Toughie No 1883 by Notabilis
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
I always enjoy blogging a Notabilis puzzle because I know it will be high quality. Today I worked my way around clockwise starting in NE. NW was my last quadrant and it seemed a little harder to me. Still, I managed to finish well before the school run. The parsing for 16a and 16d clicked soon after completing the puzzle.
As always, the definitions are underlined in the clues below. The hints aim to help you with the wordplay, and you can reveal the answers if you want by clicking on the SPOILER buttons. Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
1a Begins losing heart to boxer’s attacks with words … (7)
OPPUGNS: A 5-letter word for begins in which the middle letter (heart) is replaced by a word for boxer
5a … or with teeth (see answer accepted by pundits) (7)
SAVAGES: With the ellipses connecting to the previous clue, the full definition becomes ‘attacks with teeth’ (or perhaps even ‘attacks with words … or with teeth’). The Latin abbreviation for see (Vide) and the abbreviation for Answer go inside another word for pundits.
9a I may put plaster on torso with separate internal cuts apparently more healed? (9)
TROWELLER: The only way you can have separate internal cuts on T(o)R(s)O is to cut the first O and the S. To what’s left, add a whimsical (apparently) adjective that would mean ‘more healed’
10a Involving university, regressively bars religious group (5)
SUNNI: The reversal (regressively) of another word for bars contains (involving) the abbreviation for University
11a Spray that has daisy’s head in the centre (5)
MIDST: Another word for spray goes around the first letter (head) of Daisy
12a Christian convert to depict his old identity with an exchange of origins? (5,4)
SAINT PAUL: A verb meaning to depict artistically plus the name of the answer character before his conversion – then swap the first letters to get the answer
13a French port, according to locals seen in wellies rampaging about (9)
MARSEILLE: A reverse hidden (seen in …. about) gives you the French spelling (according to locals) of the port
16a Issue was disheartening after pulling article from Elle (5)
CHILD: A 7-letter word for ‘was disheartening’ from which a French article (article from Elle, the French fashion magazine) has been removed (pulled)
17a Come to after ‘little one’ is a large! (5)
TOTAL: Place A from the clue and the abbreviation for Large after a word meaning ‘little one’
18a Muses bearer, ‘What to make of men’s money?’ (9)
MNEMOSYNE: An anagram (what to make of …) of MEN’S MONEY
20a Tight wardrobe covering back tattoos (5-4)
CLOSE-KNIT: A 6-letter wardrobe (as in furniture) goes around the reversal of a word that can mean tattoos
23a Expressions of despair in sound volume (5)
SIGHS: A homophone (in sound) of a word meaning volume
25a Language for computing run that breaks everything (5)
ALGOL: A 2-letter word meaning run or operate goes inside (breaks) a word meaning everything
26a Repetition unknown, having tightened up old journal earlier (9)
TAUTOLOGY: a 4-letter word meaning tightened up, the abbreviation for Old, and a word for journal all come before a letter used as an algebraic unknown
27a Like familiar pharaoh, ruler showing more perception (7)
ASTUTER: A word meaning like, a familiar or shortened name of a pharaoh, and our ruler
28a Luther’s reformed cheat (7)
HUSTLER: An anagram (reformed) of LUTHER’S
Down
1d The best part is stopping crude address to old lady (7)
OPTIMUM: The 2-letter abbreviation for part goes inside (stopping) a ‘crude address’ (as in **, you!) followed a person that may be referred to as ‘old lady’
2d Dig around Jungfrau’s base not level with surface (5)
PROUD: A dig or a poke goes around the last letter (base) of Jungfrau. The answer refers e.g. to a nail head which projects or stands out from a flat surface
3d Change of regal concerns is admitted by top-level authoriser (5,4)
GREAT SEAL: An anagram (change) of REGAL contains (is admitted) a verb meaning concerns or worries
4d In America this court visitor would be ineffectual (5)
SELES: If you put this court visitor inside the 2-letter abbreviation for America, you would get a word meaning ineffectual
5d Drawing lots of mosaic-piece graphics primarily, and touchy about it (9)
SORTILEGE: A 4-letter mosaic-piece plus the first letter (primarily) of graphics are surrounded by (about it) a word meaning touchy or irritable. A new word for me
6d Maybe frequent verb marks the end? (5)
VISIT: The abbreviation for verb plus a (2,2) expression that marks the end, as in ‘this ** **’
7d Ignite and lay about for warmth (9)
GENIALITY: An anagram (about) of IGNITE+LAY
8d Expert did a slalom, perhaps crossing lines (7)
SKILLED: Expert is an adjective here. A verb which ‘did a slalom’ exemplifies (perhaps) goes around (crossing) a pair of abbreviations for Line.
14d Retired cops still considered handling differently (9)
RETHOUGHT: The 3-letter abbreviation for retired goes around (cops) another word for still or yet
15d I’ll put on a plastic coat to beat wearing a short blue one (9)
LAMINATOR: A 3-letter verb meaning to beat, a preposition meaning wearing, A from the clue, then the first 3 letters (short) of a 4-letter word describing a ‘blue’ person
16d Are these weapons to show path for warning shot? (9)
CROSSBOWS: Split (5,4), the answer describes where on an enemy ship a warning shot in a naval battle is fired
17d Showpiece for key players rounding duck and double century with bye (7)
TOCCATA: The letter that looks like a score of zero (no runs) in cricket plus two abbreviations of Century is surrounded by (rounding … with) an informal or childish form of bye-bye.
19d Seemingly one without a lisp, dropping a sibilant, but he tries (7)
ESSAYER: An (3-5) might be a person who does pronounce the letter that is mispronounced in a lisp. Remove one of the S’s (dropping a sibilant, which is the s-sound) to get the answer
21d MDMA powder taken up for impressive effect (5)
ECLAT: MDMA is Ecstasy. Take the abbreviation for Ecstasy and add the reversal of a common toiletry powder
22d Closed? That’s awful unlucky (5)
TOUGH: A 2-letter word meaning closed plus an expression meaning ‘that’s awful’
24d Guts in age should reveal morbid person (5)
GHOUL: The inner letters (guts) of AGE and SHOULD
I always enjoy the fairness and precision of Notabilis’s instructions (‘seperate internal cuts’ in 9a, ‘according to locals’ in 13a, ‘familiar pharaoh’ in 27a, etc., etc.). Today I liked the reverse hidden in 13a, I was impressed with the cricket surface in 17d, I enjoyed the fun of 4d, I liked the part of speech change in 8d and 10a, and I thought ‘the best part’ effectively made it hard to untangle the definition in 1d. Which clues did you like?
I enjoyed this a great deal – thanks to Notabilis and Dutch (and I found the Ninas, always a bonus for me). I didn’t know 5d or 18d for which I needed the assistance of Mr Google. The clues which I liked best were 12a, 1d, 4d and 19d.
I think the definition in 11a has to be just ‘the centre’ because the ‘in’ is needed to indicate the insertion.
11a yes, the answer can also be a noun. Now fixed
I looked for a Nina and didn’t see anything, I still don’t. Will keep looking.
Really enjoyed today’s puzzle. Thanks to Notabilis and Dutch. Enjoyed 12a. Learned some new words too. As I am someone who can never find a Nina it would be nice if some form of hints could be given to dummies like me without spoiling it for others.
There are two colourful Ninas in the grid, both 8,4 in length.
so there are – don’t know how i missed them first time around.
I did fill this in correctly but needed Dutch to tell me why some of my guesses were right. Oh dear, another Nina. Something else that is beyond me! I have found “blue”.
Thought I recognised “Sortilege”. It is a perfume available from Liberty at “only” £140 for 100 ml.
“Devination by drawing lots” is an interesting name for a perfume!
I think in French it means a magic spell?
Too good for me. Even with JB’s help I still can’t find blue. I concede I am Nina dyslexic
It’s diagonal, bottom right. You might be able to extrapolate and find the rest.
After a very slow start, this was for me (another) case of so near, and yet so far. In the end I was left with a handful in the NW corner. I didn’t get, but certainly should have, 2d and 4d (which was such a clever clue). However, I had never heard of, and would never have found, 5d and I don’t really associate 9a with one who plasters. For the moment my disappointment in not finishing is outweighing my sense of achievement in getting the great majority of it. (I thought one of the across clues contained the best reverse lurker I can remember meeting).
Thanks Dutch. Found it. Will now persevere to find the rest.
Hooray! Found them both. Thanks all. Looking forward to spotting one on my own
well done
Sorry,what is a nina?
Welcome to the blog.
What is a Nina is a frequently asked question and you’ll find the answer under FAQ No 31
We did have a quick look for a Nina as we expect one from Notabilis but failed to spot it until we read the comments here. Quite a bit trickier that three stars for us but as Dutch has mentioned, all the clues are beautifully crafted and scrupulously fair. 18a needed a Google confirmation and a big laugh at 4d when the penny dropped. A good challenge and good fun.
Thanks Notabilis and Dutch.
Thoroughly enjoyed this after a busy month away in Africa with no crosswords ! It made me appreciate the subtleties of Notabilis’ clues, which aren’t the mixture of cliches that are sometimes found in cryptics. For instance ‘boxer’ is so often Ali these days, but in 1a it’s ‘pug.’ Among my favourites were 3d, 16a, the brilliant 15d and 20a.
i’ve found the nina! first time ever – i’m going ouside for a smirk!
Finally got round to finishing this yesterday. Bit late to comment in detail now, but will say that I found it really hard to get started and not all that easy to make headway either. There were a few answers that I was surprised to get at all, but in the end managed a full grid with no cheats, though I did have to look a couple of things up straight afterwards. Worth the extra effort.
I was colourblind, so thanks to Gazza for bringing the ninas to light.
Thanks to Notabilis and Dutch. Love the 5a pic!