Toughie No 2381 by Elgar
Hints and tips by Dutch
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
This is Elgar’s 142nd Telegraph Toughie. This is the number of a special vehicle featured in a remarkable story, now also a movie, and is referenced by a number of grid entries
As always, finding the definitions is half the battle – these are underlined for you in the clues below. The hints and tips are intended to help you unravel the wordplay, but if that is insufficient you can reveal the answers by clicking on the The true story of 10a 22a and the 16d, written by 17d in the book hidden in row 1 buttons. Please leave a comment telling us what you thought
Across
1a/28a Too fond of pub profits? (4,3,7)
INTO THE BARGAIN: A 4-letter casual word meaning fond of plus a (3,3,4) phrase that would mean pub profits
5a/27a Spur-of-the-moment staff-outings? (7,7)
WILDCAT STRIKES: A cryptic definition for unplanned refusals to work
9a Sense perception essential for catching this when flipped? (5)
CREPE: The whole clue alludes to the answer. A reverse hidden (… essential for catching this when flipped)
10a The Great Alone, not getting on with parts by leading lady (9)
ALEXANDER: ALONE from the clue without (not getting) ON, the an 3-letter conjunction meaning with goes between (parts) a letter that can be an arithmetic symbol meaning by, plus the Latin abbreviation for the lady who leads our country. The Great Alone is a novel by Kristin Hannah, but is also a descriptor used for Alaska hence related to the theme
11a Am I bothered lug is lashing crew? (2,8)
ME HEARTIES: A 3-letter slang word meaning ‘Am I bothered’, i.e., expressing indifference, the facial feature known as a lug, and a verb meaning ‘is lashing’ (with a rope)
12a see 6d
14a Exemplary policy, Part Two missing wife out (12)
PROTOTYPICAL: An anagram (out) of POLICY PART T(w)O (missing the abbreviation for wife)
18a For which one flew to launch chequered Aussie career? (3-3,6)
AIR-SEA RESCUE: Launch is a noun here. An anagram (chequered) of AUSSIE CAREER
21a Drink you’re glugging like some of the black stuff! (4)
INKY: Hidden (… glugging)
22a Star Trek providing parts for this group of players? (9)
SUPERTRAMP: The first and second parts of the answer are clued by Star and Trek, respectively
25a Giving in to flu bout, occasionally nasty (9)
BOUNTIFUL: An anagram (nasty) of IN TO FLU B(o)U(t) (bout, occasionally)
26a Drive back westbound Underground passenger? (5)
REBUT: A reversal (westbound) of a 5-letter “Underground passenger”
27a see 5a
28a see 1a
Down
1d Door, open – so ___? Profit! (6)
INCOME: With an open door, you would normally (4,2) – now reverse the order of these words as indicated by ‘door, open’
2d Cut in if they’re still rocking! (3,3)
THE WHO: A 3-letter word meaning cut goes inside (in) a 3-letter informal (abbreviated) word meaning if
3d Woman set about man from the outset, that’s just it! (3,4,3)
THE FAIR SEX: Around (set about) a male pronoun, we have the first letter (from the outset) of that’s, a word meaning just or righteous, and an activity known as ‘it’
4d Finished what one was doing? (5)
EXACT: Split the answer (2,3) to describe the second half of the clue
5d In an endless game of tricks, East’s bank set up a valid point (5,2,2)
WHERE IT IS: Inside (in) a card game resembling bridge without the last letter (endless), we have the abbreviation for East plus a reversal (set up) of a word meaning bank
6d/12a What sounds like ‘Now is the winter of our discontent …’ maybe (4,4)
LEAD LINE: A nautical device used for sounding might also refer to the opening words in a play
7d Pouch item from the chippy? (8)
CODPIECE: Split (3,5), this might be something to go with your chips
8d With one reversal, the answer is triple layered (5-3)
THREE-PLY: A (3,5) synonym for ‘the answer’ with one pair of letters reversed
13d During series a couple of players express rage I could not contain? (10)
SPLUTTERER: Inside (during) the 3-letter abbreviation for series, we have the first two letters (a couple) of PLayers plus a verb meaning to express or say
15d Suffragette will mobilise e.g. these ‘pious’ types (9)
TARTUFFES: An anagram (will mobilise) of EG plus [the answer] gives SUFFRAGETTES
16d The sounds one’s into? Swap metal with American track by 2 (5,3)
MAGIC BUS: A (5,3) phrase that would describe the sounds you’re into, then swap the chemical symbol for a precious metal in the second word with the 2-letter abbreviation for American in the first word
17d Mountaineer treated rare auk nursing its right wing (8)
KRAKAUER: An anagram (treated) of RARE AUK contains (nursing) the rightmost letter of auk (its right wing). This mountaineer is also a writer and wrote the book on the theme (hidden in the first row)
19d Rocky, perhaps, but ready for Panamanian (6)
BALBOA: Rocky’s surname is also the currency of Panama
20d Everyone stripped from the waist up? Exactly! (4-2)
SPOT-ON: A reversal (up) of a (2,4) phrase suggesting upper garments are not present
23d From the collection of Nick Clegg, say? (2,3)
EX LIB: The answer could whimsically refer to Nick Clegg
24d Doing fine sort of skunk (4)
ATOK: An informal 2-letter word for doing and an informal expression for fine
I liked the band clues 22a and 2d, and also enjoyed the simple 23d. I think my favourite was the chequered Aussie career (18a) with the clever “to launch career” – which clues did you like?
That was a bit difficult, 15d & 17d caused problems in particular
Thanks Elgar & Dutch
So after three days of crosswords of a level that wouldn’t be out of place on the back page of the paper on a Monday or Tuesday, we get, as expected from Elgar, a stratospheric leap into proper fiendish Toughie difficulty.
I did enjoy the battle – I learnt a few new things, eg the ‘ready’ in 19d – and I did have to check that the ones I’d put in from the wordplay like 17d were correct. Hard to pick a favourite but I did mark 11a, 1d, 19d and 23d for the short list.
As I keep saying every time we have an Elgar Toughie, it isn’t necessary to know that we are looking for a particular numbered theme to solve the crossword – I was none the wiser when I’d finished or after I’d clicked to find out Dutch’s enlightenment on the matter
Thanks to Elgar and Dutch
The top half went in relatively smoothly for me but the bottom half was a different kettle of fish. I wasn’t helped by foolishly writing the Underground passenger into 26a. Having sorted that out I then had to battle with the very obscure 17d and 24d which involved calling on the assistance of Mrs Google.
I liked 18a (I presume the ‘one’ refers to the princely flier) and I also ticked 9a, 11a and my favourite, 23d.
Many thanks to Elgar (now appearing every other Friday?) and Dutch.
every other? watch this this space!
Just seen the list – he’s back again next week
A slight reversal of the answer given for 18 across. Should be Air Sea Rescue. Thanks to Elgar and Dutch for another very enjoyable challenge.
oops, silly typing mistake, now fixed
Your solution to 18A has the first two, hyphened, words in the wrong order…. Your way the answer to 3D does not fit!
Welcome to the blog Colin
I think that has now been corrected.
Dutch- a slight slip in your notes for 18 a -should be AIR SEA RESCUE. Must say, I had my usual failure with Elgar, only getting 4 or 5 and never spotting the theme.Thanks anyway Dutch and Elgar
Hi, nice to hear from you! well spotted, silly typing error, obviously doesn’t fit the grid, now fixed.
Just managed 2 answers. I’m overcome with admiration for those who finished this.
The mountaineer was so obscure, do I gather there is a book and film featuring him?
Thank goodness I managed the back page or I really would feel defeated!
As CS says, three gentle walks in the park and today a dive into the abyss. Didn’t finish it this morning – about 6 outstanding before I had to go – so thanks to you Dutch to explain all of them. The mountaineer, the skunk, the toilet roll?? Blimey.
I hope RD got his guitar out for a second time this week.
I now have to go out again – so can you please give me another pointer to 142?
Thanks Elgar and Dutch.
Forgot to say, 5a/27a was favourite – not just for the clue but because it was my first one in!
Look under the click here thingy in Dutch’s prologue
a wee hint in illustration to 16d
After three days of entry level Toughies I was beginning to think I was getting the hang of things. And then today……how are the mighty fallen in the midst of battle!
I managed three or four clues without the hints but it was clearly going to take all day to get anywhere near finishing so resorted to using some help. Even with the hints I struggled to understand some of the logic. The Mountaineer and the Skunk were some GK I had never heard of! So, thanks to Dutch for the help!
Particularly liked 22a, following on the theme of pop music from Wednesday’s Toughie
Unlike some Toughie puzzles that are just difficult for the sake of it, I found an elegance in this puzzle that made it a pleasure to persevere with and work through. Thanks to Elgar for the experience.
Well myself and Mrs B have just spent most of the afternoon unravelling this***** toughie.
As others have said, after the ‘easy’ puzzles this week , this was the black hole!
Enjoyed the completion and now feel a tad frazzled.
Hard to pick a favourite but liked 5d and 22a -I do have the initial LP with dreamer on it.
Look forward to a refreshing beer or two.
…and there’s me thinking it might be about Valentine’s Day.
Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant. Elgar does it again.
Great puzzle. I would probably have got there faster if I hadn’t convinced myself that the theme was related to 2d, 16d, looking then to shoehorn all sorts of song titles into any likely looking grid space. Thanks to JH & Dutch.
Didn’t get to this until Saturday morning. 5*/3* for me. Elgar’s usual mix of impossibly difficult and obscure.
Loved 1a and 25a – one word definitions all too easy to read straight past. 5a and 22a, sneakily lateral.
Thanks to both E and D
Out of my league. But even with the hints, I cannot see how much if this passes BD’s “Lego” test. The surface reads for most are horrid, even if they are all very clever.
Only failed on the combo 6d/12a.
Couldn’t see the def and had Lean Time for too long in my mind.
Had the two first words in 18a the wrong way round for a while.
Favourites 16d for construction and 11a for the super charade.
Thanks to Elgar for the great challenge and I look forward to next Friday.
Thanks to Dutch for all the explanations.
I was not enthralled by this example of Elgar’s skill. I solved about half the clues. I was never going get me hearties for a crew and Krakauer is hardly a well known mountaineer on this side of the Atlantic.
I could not find the word supertramp in my chambers dictionary. can anyone explain how this is a group of players please.
Supertramp were a 70’s band
I also had “Lean Time” and 11a was the last one in and then only with help from Dutch.
Didn’t start until yesterday afternoon but thanks to Storm Ciara I could spend quite some time on it today. Very difficult, but pretty much got there in the end. I think The Who appeared in a Donnybrook puzzle this week too?
Favourites were 5a/27a and 18a.
Thanks to Elgar for a Tough Toughie and to Dutch for the help.
Not keen on a setter using obscure surnames (17 & 19d). Perhaps it’s just me.
Superb puzzle. Agree with 5 stars for quality, enjoyability etc but if I was able to complete it, it might have to be slightly reduced from 5 stars difficulty.! So many great clues its difficult to single any out.I’d like to hear about bus 142 and many thanks for blog and clip with Rog playing harp. Thanks Dutch and JH.
You’ve changed your alias since your previous comment in June 2016! Both will now work.
Above my level. Managed to get four or five correct. Well done to those who can!