Toughie No 665 by Kcit
Hints and tips by Bufo
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
You always know what you’re going to get with Kcit. Yet another fairly gentle puzzle.
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Across
1a Everyone attending is not out to lunch (3,5)
{ALL THERE} This phrase meaning ‘not out to lunch’ or ‘completely sane’ suggests that everyone is attending
5a Funny programme — it has company engaged in S&M (6)
{SITCOM} A funny TV programme is made up of IT + CO inside SM
9a Business share prompting a lot of admiration (9)
{ADORATION} Business + share = a lot of admiration. I’ve never been fully convinced that business = *** even though it is used fairly often in clues.
11a Hold on — just over 50% recycling? (5)
{CLING} use 5 of the 9 letters of RECYCLING
12a Happy, it would seem, to include one not mentioned (6)
{UNSAID} A word that could be coined to mean the opposite of unhappy goes round I (one) to give ‘not mentioned’
13a Guess I’m tucking into what’s left (8)
{ESTIMATE} ‘Guess’ = IM inside the property left by a deceased person
15a College, to keep going, prepares facilities for sportsmen (8,5)
{CHANGING ROOMS} C (college) + ‘keep going’ (4,2) + ‘prepares’ = places that sportsmen use before and after performing
18a Greeting that could make someone tingle (4,4,2,3)
{LONG TIME NO SEE} A greeting used by people who have not seen each other for a while is an anagram (make) of SOMEONE TINGLE
22a Regular payments before parents may import one (8)
{PREMIUMS} Regular payments, e.g for insurance, = before + parents (female ones) round I (one)
23a Tense tirade about University student declining to study (6)
{TRUANT} T (tense) + tirade round U (University) gives someone who bunks school
26a Start occupying 21 rooms (5)
{INTRO} A start is hidden inside ****** rooms, where ****** is the answer to 21 down
27a Get opinion of European about a foreign embassy (9)
{CONSULATE} “Get opinion of” + E (European) goes round A to give a foreign embassy
28a Sailor to achieve aim (6)
{TARGET} Sailor + ‘to achieve’ = aim
29a Rural activity supporting economy, ultimately involving others (8)
{FORESTRY} An activity practised in woodland = ‘supporting’ + Y (last letter of economy) round ‘others’
Down
1d Bill and Paul excitedly combined operations in holiday venue (8)
{ACAPULCO} An abbreviation denoting ‘bill’ + an anagram (excitedly) of PAUL + CO (combined operations) gives a holiday destination in Mexico
2d Not entirely relaxed about King’s appearance (5)
{LOOKS} Take a word meaning ‘relaxed’ with the last letter removed and put it round K (King) to get ‘appearance’
3d Hurrying to secure European trial (7)
{HEARING} ‘Hurrying’ goes round E (European) to give a trial
4d Log mostly rolled over in attack (4)
{RAID} A reversal of a log (record) with the last letter removed gives an attack
6d I am heroic without hesitation, being misrepresented as theatrical villain (7)
{IACHIMO} An anagram of I AM HEROIC with ER (hesitation) removed gives the name of a character from Cymbeline
7d Items of armour required — I’ll be beset by scoundrel and fools (9)
{CUIRASSES} Pieces of armour for covering the chest and back are derived from I inside a scoundrel followed by fools
8d French artist capturing girl’s foremost source of attraction (6)
{MAGNET} The name of a French painter goes round G (first letter of girl) to give something that attracts
10d Old storm at sea appearing in no novel (8)
{NOSTROMO} An anagram (at sea) of O (old) STORM goes inside NO to give a novel by Joseph Conrad
14d A dubious action involving masseur’s beginning on bodily form (8)
{ANATOMIC} A + an anagram (dubious) of ACTION goes round M (first letter of masseur) to give an adjective to do with bodily form
16d Modern stadium, one subsequently occupied by part of London university (3-6)
{ALL-SEATER} A stadium which doesn’t cater for standing spectators = A (one) + ‘subsequently’ round a constituent college of the University of London
17d Cook coating each article with a light touch (8)
{FEATHERY} ‘To cook (e.g. bacon or chips)’ goes round ‘each’ + the definite article to give ‘with a light touch’
19d Is nothing in American city unpleasant? (7)
{NOISOME} IS O (nothing) goes inside an American city to give ‘unpleasant’. I didn’t know this American city but Wikipedia tells me that there are cities with this name in Alaska, Texas and North Dakota
20d Routine number of performances kept up by comedienne’s latest feed (7)
{NURTURE} A reversal (kept up) of ‘routine’ and ‘number of performances’ comes before E (last letter of comedienne) to give ‘to feed’
21d Special work for newspaper? Hurry (6)
{SPRINT} S (special) + ‘work for newspaper’ gives ‘hurry (run fast)’
24d Separate aim of an audition? (5)
{APART} Split this word meaning ‘separate’ into (1,4) and it’s what you go to an audition hoping to get
25d Expecting to receive endless data (4)
{INFO} Remove the final letter from ‘expecting to receive’ (2,3) to get data
I’m hoping that one of these days Kcit will surprise me and come up with a real stinker
Gentle but entertaining. Thanks to Kcit and Bufo.
My thought exactly.
Definitely not what I would call tough, but enjoyable nevertheless.
Favourite clue, 18a.
Thanks to Kcit, and to Bufo.
Well that can’t have been a proper toughie because I managed all except 6 & 7d.
My favourite was 19d.
Very pleasant if not over challenging.
10d was new to me as was the US city in19d.
Thank you for explanation of 20d
Very pleasant but not really a Toughie.
Needed a bit of Wiki to check 6d, as it’s not a play I’ve ever read or seen performed, but I did manage to dredge 10d from the dim recesses of the memory banks!
Thanks to Kcit and Bufo.
Very gentle and enjoyable thanks to Kcit and Bufo.
As everyone else says, a nice pleasant not too Toughie, but I suspect tomorrow’s will be a different kettle of fish, given its number!
I’m off for a lie-down in preparation.
Tomorrow could be a lie-down in perspiration!
Agreed, It’s Osmosis tomorrow and as well as the 666 the date is 11/11/11 so what’s in store is anyone’s guess!
Will probably be a BEAST to solve! The possibilities of palindromes should not be overlooked!
Talking of beasts and palindromes, No devil lived on…
Might be one of tomorrow’s answers!
Thanks to Kcit & Bufo, for once I got into a Toughie, really enjoyed this one, was only beaten by 6d, I can’t believe it, I new this was an anagram of “I am heroic ” without the “er” but somehow managed to get the wrong letters! But I still hadn’t heard of this character. Favourites were 9 and 18 across.