Toughie No 388 by Monsieur Busman
Let’s Parler Franglais
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Zut alors! Bearing in mind the date Busman has donned a beret and lit up a Gauloises to give a Gallic motif to today’s puzzle. I suspect that solvers will either love it or hate it. I found it enjoyable as a one-off (though the theme does impose restrictions), so full marks and merci beaucoup to Monsieur Busman for trying something different.
A large number of the clues refer to 18, which is 18d. If I tried to write all the hints for these clues without disclosing what 18d is it would be laborious to write and tedious to read, and since I can’t believe that anyone has got this far without knowing the theme, I’m going to use “French” in the hints rather than constantly referring to “the language of the person defined in 18d”.
Were you enchanted or irritated by it? Let us know in a comment!
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26292
Hints and tips by Big Dave
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
A harder puzzle this week from Jay but, apart from 13a, all the answers should be in the average person’s vocabulary. I came down on the side of four stars for difficulty, rather than three, largely because of this one clue, although I had remembered the answer from a very old Toughie (No 162).
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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Toughie No 387 by MynoT
Out of the frying pan, into the ….
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
ARVE Error: need id and provider
Having worked out that Mynot’s latest project is to work through the Classical Elements, and Earth and Air having already been covered, I was expecting either Fire or Water and it turned out to be the former. I have highlighted the main clues with a thematic answer in green. Although all three Fire signs of the Zodiac are all present, two of them appear in modern form.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26291
Hints and tips by Libellule
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***– Enjoyment ***
I would like to thank Gazza for stepping into the breach yesterday after the various power cuts I experienced. But in repayment, I get to blog this Shamus crossword (a first time for me). First off all, the crossword is a pangram, but although this crossword is a good workmanlike effort, nothing really stands out for me. We also have a bit of a cornery grid, and I thought the cryptic definitions were a bit weak.
If you cannot work out the answer from the hint, highlight the space between the curly brackets.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26290
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I was on the point of retreating to the garden (it’s another beautiful day in Devon) when Libellule contacted me to say that he’s lost power and can’t get on-line. So I’ve written this in a bit of a rush (that’s my excuse if you find any errors!).
I thought that this was a bit trickier than the usual Rufus puzzle, with some nice clues. Leave us a comment telling us if you agree or not, and please remember to grade it by clicking on one of the stars below.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26289 (Hints)
Big Dave’s Saturday Crossword Club
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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, I will select a few of the better clues and provide hints for them.
Don’t forget that you can give your assessment of the puzzle. Five stars if you thought it was great, one if you hated it, four, three or two if it was somewhere in between.
A full review of this puzzle will be published on Thursday, 15th July.
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Toughie No 386 by Petitjean
Nürburgring
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
A generous smattering of F1 references in this offering from Petitjean, and my first review of a puzzle by this setter. It was difficult to pinpoint an accurate BD rating and 4/4 may be a compromise. I have a little knowledge of motorsport so some answers were easier for me than they may be for others; combined with some obscure answers elsewhere you may find it warrants 5 stars for Difficulty. For Enjoyment I was close to giving it 5 stars as there are some lovely clues, and certainly no quibbles worth dwelling on. Perhaps what took the edge off was the frequent use of initial/last letters for the sake of tying in with the theme – when it’s not done well it looks a little desperate, and in fairness that’s not the case in this puzzle.
Immediately noticeable, on printing the puzzle, was a clutch of long clues. For me they ran to about ¼ of a second page (hence my brilliantly observed and impossibly clever choice of title) whereas previous puzzles have always fitted on one page with a little spare space above the footer. I’ve been called “Mr Short and Snappy” before – hopefully it was a reference to my cryptic clues – so very long clues can feel like a bit of a slog. But again, as with the initial/last letters thing, the long clues here didn’t seem tortured – in most cases they’re actually very smoothly presented.
I’ve highlighted my favourite clues in blue – please let us know about your favourites too.
Leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26288
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
It’s not the easiest Giovanni today, but it’s entertaining as usual. Let us know what you think of it in a comment.
As always the answers are concealed between the curly brackets under the clues. Drag your cursor through the white space between the brackets to reveal.
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Toughie No 385 by Giovanni
Hints and tips by Bufo
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I enjoyed this puzzle and thought it was the right standard for a toughie. Although there were a lot of less common words used I didn’t find any of them overly obscure and I finished it without recourse to dictionaries, etc. However, I didn’t care for the grid with its four poorly-connected corners. I had problems with the bottom right but this was caused by my carelessly writing the author’s name in at 23 down and thence being unable to solve the acrosses.
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Daily Telegraph Cryptic No 26283
A full review by Crypticsue
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
Saturday’s offering from Cephas was, depending on how you solved it : a “challenging”, “tricky”, “enjoyable” “stinker”. I had a couple of moments of “how can I review this when I can’t get two of the clues” but some careful reading made me realise what was required and I finished in one fairly quick sitting. Didn’t enjoy it as much as the previous two days’ splendid offerings but I would say it was challenging but doable with cogitation – posters seemed to find a cycle ride along the Canal du Midi or a walk round a nature reserve or even just a nice cup of tea did the trick. It was nice to see that while Big Dave was taking a well deserved rest over a few pints at the White Horse, there were plenty of others ready to give assistance with those needing help with the trickier clues. There were over 200 comments on this puzzle, so I hope my review will help those who struggled to make sense of it all.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
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