Toughie No 753 by Messinae
I am not a number, I am a free man!
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment **
This turned out to be a gentle solve which posed no significant problems. There is a bit of a theme in that 16, 21, 7, 14, 3 and 27 form a sequence.
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
1a Man’s quality as sinner (10)
{MALEFACTOR} Man (4) + quality (6) = a sinner
6a Mad about pink (4)
{STAB} A reversal of ‘mad’ gives ‘to pink (pierce)’
10a One brought in article to fence primarily (5)
{THIEF} I (one) inside the definite article + the first letter of fence = a person who might bring in an article to fence
11a Actor McKellen after taking lead in ‘Troilus’ spoke with passion (9)
{TRAGEDIAN} The first name of the actor McKellen follows T (first letter of Troilus) and ‘spoke with passion’ to give an actor not noted for comic roles
12a Beside expression of disgust, that is what this is (7)
{TOUGHIE} ‘Beside’ (2) + an expression of disgust (3) + ‘that is’ (2) is what you are solving
13a What could make me a lord (7)
{EARLDOM} An anagram of *ME A LORD is what could make me a lord
14a Press for the country to accommodate upper class (6,6)
{FOURTH ESTATE} A term for the press = FOR THE country round U (upper class)
18a Mathematical expressions favoured getting worked out quite easily for the most part (12)
{INEQUALITIES} Mathematical expressions = ‘favoured’ (2) + an anagram (worked out) of QUITE EASILY after the final letter has been removed
21a Gives support to company mentioned in dispatches (7)
{SECONDS} ‘Gives support’ = the abbreviation for company inside ‘dispatches’
23a Temporary housing for European is fit (7)
{INTERIM} ‘Temporary’ = E (European) inside ‘fit’ (2,4)
24a Aussie landmark serving sorry cake (5,4)
{AYERS ROCK} A landmark in central Australia is an anagram (serving) of SORRY CAKE
25a See fit to be uncertain (5)
{VAGUE} A one-letter abbreviation for ‘see’ + a shivering fit = ‘uncertain’
26a Information a little backward (4)
{DATA} Information is a reversal of A and an informal (originally North American) term for a little amount
27a Uncanny feeling displaying wanton sexiness around Thursday (5,5)
{SIXTH SENSE} An uncanny feeling of sorts = an anagram (wanton) of SEXINESS round TH (Thursday)
Down
1d Change dog biting a European (6)
{MUTATE} ‘To change’ = a dog (probably a mongrel) round A + E (European)
2d Dial apparently out of service (4,2)
{LAID UP} A reversal of DIAL + a reversal indicator = ‘out of service’
3d Subversive element mount this cliff treacherously (5,9)
{FIFTH COLUMNIST} A subversive element (originally in the Spanish Civil War) is an anagram (treacherously) of MOUNT THIS CLIFF
4d See centre around the fat turning up (9)
{CATHEDRAL} The central feature of a see (diocese) = an abbreviation for ‘around’ + THE + a reversal of a type of fat
5d Speak out over speed (5)
{ORATE} ‘To speak out’ = O (over) + speed
7d One in field’s subject of film (5,3)
{THIRD MAN} A fielding position in cricket = the subject of a film starring Orson Welles as the title character
8d Count cut down in plot made powerless (8)
{BENUMBED} Remove the last letter of ‘to count’ and put it inside a plot (in the garden). This gives ‘made powerless’
9d Harry Potter services exhibitions (14)
{RETROSPECTIVES} An anagram (harry) of POTTER SERVICES gives exhibitions
15d Got out more than half of rugby ground in success (3,6)
{HIT WICKET} How a batsman might have got out = the first six letters of a famous rugby ground inside a success
16d Sedate Douglas perhaps preceding emergency treatment (5,3)
{FIRST AID} ‘Sedate’ is preceded by the type of tree of which Douglas is a variety. This gives emergency treatment
17d Maybe pirate’s trunk is painful when crew is around (3,5)
{SEA CHEST} A seaman’s trunk = ‘is painful’ inside a crew
19d Monster to go slowly (6)
{DRAGON} A fire-breathing monster when split (4,2) = ‘to go slowly’
20d French physicist a legislator before (6)
{AMPERE} A French physicist after whom an SI unit is named = A + legislator (2) + before (3)
22d Oriental board game is sort of ‘Go-ish’ (5)
{SHOGI} The Japanese game of chess is an anagram (sort of) of GO-ISH. I didn’t know this word but it was obvious from the wordplay
I didn’t find this puzzle terribly exciting
From today’s Telegraph:
PHANTOM TOUGHIE 751: On Tuesday we inadvertently published Toughie 758 instead of Toughie 751, by Warbler. If you would like a copy of Toughie 751 plus its solution, please email puzzles@telegraph.co.uk (putting ‘Phantom Toughie 751’ in the subject line), or send a self-addressed envelope to Phantom Toughie, Puzzles, Telegraph Media Group, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT. There will be a new Toughie 758 on its rightful date of April 20.
Please note that this is not a regularly used email address, so emails sent to that address are unlikely to be read after this period.
A very gentle toughie, but I enjoyed it. Thanks to Messinae, and to Bufo for the notes.
Gentle but enjoyable. LIked the theme. Thanks to Bufo and Messinae.
Forgot to say, I did really like 4d – what a change to have a ‘see’ related clue that didn’t refer to Ely.
Great fun but not very tough. Thanks to Messinae and to Bufo.
Ditto all the above, favourites were 11a 15d and 27a thanks to Messinae and to Bufo for the comments.
Confusion reigned for me with 6a. I had sore as an anagram of rose from pink. Nevertheless a most enjoyable puzzle. Thanks setter and Bufo.
None of the Telegraph setters would use a construct like that – it’s an indirect anagram, i.e. you have first to find a synonym then make an anagram of it. That is a two-stage process and is deemed to be unfair and therefore verboten.
Thanks for that Gazza.
Would anyone care to explain why the first letter in 25A should be a V?
The instant answer is ‘because it is listed under V in Chambers as an abbreviation for see’. Further research indicates that it is the abbreviation for Vide, the Latin word meaning see or look at as in Vide 63, see page 63
This came up only two days ago in Toughie 751:
19d See what I regularly called HGV perhaps (7)
It’s a pity that newpaper-only solvers didn’t get to see this one (but it’s not too late to get a copy – there are instructions at the bottom of this post).
As a newspaper-only solver, thanks for the info regarding Toughie 751. The DT have replied very promptly! Astounded!
Still don’t get it.
In various publications one might see v or q.v. (meaning quod videt – that which should be seen) to refer you to another passage or reference. This makes them acceptable abbreviations for their english counterparts (v. recipe!
)
Oh how v silly of me. I V v clealry now.
Those that put in easy grammar school abbreviations for whole words for the back page will presumably be offerring B for well (bene) and Q for that (quad). Etc. It’s a coinceit and whilst allowable either only on a toughie or a 4* plus on back page.
But v. exists on its own. I wouldn’t like to see b. for ‘Bene’ or q. for Quod on their own in the same way that I wouldn’t like to see e.g. split but am happy to see it used for SAY. Its not really a conceit, more of an allowed convention.
It’s a conceit and for anyone who’s new to crypics needs to ne sidlelined as a 4* plus for the strokey beard bllx that it is
I would disagree. I wouldn’t join a bridge club and expect to tailor the rules. I would expect to at least learn som conventions with appropriate reference material. Chambers (dictionary, thesaurus and Crossword abbreviations are a good start!).
Point made and taken. I withdraw my criticism.
I went to a grammar school but I did German not Latin but have acquired and remembered all these Latin abbreviations over many years and by solving many many crosswords..
Agree with the assesments above – took a bit longer than the back-pager but I enjoyed it (and completely missed the ordinal numbers!). Thanks to Messinae and to Bufo for the review.
I thought I was in seventh heaven with this one but it didn’t turn up. I liked the numerical theme which made it a bit easier. Favourite was 12 which gave me a laugh but I thought all the clues were very good. Two great Thursdays on the trot.