Toughie No 1790 by Shamus
Hints and tips by Bufo
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ***/****
Another puzzle of two halves. The bottom half went in fairly easily but the top half needed a lot of effort. I then had to think hard about some of the wordplay. But overall I enjoyed the challenge
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
1a Rockwell, say, showing kind fellow by a church (8)
TYPEFACE: A kind (sort) + F (fellow) + A + the Church of England
5a A quiffed man on airline grew smaller (6)
ABATED: A + an airline + a man (from the 1950s) with a quiff
10a Resultant policy that’s damaged aspect of a dictatorship? (11,4)
PERSONALITY CULT: An anagram (damaged) of RESULTANT POLICY = excessive adulation of someone in public life
11a View extraordinary number in dome (7)
OPINION: An extraordinary number (3.14159…) inside a dome (head)
12a Civil rights campaigner to nail head of syndicate? (7)
KINGPIN: A civil rights campaigner assassinated in 1968 + ‘nail’
13a Introduction about America by legal graduate in training (8)
PREAMBLE: ‘About’ (2), America (2) and a legal graduate (2) inside ‘training’ (2)
15a Understood amount a citizen’s invested (5)
TACIT: Hidden in AMOUNT A CITIZEN
18a Lacking time, one delays figure that’s recently awoken? (5)
RISER: Remove the Latin word for time in music (5) from a word for someone who uses delaying tactics (10) and you are left with someone who has got out of bed. It took me a long time to work this out and I don’t like it much
20a Replace drink factory (8)
SUPPLANT: ‘To drink’ + a factory
23a Trouble ahead of all others in SA city with a number leaving (7)
DISTURB: Three letters denoting ‘first’ or ‘ahead of all others’ inside a South African city with A N (number) removed
25a One undistinguished set of players entering a country, not Italy (4-3)
ALSO RAN: An orchestra (set of players) inside A and an Asian country with the letter I (Italy) removed
26a Debater lent skis possibly for idle enjoyment (4,3,8)
BEER AND SKITTLES: An anagram (possibly) of DEBATER LENT SKIS
27a Admission in French service maybe (6)
ENTRÉE: The French word for ‘in’ + a plant such as a service
28a Spiteful single victor returns ahead of sumo wrestling (8)
VENOMOUS: A reversal of ‘single’ and V (victor) + an anagram (wrestling) of SUMO
Down
1d Very fine trophy in effect? (6)
TIPTOP: The first half of the word is a reversal indicator and the second half is a trophy in reverse
2d Advice by Republican in foreign capital showing bias (5,4)
PARTI PRIS: Advice (perhaps about which horse to back at Aintree this afternoon) and R (Republican) inside a European capital. A term I didn’t know
3d Peer round island toured by those running sport in state (7)
FLORIDA: A peer round I (island) inside the governing organisation of a sport
4d Commercial series that’s pulled in office (5)
CHAIN: I assume there’s two or more definitions here, possibly a series of shops under the same ownership, something that’s pulled and a symbol of office. I’m not sure exactly what the setter had in mind
6d It’s put on arm in medical area with sick note (7)
BAYONET: Something fixed to a firearm = a medical area + an anagram (sick) of NOTE
7d Source of tension with uproar striking US heart, perhaps (5)
TRUMP: The first letter of Tension + an uproar with the letters US removed = a playing card that could be a heart
8d Greek character observed in lift set off (8)
DETONATE: A reversal (in lift) of a Greek letter and ‘observed’
9d Tonic in hitchhiker’s request? (4-2-2)
PICK-ME-UP: When split (4,2,2) it could be a request by a hitchhiker
14d Detective overlooking corpse is invasive type (8)
BUSYBODY: A detective (4) + a corpse (4)
16d Line retained by actor not adapted for singer (9)
CONTRALTO: An anagram (adapted) of ACTOR NOT round L (line)
17d Pair of critics characterising food as trustworthy (8)
CREDIBLE: The first two letters of CRITICS + ‘characterising food’
19d By the sound of it, regret fat in dish (7)
ROULADE: A homophone of ‘to regret’ (3) and ‘fat’ (4)
21d Standing order blocking renovation of hotel in African country (7)
LESOTHO: SO (standing order) inside an anagram (renovation) of HOTEL
22d Impositions aboard American ship touring Spain (6)
ONUSES: ‘Aboard’ (2) + the designation of an American ship (3) round E (Spain)
24d Shelter in road in wintry weather (5)
SLEET: ‘Shelter’ inside an abbreviation fora type of road
25d One’s wet stroll — to lose weight, that is (5)
ALKIE: One that’s wet (i.e. fond of the booze) = ‘to stroll’ with the letter W (weight) removed + ‘that is’
I really enjoyed this Shamus puzzle (except for the 19d homophone!) and I even got the 1950s chap who I missed yesterday. Thanks to Shamus and Bufo. My favourite was 2d.
I took the ‘office’ in 4d to be a slang word for lavatory.
I wouldn’t have worked 4D out because I wasn’t aware that office = lavatory. So I’m happy now Gazza.
Gazza beat me to it!
I was going for the mayoral chain of office.
Just crept over the edge of my Toughie spectrum, despite taking less time than Mr T in the back page. My favourite was 4d as remembering ‘the usual offices’ euphemism made me smile
Thanks to Shamus and Bufo
This one beat me. Couldn’t solve 2d (new phrase for me) and 25d and need the hints to untangle a few others that I just biffed in (being pretty sure they were correct). Enjoyed the rest though even though it took me an age to wade through.
That was most enjoyable and also quicker than the back pager.1a had me puzzled for a while . It happens to be a well known school in Tipperary but I knew it couldn’t be that.
7d was my last one in .
It’s difficult to pick a favourite , either 14d or 9d.
Thanks to shamus and Bufo.
I wondered where Shamus had hidden his Irish reference today – thank you, Una!
I didn’t know that , about his Irish references. Good to know.
Jane is the only one who thinks he’s Irish. The rest of us just know he’s using one of his private investigator aliases
Sadly, I have been forced to accept that, CS, although I still maintain that he looks Irish! It is, however, invariably true that he includes at least one Irish reference in the majority of his puzzles.
If you pop in, Shamus, perhaps you’d back me up on the latter assertion?
I thought he was Irish too for a while , because of some clues that he posted . But I was put straight.
Our setter gets his alias from Shamus Town, in the Raymond Chandler novels about someone with a name which is very similar to his own real name! Watch out for the credits on Only Connect as he is usually there as a question setter.
Took me quite a while to complete this one. I had to ask Mr. Google about Rockwell and the 2d bias and hadn’t met the 14d detective previously. I also needed Bufo’s help with the parsing of 18a & 1d.
Always strikes me as odd that a word relating to alcohol use should be spelled with a ‘k’.
Top three for me were 7,9&19d – no surprise there, Gazza always picks the clever ones and I go for the funnies!
Thanks to the twinkly-eyed leprechaun and gratitude to Bufo for the help where needed.
Sparks tomorrow.
1a was difficult because I had to consider Norman the illustrator.
I finished under my own steam but spent altogether too long trying to work Norman or artist into 1A, and then the penny dropped. Managed to drag 2D up from somewhere and then parsed afterwards. I was looking for a generic term for a set of players in 25A, not such a specific one, so that one remained unparsed. 18A didn’t float my boat either. I particularly liked 11A, 26A and 9D, but the trophy goes to 1D, with 4D getting the silver medal. Thanks Samuel and Bufo.
!8a was the one that beat us. We had the right answer from the definition and had tried adding all sorts of time letters and words but did not get as far as the correct 5 letter one. Like Bufo we had not heard of office as a lavatory euphemism but decided it had to be. Not a quick solve and heaps of fun.
Thanks Shamus and Bufo.
Finished in 3* time but needed 3 hints in the NE corner, so 4* is fair enough. The same for enjoyment; some fine clues here, of which 25a was my favourite. Thanks to Shamus and Bufo.
Solved in about ***/**** time, though not without a few lucky guesses here and there. Definitely not easier than the back pager, which was solved in about half the time.
Bottom half went in easily – top half a struggle. I hadn’t come across 2d. Needed 3 hints – thanks for those Bufo. 4*/4* for me. Finished this morning. 6d was my favoutite once the penny had dropped. x=49.
In full agreement with all the others who found this a grid of two halves: the bottom was simple, the top not so much. I didn’t parse the timeless delayer or the office puller properly, so thanks Bufo & co! And thanks to the setter for a decent midweek challenge. I enjoyed the Rockwell penny drop moment too.
I struggled through this, but couldn’t finish it without hints. Quite a lot of lego for a Shamus puzzle, I thought.
Lots to like though, with 1a & 6d hanging around the top spot.
Many thanks to Shamus and to Bufo for the tips.