Toughie No 1646 by Firefly
Hints and tips by Bufo
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BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
A gentle crossword which I rattled off while waiting for the shingles jab that the doctor had persuaded me to have. I had no problems with finding the answers or with parsing the clues
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
5a/7a Spectacular springs, beyond question — autumn pales, sadly (7,5)
QUANTUM LEAPS: Q (question) + an anagram (sadly) of AUTUMN PALES = sudden spectacular advances (derived from a concept in physics)
7a See 5 Across
9a Claim a last (piece of) round sausage (6)
SALAMI: Hidden in reverse in claIM A LASt
10a Hang around outskirts of Ilfracombe in frillies (8)
LINGERIE: ‘To hang around’ + the first and last letters of IlfracombE
11a Stumped, judge gains point in ‘Mastermind‘ (10)
STRATEGIST: An abbreviation for ‘stumped’ + ‘to rate’ + the main point of a matter
13a Cutting blow (4)
CLIP: This word for a sharp stinging blow also means ‘to cut with shears’
14a Filming Monroe and Ekberg, perhaps? Heavenly bodies! (8,5)
SHOOTING STARS: ‘Filming’ + leading performers such as Monroe and Ekberg = meteors
16a Swivel in space and dock (4)
MOOR: A reversal (swivel) of ‘space’ = ‘to dock’
17a The bumf I’ll spread’s a minuscule amount (10)
THIMBLEFUL: An anagram (spread) of THE BUMF ILL
19a Souvenir from ‘Tower Tipple’ (8)
KEEPSAKE: The central tower of a castle + a Japanese alcoholic drink
20a Growing endless fruit (6)
RAISIN: ‘Growing’ with the last letter removed = a dried grape
22a/23a Act thus for testing eating irons, etc? (5,7)
PLACE SETTING: The second word of the answer is an anagram of TESTING and the first word can act as an anagram indicator. Thus the answer can act as a cryptic instruction that leads to TESTING
23a See 22 Across
Down
1d Gradgrind’s final answer: ‘Much obliged for facts!’ (4)
DATA: The last letter of GradgrinD + A (answer) + ‘Much obliged!’
2d Free dentistry not unknown to be harsh (8)
STRIDENT: An anagram (free) of DENTISTR, i.e. DENTISTRY minus Y (unknown)
3d Place a trap in the earth? (6)
PLANET: An abbreviation for ‘place’ + A + a trap
4d Great game for a litter lout! (5,5)
PAPER CHASE: A cryptic definition for a game where some runners set off across country dropping stuff by which others track them
5d Measure starting points for qualification using athletes’ reaction times (5)
QUART: First letters of Qualification Using Athletes’ Reaction Times
6d Broadcasting after pain, one gets into muddle — like Ivana Trump perhaps? (13)
MILLIONAIRESS: ‘Pain’ (3) + I (one) + ‘broadcasting’ (2,3) inside a muddle (4)
8d Alcohol‘s an insufficient slant on prison uprising (7)
SPIRITS: ‘A favourable slant on an item of news, policy, etc.’ with the last letter removed + a reversal (uprising) of ‘prison’
12d Happy with Carol, creatively made-up? (10)
APOCRYPHAL: An anagram (creatively) of HAPPY CAROL
14d Strand’s northward buttress (5,2)
SHORE UP: A strand (by the sea) + ‘northward’ = ‘to buttress’
15d In classy bar I tempted bon vivant (8)
SYBARITE: Hidden in clasSY BAR I TEmpted
17d Mock priest’s last service (3,3)
TEA SET: ‘To mock’ + the last letter of priest
18d Exercising university chorus (5)
USING: U (university) + ‘to chorus’
21d Birdies with red parts out of sight could be these? (4)
IBIS: An anagram (could be) of BIIS, i.e. BIRDIES minus the letters of RED
Perhaps next Thursday’s will be tougher.
A perfect puzzle for the back page (or in today’s case, the inside back page) of the paper, both of today’s Telegraph crosswords having taken me exactly the same time.
Thanks to Firefly and Bufo – I share the latter’s hopes for next Thursday
Another crossword treat from Firefly .It is hard to pick a favourite ,perhaps 5/7a or 14a, or maybe 19a.
Thanks Firefly and Bufo.
I know Firefly doesn’t set the toughest of Toughies but I usually enjoy them more than I did this particular one.
No difficulties beyond the complete parsing of 8d – for which, thank you, Bufo.
Nothing really stood out although I did have a smile over 6d.
Thanks to Firefly and to Bufo for the succinct review.
I didn’t cotton onto this one much, I don’t really see 22a as being an anagram indicator, thought the cryptic def in 4d quite week and made myself angry by having CHOP at 13a for a long time too. Still, acceptable midweek fare: thanks Firefly and blogger.
Good afternoon everybody.
A rare outing on this page for me as A N Other had already done the back page puzzle and made a start on the puzzle in another place. After finishing that one I thought I’d take a look at the Toughie which was mostly straightforward although six remained unsolved when I had to go so not too bad for me.
I quite understand that lots of people who do the Toughies prefer a tougher Toughie than this but I was very happy with it and enjoyed it.
Just to put my ignorance on display for you all I’d never heard of Gradgrind so googled him, fully expecting him to be someone from Harry Potter . . . Oh well, you live and learn.
6 and 8d were my last answers.
I liked 14a and 12d. My favourite was the 5/7a combination.
With thanks to Firefly and to Bufo.
I agree with you Kath. I was happy with this and enjoyed it too. I also shared your ignorance of Gradgrind, and resorted to Google! I’ll even go along with your selection of particular likes and your favourite!
Many thanks to Firefly and to Bufo.
I am a little surprised by the number of complaints, and a lot of the anagrams would have baffled newcomers on the inside back page.
Enjoyed this, not sure I knew the game (4d) – I thought of the answer as a bureaucratic exercise. And I’m not sure I’ve heard 14d but it had to be. I also had to check the answer to 15d in brb.
I liked the simple 17d – and the reverse clue (22/23), though I can see Verlaine’s concern.
Many thanks Firefly and Bufo
After yesterday, it was lovely to have a gentle toughie. I’m sure tomorrow’s offering will redress the balance!
That’ll be Sparks! Good luck.
It held us up no end having put ‘chop’ for 13a. Other than that, a nice (and oxymoronic) gentle toughie.
Liked 2d, 16a(though obvious), and 17d.
Bufo, did you mean to put ‘to rate’ in the hint for 11a?
Thanks to Bufo and Firefly.
I liked it too. I have never heard of Gradgrind so looked him up, although knowing who he is was not necessary to parse the answer. But having read a bit about the character and a quote from the book, I think this was a particularly clever clue. I did need the blog for the stumped bit of 11A. Darned cricket clues! Loved 5/7 across, but 1D is my standout. Thanks Firefly and Bufo.
We always feel a bit short changed with this grid as it only has 26 clues. When you add that 5/7 and 22/23 are both one clue for 2 spaces it makes it 24. No wonder it was all over a bit too quickly. It all fitted together smoothly for us and we did enjoy it.
Thanks Firefly and Bufo.
First chance to look at the blog this week for me. So far I was disappointed with the Excalibur as it seemed a fair bit easier than her recent ones (a setter I am really starting to look forward to), then a Dada I found harder than usual and today where I find Firefly was on his easier side and I agree with the 2Kiwis comment
So apparently Sparks tomorrow. I have, to date, found him “hard” to “extremely hard”. This time I wish he falls on his gentler side as I don’t have a lot of spare time available for a prolonged battle tomorrow
Many thanks to Bufo and Firefly (and retrospectively to Dada and Excalibur and associated bloggers)
Certainly much more accessible than the previous Toughie. I had done most of it yesterday before being reminded that I was supposed to be elsewhere. By the time I got back and finished it I was not in the best of moods, but that’s not the puzzle’s fault! I don’t remember much of the crossword now but I did note a “hmm” at 4d, though I didn’t know the game so it’s a better clue than I gave credit for. I don’t have a particular favourite, but it was nice to be able to finish without any help (save checking st=stumped in the brb). Thanks to Firefly and Bufo.
Liked 15D among others in this pleasant puzzle.