Toughie No 514
Hints and tips by Tilsit
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment **
Greetings from the Calder Valley. As many of you know I have had something of a trying week since last Friday with a torrid train journey, a bump in the car, not feeling well but all was rescued by a lovely trip to London on Tuesday to celebrate the 90th birthday of the Guardian crossword compiler Araucaria. There are pictures both here http://www.flickr.com/photos/tilsit/sets/72157625937084625/ and here http://www.flickr.com/photos/30631875@N03/sets/72157625943269143/detail/ and you may see one or two famous faces both from the crossword and wider world! A lovely evening was had by all and I was so privileged to be invited.
Now back to today. I completed much of this puzzle while waiting for my replacement car to be delivered to the garage (it was a long wait!). I have to admit that I have been a little disappointed with the last couple of Firefly puzzles, and this continues the trend. I have enjoyed his puzzles both here and elsewhere but this leaves me a bit flat. I enjoy tougher crosswords but some of the clues here seemed to be complicated just for the sake of it and I don’t understand a couple of the answers. Other Toughie setters manage to combine humour with flair. Here even the humour seems to be forced. A great shame really.