Toughie No 1368 by Osmosis
Rockin ‘n’ Rollin’
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **
There were rather too many (five of each, highlighted in yellow below) first/last letter constructs to lift the enjoyment level of this otherwise competent puzzle.
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Across
1a I’m afraid adverse vision restricts Charlie dressing (5,5)
SALAD CREAM: the reversal (adverse) of a four-letter word meaning “I’m afraid” or “regrettably” is followed by a vision around (restricts) the letter represented by Charlie in the NATO Phonetic alphabet
6a Domestic entrance shortened (4)
CHAR: drop the final letter (shortened) from a verb meaning to entrance
9a Centre of exhibition consumed music fan escorted by bird (4,6)
TATE MODERN: a verb meaning consumed or ingested and a sixties music fan, one who typically rode a scooter, inside (indicated weakly as escorted by) a bird
10a Standard‘s left — bother to pick it up? (4)
FLAG: L(eft) inside (to pick it up) a bother or nuisance
12a Stars lacking one figure of worship (4)
ARES: drop (lacking) the I (one) from a constellation (stars) to get the Greek God of War
13a Self-proclaimed soldier not fanciful (9)
IMAGINARY: a self-proclaimed US soldier (1’1,1,2) followed by a dialect word meaning not
15a At festival site, one creates powerful punch (8)
HAYMAKER: the site of a literary festival followed by a noun meaning one who creates
16a Extremists in Greenwich start to incite popular leader (6)
GANDHI: the outer letters (extremists) of G[reenwic]H, expressed as (1,3,1) followed by the initial letter of (start to) I[ncite]
18a Accountant and lawyer the latest in company to drop in (4,2)
CALL BY: a Scottish (or Canadian) Chartered Accountant followed by a legal qualification and the final letter (latest) of [company]Y
20a Aquatic life centre in acres, open space around cafe oddly lacking (3,5)
RED ALGAE: the middle letter (centre) of [ac]R[es] followed by the reversal (around) of an open space or clearing and [c]A[f]E without (lacking) its odd letters
23a Thief‘s monetary handout grabbed by criminal baron (9)
BANDOLERO: a monetary handout to the unemployed inside (grabbed by) an anagram (criminal) of BARON
24a ID of evasive revolutionary (4)
VISA: hidden (of) and reversed (revolutionary) inside the clue
26a Vehicle service contract’s ending (4)
RAFT: a military service followed by the final letter (ending) of [contrac]T
27a Gran joins ritual dancing involving three people? (10)
TRIANGULAR: an anagram (dancing) of GRAN with RITUAL
28a Educational institution‘s security device (4)
YALE: two definitions
29a Don, Sheffield’s foremost river in which triathletes swim (10)
SPORTSWEAR: a verb meaning to don or display followed by the initial letter (foremost) of S[heffield] and a river in the North East of England
Down
1d Retreat outside in sunshine and dry (4)
SETT: the outer letters of S[unshin]E followed by an abbreviation meaning dry or abstemious
2d To stop bug, computer department provides service (7)
LITURGY: inside (to stop) an alternative spelling of Spike Milligan’s favourite bug put the two-letter abbreviation for the computer department to get a service in church
ARVE Error: need id and provider |
3d Large-scale survey some organised during critical time on reserve (8,4)
DOMESDAY BOOK: an anagram (organised) of SOME inside (during) a critical time, especially 6 June 1944 in WWII, followed by a verb meaning to reserve
4d Paper’s stern editors, holding nothing back, checked thus? (3-5)
RED-LINED: the final letter (stern) of [pape]R followed by a pair of ED(itor)s around (holding) the reversal (back) of a three-letter word meaning nothing
5d Display appropriate cushion (6)
AIRBAG: a charade of verbs meaning to display and to appropriate or steal
7d Rope that’s eighteen inches when foot’s added? (7)
HALYARD: split this answer as (3,4) and add F(oot) to the first part and the result measures up to eighteen inches
8d School providing reflective singlet curtailed game (5,5)
RUGBY FIVES: the school where this game was first played followed by the reversal (reflective) of a two-letter word meaning providing and a singlet without its final letter (curtailed)
11d Gambler seen here sticks with six, five and a picture of the King? (4,3,5)
VIVA LAS VEGAS: the US city that is a magnet for gamblers preceded by the Roman numerals for six and five and the A from the clue to get a picture / film that starred Elvis Presley, the King of Rock’n’Roll
14d Rock ‘n’ roller‘s fling with X being bound to slip up (5,5)
CHUCK BERRY: this rock ‘n’ roller, nicknamed Crazy Legs, is derived from a fling or throw followed by the two-letter word that that X can represent in mathematics around (bound) a verb meaning to slip up or make a mistake
ARVE Error: need id and provider |
17d Courteous and elegant, dressed up to attract upstanding Scot (8)
DEBONAIR: the reversal (up in a down clue) of an adjective meaning dressed or clothed around the reversal (upstanding, also in a down clue) of a typical Scottish forename
19d Learners going about martial arts class topless getting much fresh air? (7)
LUNGFUL: a pair of L(earner)s around a martial art (4,2) without its initial letter (topless)
21d Ballet shoe’s binding, during breather, examined primarily (7)
GISELLE: the outer letters (binding) of S[ho]E inside the respiratory organ of fish (breather) and followed by the initial letter (primarily) of E[xamined]
22d Soldier on bar doing pull-up receives appreciation (4,2)
BEAR UP: the reversal (doing pull-up) of a bar or inn around (receives) some appreciation or attention
25d Indication of iciness from head of Biology — pupils soon learn this? (4)
BRRR: the initial letter (head) of B[iology] followed by the three-letter abbreviation for academic studies
Watch out for an announcement about Sloggers and Betters 12 – coming soon!
**/*** for me – I did like 25d. Thanks to Osmosis and BD.
I thought that this was a bit below par for a Friday Toughie. Thanks to Osmosis and BD.
Did I spot a Nina in columns 2 and 14?
Fairly gentle for a Friday yet enjoyable, favourites were 21d and 23a, I did notice the across answers all contained either one two or three A’s. Thanks to Osmosis and to Big Dave for the review.
Found it quite tough for a change.
7 and 8d were my last ones as I was trying to get Caliph in 16a.
Needed the review to finish.
Noticed all these initials and finals but what I noticed even more was the amount of words to be written backwards.
Thanks to Osmosis and to BD for his great help.
Five initial + six back + five final = FIVE!
I found this quite hard going. This is most probably due to a very pronounced feeling of fatigue which is why I am back home early! I also found the Giovanni harder than usual. Overall I am rather glad the DT did not throw in a Friday stinker this week as I was (still am) too mentally lethargic to have appreciated it.
Thanks to all
22a was our stumbling-block. Suspect that having both ‘bar’ and ‘up’ in the wordplay convinced us that they were too close to the answer to be right. 1d had us head scratching too until we twigged the TT bit of wordplay. Apart from those it went together smoothly but not very quickly. Enjoyed it.
Thanks Osmosis and BD.
PS, Should not the definition for 22d be ‘soldier on’ rather than just ‘soldier’ ?
I thought I had underlined the “on” – I have now!
Thanks
Very enjoyable. Particularly liked the clever 7d, the witty 11d and the lovely surface of 29a [City of my birth].
Many thanks to Osmosis and to BD for the blog.
What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, I just could not get into this, and put it aside with just a few answers completed. In the wee small hours of today, I picked it up again and, with two or three exceptions that I had to work harder to parse, the answers just flowed. I liked 1A because it’s something we were deprived of for many years until a new supermarket with a good international section opened just 30 miles away. 25D is my favorite, though. With thanks to Osmosis and to BD for the review.