Toughie No 3693 by Hudson
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment *****
We have a very entertaining puzzle from Hudson today, and whilst there are a few slight obscurities, these are not at the extreme end of the scale in Crosswordland. It did take me a fair while to get into the swing, which I’m blaming on an unusual excursion into solving outdoors, but once I got a couple of handles, it all went in fairly smoothly. We have a few footballing/sporting references, plenty of geography and a couple of Addams family references, but nothing that really amounts to a theme that I can see. There is a whole bunch of clues that would get podium places in any normal week, notably 1d, 8d, 10a, 14d, 19d and 27a, but I’m giving my prize today to 23a. Thank you, Hudson, for a top-notch puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31248
Hints and tips by Falcon
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Greetings from Ottawa, where we are having a strange spring. Temperatures reach the low 20°C range in the daytime only to drop to near 0°C overnight. However, the coming week promises more seasonal conditions and I am looking forward to being able to spend time at my lakeside retreat.
On my last appearance, I promised a more complete look at our tulips which the following 15 minute video should certainly provide. In the previous blog, I was wrong on one point though: the Tulip Festival wrapped up a week ago and not yesterday as I stated then.
Today’s puzzle provides a welcome respite following the grueling mental challenges of the last few days. A chance to refresh the little grey cells in preparation for what surely lies in wait later in the week.
In the hints below, underlining identifies precise definitions and cryptic definitions, FODDER is capitalized, and indicators are italicized. The answers will be revealed by clicking on the ANSWER buttons.
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Toughie No 3692 by Luxor
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
By Friday Toughie standards this is fairly straightforward. Thanks to Luxor for the enjoyable puzzle.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31241
A full review by Rahmat Ali
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This puzzle was published on 16th May 2026
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from Kolkata.… Continue reading
Toughie No 3691 by Dharma
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
As ever, one of the trickiest elements of blogging (apart from trying and failing to come up with musical clips that don’t enrage Jane!) is the difficulty rating. Talking of Jane, I know we all hope that no news is good news. Everything crossed. If you’re on Dharma’s wavelength (and, for some reason, I generally am) this should fly in, but, if you’re not, some of his typically wily wordplay might slow you down. I’ve gone with a safe-ish 1.5 – I hope that’s not too irritating. The floor is yours to agree … or not!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 31245
Hints and Tips by Senf
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BD Rating – Difficulty 1.5* – Enjoyment 5*
A very good Thursday morning from Winnipeg where, while there is extreme heat and violent storms to the East of Manitoba, we are still waiting for Spring to start, this weekend perhaps, and it is supposed to be Summer in a months time!
For me, and I stress for me© (I have to say that for Terence), once again not half of a Dream Team Thursday, Silvanus was on Toughie duty yesterday, but no doubt that this is the work of a very benevolent Master of Brevity and, same as last week, there is not an error in my Difficulty rating. The usual one word clues and answers in the Quickie, and an appearance from the Queen but no swEetheart appearing in the back pager with an average of 4.97 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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Toughie No 3690 by Silvanus
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Silvanus set us a crossword , the majority of which was at the friendlier end of the Toughie spectrum Continue reading “Toughie 3690”
Sunday Toughie No 224 by Beam
Review by Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 10th of May 2026
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