD Rating – Difficulty ★★★ – Enjoyment ★★★
Welcome to the Telegraph crossword for Bank Holiday Monday. I treated myself to a lie-in, not having to solve and blog before starting work, and perhaps shouldn’t have done: this took me longer to solve than any other crossword I’ve hinted! How did you get on?
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