Sunday Toughie No 184 by Beam
Review by Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 3rd of August 2025
Tag: 184
Sunday Toughie 184 (Hints)
Sunday Toughie No 184
by Beam
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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After the Centenary celebrations, we are back to normal with this fine Beam toughie. All his signatures are there, toilet humour, initial letters, underwear, queens and sweethearts and an impressive five-and-a-bit words per clue.
We have a generous 16a and 16d clues, and I have hinted just less than half, allowing me to provide a nudge or two if required.
Here we go, Folks…
Toughie 184
Toughie No 184 by Excalibur
Hitting the Target
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment **
Thanks to Big Dave for helping out last Thursday when my PC and laptop got the equivalent of man flu. Now working again, I was happy to swap duties and tackle today’s challenge from Excalibur. I know that this particular setter’s work hasn’t been well-received round these parts, so I tried to tackle this with an open mind. I have spent about four hours wrestling with this puzzle today and although I consider myself a reasonable solver, some of the clues just defeated me completely.
When I tackle a tough challenge (like last Saturday’s Independent Prize Puzzle which was by another Toughie setter), I normally have a sense of achievement. However, I just didn’t get that with today’s, I’m sad to report.
There are some clever and interesting clues, but there are also one or two that don’t make sense. The overall puzzle is not helped by the grid itself, which means that you only get help from clues within that corner. I was lucky to solve the four ten-letter answers, but it didn’t offer me any help with the top right corner and I was staring at a completely blank corner for over two hours.
The best way I can decribe a few of the clues is to say that in archery terms they hit the outer bull, rather than the inner bull. When I compile my puzzles, I aim to ensure my clues are precise and hit the inner bull every time, I just felt that a couple here didn’t achieve that.
Let’s take a look at today’s clues, then. I am afraid there are a couple where my explanation may seem vague, and if you can help make sense of them, please feel free to comment. As usual, new posters may take a little while for their first posts to appear, this is purely a precaution against spammers gumming the board up.