Toughie No 625 by Giovanni
Hints and tips by Bufo
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +<
BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
Trickier than many a Giovanni Toughie (but none the worse for that). The northeast corner eluded me for a time when I had to think hard about 4 down and 6 down.
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.
Across
8a Bird box in front of terraced houses? (7)
{SPARROW} A common bird (house or hedge) is formed from “to box” + a word that describes a group of terraced houses
10a Say, a cleric getting old, bent over, in twilight years? (4-3)
{OVER-AGE} A reversal (bent over) of “say” + A + cleric + O (old) gives “too old”
11a Trained ventriloquist once given a sort of monkey (7,2)
{BROUGHT UP} “Trained” is made up of the surname of the ventriloquist associated with Archie Andrews + a pile-driving monkey
12a The man with plot of ground is a serf (5)
{HELOT} “The man” + a plot of ground = a serf
13a Praise formerly accompanied by endless peal (5)
{EXTOL} “To praise” = formerly + “to peal” with the last letter removed
14a Leave horrible people as soon as there’s nothing to lose (7)
{LICENCE} Leave (permission) = horrible people + “as soon as” with an O (nothing) omitted
17a Greek character facing obvious fix, keeping on in place devoid of particular reaction (7-4,4)
{NUCLEAR-FREE ZONE} A letter of the Greek alphabet + obvious + fix round ON gives an area where certain weapons and certain waste are prohibited
19a Bluff ruler that gets cold-hearted, appearing to be calm (7)
{HALCYON} Bluff King Henry VIII + “that” goes round C (cold) to give “calm”
21a This massage is said to be requirement (5)
{KNEAD} “To massage” is a homophone of “to be requirement”
24a A part of Edinburgh Castle, I think — only a part (5)
{LEITH} The port of Edinburgh is hidden in CastLE I THink
26a Fee rather bad — when to expect proper reward?! (9)
{HEREAFTER} An anagram (bad) of FEE RATHER gives the afterlife (when you might get your proper reward)
27a Tops on radio vehicles (7)
{SLEIGHS} A homophone of “tops (kills)” = vehicles with runners
28a Something in suet that’s nastier when chewed (7)
{STEARIN} An anagram (chewed) of NASTIER gives a glyceryl ester found in suet
Down
1d Functional line penned by American President of yesteryear (6)
{USABLE} “Functional” = L (line) inside US + a former president
2d Viewing all aspects brings alarm — choose to hide (8)
{PANOPTIC} “Viewing all aspects” = alarm round “choose”
3d Walker in Liverpool, say, creating hostility when blocking main road (3,7)
{ART GALLERY} The Walker in Liverpool is an example of this. Put “hostility” inside a main road
4d People who fulfil your wishes, a bit twisted inside? (9)
{COMPILERS} Take a word meaning “people who fulfil your wishes” and transpose the 5th and 6th letters. This then gives people with twisted minds who fulfil your wishes by setting devious crossword puzzles
5d Hebrew character right out of bed (4)
{BETH} The second letter of the Hebrew alphabet is obtained by removing R (right) from a bed (on board a ship)
6d Dress to sag (4,2)
{FALL IN} 2 meanings: dress (come into line in a military sense)/sag
7d One appreciates the beautiful article following Society in a summer abroad (8)
{AESTHETE} One who appreciates the beautiful = S (Society) + the definite article inside A + the French word for summer
9d Man of power, wouldn’t you say, in speech? (4)
{WATT} The engineer who gave his name to the derived SI unit of power sounds like “wouldn’t you say”
15d Keep an eye on the old woman and man in a doomed situation (10)
{CHECKMATED} “Keep an eye on” + the old woman (mother) + a man’s name = “In a doomed situation (on the chess board)”
16d Country hospital is to be included in business arrangement (9)
{FRANCHISE} Put H (hospital) IS inside a European country to get a business arrangement
17d Something must be denied by this philosopher (8)
{NIHILIST} A cryptic definition of someone who believes human existence has no objective meaning, purpose, or intrinsic value
18d Certain society giving way to allow for public opening (8)
{OVERTURE} Take a four-letter word meaning “certain” and replace the first letter with a word meaning “public” to get an opening (of a musical work)
20d Wreath laid on earth in European city (6)
{LEIDEN} A wreath (in Hawaii) + an earth (where an animal lives) = a Dutch city
22d Fearless lover spending pounds (6)
{DARING} “Fearless” = a lover with L (pounds) omitted
23d Supports made from alloy crumbling away at the bottom (4)
{BRAS} Supports for part of the female anatomy = an alloy with the last letter removed
25d Going off on a trip? (4)
{HIGH} 2 meanings: going off (as food)/on a trip (using drugs)
I enjoyed it
I can’t remember when a Toughie last took me as long as this one to get sorted – I had to keep putting it down and doing some work to allow the subconscious cryptic cells to do their work, and that will never do. Thanks to Giovanni for the extreme brain stretching – some very tricky clues, my faovurite of which was 27a. Thanks to Bufo for the explanations too, particularly the ‘monkey’ in 11a – I am, sadly, old enough to remember the ventriloquist :).
Entertaining fare from Giovanni N/E put up a brave fight favourite for me was 4d. Thanks to Giovanni and to Bufo for the comments.
11A – I’m sorry to say I have no idea where the last 3 letters come from – sheep yes, monkey no
Peter Brough was a ” famous ” radio ventriloquist with a dummy called Archie Andrews sometimes known as the little monkey.
Three definitions of tup from Chambers:
*A paving rammer
*A pile-driving monkey
*The striking-face of a steam hammer
I think the allusion made by Bigboab is part of the surface reading rather than the definition.
Dave, as usual I probably have it wrong but I took tup to mean sheep a North of England dialect word I think and I remember the” little monkey”on a Sunday morning radio programme called Educating Archie.
Hi WBGeddes, I too struggled with that, but a tup can also be defined as a heavy metal body, especially the head of a power hammer – which is known as a monkey or a ram. New to me too!
Well . . . you live and learn. I battle onwards.
You and me both!!!
11a – I would never have understood this without the blog, thanks! “Radio ventriloquist” – Did anyone see his lips move?
Terrific toughie from Giovanni and a masterly review from Bufo, many thanks to both.
The toughest for me so far this week; I needed some help to finish the last couple. Thanks to Giovanni, and to Bufo for the notes.
17A always makes me laugh as a concept. Manchester used to advertise this point of view around its environs in the 80s and 90s (don’t think they still do) and I used to wonder if the proverbial balloon went up would I be safer in Chorlton-cum-Hardy rather than in (say) Sale because of it.
The NE was a sinker. I got stuck on 10a because, as “over” was in the clue, convention says it won’t be in the answer. I was wrong! and, yes, to me a tup is a sheep.
I have not enjoyed this Toughie. Surely there must be a better clue for 10A? JB is right.
Very enjoyable Toughie, although I didn’t think it was particularly tricky.
My favourite clue was 26a; I wonder if that was a message to the crossword editor?
Giovanni turned up the heat on this one, I thought. Lots of nice D’oh moments when the solutions dawned on me so thanks to the setter for stirring the grey cells and to Bufo for the review.
Thanks for all recent comments (I’ve been away). I was aware that this was a bit tougher than usual. The clue that pleased me most was 3d – I made my maiden viist to the Walker last year and was pleased to use an unusual definition tied to a subsidiary indication that made some sort of sense. Till tomorrow, then.
Thanks Giovanni
From my point of view, this was the right level for a Toughie. More like this one please!
I hope that tomorrow’s back-pager is easier!
Bit of a curate’s egg. Some really nice clues, 3 4 15 16 and 27. Some far fetched ones, 10 11 and who’s ever heard of 20?