Where new ideas are tried out – only the brave enter into this domain
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Céad míle fáilte from South Staffs this St Patrick’s day morning. Here’s some suitably festive music
A reasonably straightforward Giovanni this week, with some nice anagrams to get you going. On the other hand, it took me ages to work out the Quick Crossword pun…
In the hints below, the definitions are underlined.… Continue reading
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This puzzle was published on Saturday 11th March
BD Rating – Difficulty *– Enjoyment ***
Very straightforward – I quite liked 2d when the penny dropped as to how it worked but I appear to be alone, although I do wonder whether people were biased against the footballer in question or the wordplay of the clue?
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
I found this to be a very gentle Beam puzzle with only the SW corner putting up any kind of a fight. There were a few definitions that I didn’t find totally convincing but it was a pleasant enough puzzle. The early finish has given me more time to study the Cheltenham form in an attempt to recoup some of the last two day’s losses when I have suffered from a bad attack of seconditis.… Continue reading
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BD Rating — Difficulty *** — Enjoyment ***
Hello everyone. This isn’t a Ray T Thursday and that’s the only thing I’m sure about. It doesn’t feel like a Shamus to me which, going on past history, means it probably is – maybe we’ll find out later. I thought some of it was quite difficult but that could be just me.… Continue reading
This puzzle was published on Sunday 5th March
BD Rating – Difficulty **– Enjoyment ***
Morning All! Thanks to crypticsue for keeping the seat warm whilst I had a lovely break at my sister’s in Malaysia (with a short excursion to Cambodia). This was an enjoyable puzzle that just stayed in the two star difficulty range.
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
It’s always a pleasure to get an Elkamere Toughie on a Wednesday and this one is enjoyable as always. I thought it was going to be a pangram but it failed at the last hurdle.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared with the puzzle and what you thought of it.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty **– Enjoyment ***
Kia ora from Aotearoa.
It is a busy day for us today. An eye clinic appointment for Colin had inconveniently been scheduled for the time we are usually working on the blog but we still have plenty of time to get it all together before it is due to be posted on line.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Hi cutie-pies! Today’s puzzle is very special for it is the 444x4th Toughie. By some amazing mathematical coincidence, it is also the 4x444th Toughie. That’s NumberWang! If you notice something else odd(er than usual) about today’s blog you might like to pay attention to the date, or refer back to my blog of a year ago.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **/***
Hello, everyone. In the crosswording literature one often reads that a cryptic clue should have a unique solution, so that if your answer fits both definition and wordplay you can feel confident that it’s correct. On the other hand, we hear here from time to time that the only rule is that there are no rules.… Continue reading
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
Today we have another fine puzzle from the Monday maestro Rufus containing several interesting takes on cryptic definitions a few (too many) anagrams, a homophone, an initial letter clue but no lurkers unless they are so well hidden I failed to spot them.… Continue reading