Where new ideas are tried out – only the brave enter into this domain
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **** (from BD)
I am delighted to be able to report that Silvanus, a graduate of Rookie Corner and the NTSPP, has a puzzle published in today’s Independent. BD
What a great sporting week we have just had. The Cheltenham Festival thoroughly entertained through the week with lots superb racing.… Continue reading
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As is usual for the weekend prize crosswords, an assortment of clues, including some of the more difficult ones, have been selected and hints provided for them.
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
And here is Elgar’s 116th toughie! Half a dozen or so clues went in quickly for me, followed by a wee pause, after which progress was fairly steady with plenty of brilliant penny drop moments along the way. There’s a cracking Nina that presents a story using a little bit of cryptic imagination.… Continue reading
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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
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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 ***
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