Toughie No 1058 by Petitjean
A piece of (fruit)cake
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Not one of Petitjean’s more difficult puzzles, which is presumably why it ended up in this Tuesday slot.
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
7a Mash gratiné with a fresher taste (7)
{TANGIER} – an anagram (mash) of GRATINÉ
8a It’s blown over before cold rain hit area (7)
{OCARINA} – O(ver) followed by C(old), an anagram (hit) of RAIN and A(rea)
10a Kind author giving away old printer (10)
{TYPEWRITER} – a kind or sort followed by an author
11a Note title of Farah’s autobiography? (4)
{MEMO} – split as (2,2) this could be the title of double gold medal winner Farah’s autobiography
12a Publicist in market for computer output (8)
{PRINTOUT} – a two-letter abbreviation for a publicist followed by IN and a verb meaning to market or promote
14a Give alien a signal to go back (6)
{DONATE} – a charade of Crosswordland’s favourite alien, the A from the clue and a signal made with the head, all reversed (to go back)
15a Fuss over English conservationists interrupting broadcaster (11)
{OSTENTATION} – O(ver) followed by E(nglish) and an organisation of conservationist, the last two inside (interrupting) a broadcasting company
19a Rather a good woodwind section (6)
{AGREED} – the A from the clue followed by G(ood) and part (section) of a woodwind instrument
20a Seriously going broke (5,3)
{BADLY OFF} – a word meaning seriously, as in seriously ill, followed by a word meaning going or headed towards
22a Almost excessively quiet? Rubbish! (4)
{TOSH} – most of a three-letter adverb meaning excessivelyffb an exhortation to keep quiet
23a Harmful rays absorbed here nearly ooze out (5,5)
{OZONE LAYER} – an anagram (out) of NEARLY OOZE
25a Unashamed Liberal enrolled in club — a new recruit at last (7)
{BLATANT} – L(iberal) inside a club used by cricketers and followed by the A from the clue, N(ew) and the final letter (at last) of recruiT
26a Guard heading for trouble trailing expert sleuth (7)
{PROTECT} – the initial letter (heading) of Trouble after an expert and a sleuth
Down
1d Difficult to accept lay-off? Let’s run this up the flagpole (7)
{HALYARD} – an adjective meaning difficult around (to accept) an anagram (off) of LAY
2d Look at raising feel-good factor (4)
{OGLE} – hidden (factor) and reversed (raising) inside the clue
3d Fruitcake I and others love to consume one way (6)
{WEIRDO} – to get this fruitcake or oddball start with the pronoun that represents I and others and O (love) and place them around I (one) and the abbreviation for a way
4d Do something about left-of-centre communist? I approve (8)
{ACCREDIT} – a three-letter verb meaning to do something around the initial letter (left) of C(entre), a communist and the I from the clue
5d Cliff‘s concert on time or close to early (10)
{PROMONTORY} – a school concert followed by ON, T(ime), OR and the final letter of (close to) early
6d Breathing fire (7)
{ANIMATE} – a double definition, the second one being a verb meaning to fire or encourage
9d Figure including shipment’s final charge for record — that’s the law (7,4)
{STATUTE BOOK} – a carved figure around the final letter of shipmenT and followed by a verb meaning to charge someone with an offence
13d Stein shuns bananas in basic quarters (6,4)
{NISSEN HUTS} – an anagram (bananas) of STEIN SHUNS gives basic quarters for soldiers
16d Full of ebb and flow, with scrap by goal (3-2-3)
{END-TO-END} – a scrap or bit left over followed by a two-letter preposition meaning by or near and a goal or aim
17d Disgraceful foul elbowing Walcott’s header away (7)
{IGNOBLE} – an anagram (foul) of ELBO(W)ING after the initial letter (header) of Walcott has been dropped (away)
18d One on the receiving end of opening assault (7)
{OFFENCE} – someone who receives stolen goods preceded by (opening) OF
21d It’s commonplace within boundaries of decency bottom should be covered (6)
{DREARY} – the outer letters (boundaries) of DecencY around (should be covered) the bottom or behind
24d Rampant idealist making a case for protester (4)
{ANTI} – hidden (making a case for) inside the clue
Let’s hope the puzzles for the rest of the week are tougher than this.
Easier and more fun than the backpager. Thanks to BD and PJ.
Not as difficult as today’s cryptic in my opinion but enjoyable nevertheless. Thanks setter and BD.
Agree with previous comments, enjoyable but definitely not a toughie. Thanks to Petitjean and BD.
Gentle start to the Toughie week but still enjoyable, I did notice the grid is identical to the back-pager, favourites for me were 3d and 6d thanks to Petitjean and to Big Dave for the comments.
No real problem with this one, although i spent some time trying to spot the definition in 8a.
Thanks to Petitjean, and to BD.
Due to business, It is not often that I get to join The Toughie Club but now that I have blown my 8ac here Ii am and hello to all. This was a thoroughly enjoyable romp through all that is best about crosswordland. Ta to all as usual.
Meant to say when I commented earlier, 11a reminded me of my first job in London where the head of the printing unit wouldn’t do anything unless presented with a note pronounced exactly 2, 2 like the wordplay!
We thought that 11a sounded like a lost fish. All fitted neatly into place in about the same time as the back-pager. Spent some time trying to read more into the word-play of 16d than there actually seems to be. Some good chuckle inducing clues.
Thanks Petitjean and BD.
Chuckle inducement seems to be his trademark [11a, 4d, 13d].
Thanks to PJ and BD
Oh dear, I agree with all above sentiments above but what WAS I thinking trying to fit ace into 26a. That aside agree with BD ratings, so thanks to him and Petitjean
I always enjoy Petitjean crosswords, especially when I can do them!
I was pleasantly surprised to find that BD had given it a 2* difficulty – very encouraging!
I never time myself so don’t have the first idea of how long this took me but, at a rough guess, I would say probably about the same time as the back page puzzle – possibly a bit less.
My favourite was 22a – not the most difficult one but that kind of answer always makes me laugh.
With thanks to Petitjean and BD.
The parts of this that I managed to do were lots more fun than the back page.Thanks to BD and Petitjean.
As I do rather like Pettijean puzzles, I tried this, and it was most enjoyable
I needed Big Dave’s valuable hints to explain 12a and 9d as I had the answers but only parts of the parsing.
You’re not the only one to think ‘ace’, Andy! It took me ages before the penny dropped that ‘it wasn’t the right synonym for part of 26a!
Thank you both very much, Pettijean and Big Dave.