Toughie No 1427 by Kcit
Hints and tips by Bufo
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
I made slow progress until I’d cracked 2 or 3 of the anagrams. It was then plain sailing until I got to some of the accursed four-letter answers at the end. I enjoyed this one. There are a few slightly obscure answers but I had no problems understanding any of the wordplay
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 Diamonds — arranging of date, ending in ceremony –- eternally devoted? (4-6)
ROCK-STEADY: Diamonds + an anagram (arranging of) of DATE + the last letter of ceremonY
6a Try to eradicate a black plant (4)
HERB: ‘To try (a court case) with the letter A removed (eradicated) + B (black)
9a A shocking time, in terms of shock? (3,4,3)
BAD HAIR DAY: The shock is one that grows on the head
10a Go out, avoiding sun — coming back, suffer effects of sun? (4)
PEEL: A reversal of ‘to go out’ with the letter S (sun) removed
12a Court dismissing last two tribunals after review and lots of study (12)
LUCUBRATIONS: An anagram (after review) of COU TRIBUNALS. The answer is a word that I knew existed but I had no idea what it meant. I needed the checking letters to work out the anagram
15a Blinking line I exhibit when cycling? (6)
OWLISH: Take L (line) and I and ‘to exhibit’ and then put the last two letters at the front
16a Ape, losing head, stepping back, cracking principal weapon (8)
SCIMITAR: A reversal of ‘to ape’ with the first letter removed goes inside ‘principal’ to give a type of sword
18a Naughty once, with mother restricting one’s praise (8)
ENCOMIUM: An anagram (naughty) of ONCE + mother round I (one)
19a Required US industrialist to accommodate church (6)
FORCED: The surname of a US industrialist round one of the usual 2-letter abbreviations denoting ‘church’
21a Second chance to view translation of poetical yarn (6,6)
ACTION REPLAY: An anagram (translation of) of POETICAL YARN
24a Man‘s son abandoning eggs (4)
PAWN: A chessman = a mass of eggs laid in water with the letter S (son) removed
25a Ritual representing one miracle (10)
CEREMONIAL: An anagram (representing) of ONE MIRACLE
26a Secure note provided by musical sense (4)
EARN: Musical sense + N (note)
27a Flight arrangement done in stages (4,2,4)
STEP BY STEP: How a flight of stairs is arranged
Down
1d Massage daily finally makes you red (4)
RUBY: ‘To massage’ + the last letter of dailY
2d Some people do computing, picking this up (4)
CODE: Hidden in reverse inside peoplE DO Computing. The whole clue provides the definition
3d Item with cachet a smutty slob’s ruined (6,6)
STATUS SYMBOL: An anagram (ruined) of A SMUTTY SLOB
4d Reprimand, and what it may make you, if not at first (6)
EARFUL: A reprimand = ‘ready to cry’ with the first letter removed
5d Vehicle in view, heading off and moving up in driving contest (4,4)
DRAG RACE: Put a road vehicle inside ‘to view’ with the first letter removed. Then reverse the result to get a contest in which cars accelerate from a standing start
7d Detective with careful approach securing prisoner’s appearance of trust? (3,7)
EYE CONTACT: A detective (usually preceded by ‘peivate’) + a prisoner + a careful approach
8d Labour upset American business support (10)
BALUSTRADE: A reversal of an abbreviated form of Labour + American + business
11d Ranting to baffle Catholic congregation (5,7)
STUMP ORATORY: A rant, often by a US political figure, = ‘to baffle’ + one of various congregations in the Roman Catholic Church
13d Say dealing in currency’s substantial (3,7)
FOR EXAMPLE: An abbreviated form of Foreign Exchange + substantial
14d Notice haulier’s under municipal feature (5,5)
CLOCK TOWER: A slang word for ‘to notice’ + a haulier (one who hauls)
17d Food? Fruit split has one tucking in (8)
NUTRIENT: A fruit with a hard shell + split (a past participle) round I (one)
20d Running costs continue, after switching components (6)
UPKEEP: ‘Continue’ (4,2) with the 2-letter word moved to the front
22d Talent? Minimum of talent linked to moving image (4)
GIFT: A standard computer image file format (which can be used for moving images) + the first letter of Talent
23d Escape‘s a narrow thing (4)
SLIP: 2 meanings: escape/anything slender or narrow
Trickier than many Kcit puzzles (and much the better for that)
Yes, I think Kcit’s puzzles have been getting trickier and this one took a bit of getting into. Some of the 4-letter words were quite challenging. 4d was quite neat.
Thanks to Kcit and to Bufo for the blog.
ps there’s a typo in “private” [7d] – shows I read it all!
Many thanks Bufo, I think you’ve done well, there were two words I did not know existed let alone what they meant (12a, 18a) as well as two meanings that were new to me (15a, 11d).
For 4d (reprimand) I saw “fearful” and didn’t bother looking further, but “tearful” I think works better.
For 22d, I also wondered about GIF as a moving(?) image and thought it might instead be FIG, as in figure, with “moving” as the anagram indicator. FIG is in brb (as is GIF).
Even though I had never seen the word, I thought 18a was a nice clue (naughty once..)
I also liked 27a (flight arrangement.) and 14d (Notice haulier’s under..).
Many thanks Kcit
I’m glad it was just me Dutch that had to check 12 and 18a.
My sentiments exactly
As Kath would say, “Oh dear”!
I got so close to finishing this but one mistake messed everything up. For 14d I had ‘watch tower’. This made 15a impossible to fathom.
I had to check 12 and 18a were correct.
A very enjoyable romp otherwise.
Many thanks to Kcit and to Bufo for blogging.
Before I read the review, I was coming up short on 12A and 4D. I needed to look at the answer for 12A, and then the extra checking letter that provided for 4D enabled me to solve it before I read the hint. I would never have got 12A in a month of Sundays. I also need the hint to parse 22A. 18A was a new word, but solvable from the clue. I found this very challenging, but I am pretty pleased with my effort. Absolute favorite is 15A. Thanks to Kcit for the workout and to Gazza for the typically quality review.
Bufo wrote this one!
So he did! Apologies, Bufo.
Funnily enough, I found it relatively easy and finished it last night before going to bed. Well, when I say finished, I couldn’t get 15a for the life of me. But now that I have read the hint, I get it. Never heard of it but I imagine that owls do blink.
This puzzle put me in a real disco move as I was humming 27a and 21a.
14d is my favourite. I do miss Crouch End and its clock tower.
Thanks to Kcit for the super crossword and to Bufo for the review.
Hi JL – don’t forget the Rock Steady Crew at 1a! Maybe not the best singers in the world but their street dancing ain’t half bad.
On the original ‘Now That’s What I call Music’ album pop fans.
I got about half way there so thanks for the all the nudges and hints.I liked 4d, 9a ans 27a.
Thanks Kcit and Bufo.
It has all been said, liking Kcit stepping up a gear , thanks to him and Bufo
Good heavens, I finished it and all by myself.
Hadn’t heard of either 12 or 18a but managed to work them out and goodness knows how far down I dug to drag out 11d.
Best of the bunch for me were 1,9&27a plus 7&13d.
Thanks to Kcit and to Bufo – can’t believe I managed one that you rated as 4* for difficulty – think I shall go and lie down in a darkened room now……………
Well done Jane. Further than I got..stupid mistake. Do you want a drink bringing to you in your darkened room?
Yes please – and maybe a damp cloth for the fevered brow?
Thank you.
Consider it done. And just think, it’s the Don tomorrow on the back page and a Friday Toughie. I think might need a lie down now.
Thanks for the excellent review, Bufo, I did need to check one or two – the full parsing of 5d ‘drag race’, and would you believe ‘peel’….But I finished it without help, and enjoyed it hugely, thanks to Kcit for a lovely puzzle.
Toughies are all 5 star difficulty for me still….