Toughie No 2755 by Kcit
Hints and tips by Gazza
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Kcit has given us a fairly gentle Toughie today with a minimal number of anagrams (it actually took me slightly less time than the Ray T back-pager). I thought it slightly odd that the crossing answers 10a and 4d use variations of the same word.
Thanks to Kcit.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
Across Clues
9a Leader of church to revise church text (5)
CREDO: the leading letter of church and a verb to revise or have another crack at.
10a One manipulates commitment to accommodate returning writers (9)
OSTEOPATH: a commitment or promise contains the reversal of some writers (the type of writers may be determined from the crossing answer at 4d).
11a Shove a lot of rubbish all over the place (7)
RAMPANT: charade of a verb to shove or force and an informal word for rubbish without its last letter.
12a Times is coming in to damage Mirror’s lead as leftie stuff (7)
MARXISM: the mathematical sign meaning times and IS come between a verb to damage and the leading letter of Mirror.
13a Magistrates incline to release daughter with children (5)
BENCH: stick together a verb to incline or bow without the abbreviation for daughter and the abbreviation for children.
14a Best advertisement for cake (5,4)
CREAM PUFF: bring together a noun meaning best or elite and an advertisement.
16a Ancient canal lit gaudily in preparation for delivery (9,6)
ANTENATAL CLINIC: an anagram (gaudily) of ANCIENT CANAL LIT.
19a The sound of wings? (6,3)
NOISES OFF: cryptic definition of what may be heard from the wings of a theatre. The answer is also the title of a comedy by Michael Frayn.
21a Married woman at forefront of her country’s crime (5)
FRAUD: the title of a married woman (Mrs Merkel perhaps) followed by the IVR code of her country.
23a Cooker fix? It’s applied at last (7)
HOBNAIL: run together a cooking appliance and a verb to fix.
25a Oppressive character part of Baden-Powell group? Initially unwanted in that (7)
INCUBUS: part of Baden-Powell group (2,4) with the initial letter of unwanted inserted. If you’re unfamiliar with this character (and his female counterpart) more information is available here.
27a The French caught idol of Americans womanising (9)
LECHEROUS: string together a French definite article, the cricket abbreviation for caught, a synonym for idol and an abbreviation meaning ‘of Americans’.
28a French writer switching characters shows courage (5)
NERVE: the French writer Jules with two letters of his surname swapped.
Down Clues
1d Evidence of trauma or panic mostly (4)
SCAR: a transitive verb to panic without its last letter.
2d Fishy figure not generous about room (6)
MERMAN: an adjective meaning the opposite of generous contains the abbreviation for room.
3d American in nick — new one’s arrested? Out of the question (3,1,6)
NOT A CHANCE: insert an abbreviation for American into a nick or cut then add the abbreviation for new inside a word meaning one in various games.
4d Quote work held up as lyrical (6)
POETIC: a verb to quote and our usual abbreviation for an artistic work all reversed.
5d Staunch group of collaborators achieving target of medical research (4,4)
STEM CELL: bolt together a verb to staunch or halt and a group of collaborators.
6d Grain not left in square (4)
FOUR: a sort of grain used in baking without the abbreviation for left.
7d Quiet performer enthralling one in performance (8)
TACITURN: a Russian-doll clue – a performer or entertainer containing the Roman numeral for one all contained in a performance or stage routine.
8d Penitent, insincere and damaged, going topless (10)
SHAMEFACED: an adjective meaning insincere or false and a verb meaning damaged without its top D.
13d Divinity student swallowing short measure inside bar gets idea (10)
BRAINCHILD: the abbreviation of the degree awarded to a divinity student contains a bar or rung containing a short imperial measure.
15d Devilish chap, very attractive, seen around church, note (10)
MALEFICENT: start with a synonym of a chap and add an informal adjective meaning very attractive or sexually desirable containing abbreviations for church and note.
17d Dog second in queue (8)
TAILBACK: combine a verb to dog and a verb to second or endorse.
18d Farewell comment also suppressing lots (but not all) (6-2)
TOODLE-OO: an adverb meaning also contains an informal word for large amounts without its final letter.
20d Knowing about current manuscript lacking support? (6)
FLIMSY: an adjective meaning knowing or canny contains the symbol for electric current and the abbreviation for manuscript.
22d Historic Royal book featured in urgent announcement (6)
ALBERT: the abbreviation for book is contained in an urgent announcement.
24d Old man on a climb, surmounting former peak (4)
APEX: the reversal of an affectionate word for one’s old man precedes a prefix meaning former.
26d South London suburb falling out of line (4)
SKEW: the abbreviation for south and a London suburb best known for its gardens.
My ticks went to 21a and 23a. Which one(s) entertained you?
A gentle Toughie (1* difficulty) which took less time than the back page crossword
Thanks to Kcit and Gazza – my favourites were the same as yours
I confess I was pushed into 2* time by the SE corner. 21a was my last one in, and I only saw how it worked after I had put it in, but then a lovely penny-drop. I thought 19a was just delightful. Many thanks to Gazza and to Kcit (especially for the help that getting 4d very quickly gave to getting 10a, as Gazza mentions).
Elegantly clued and straightforward to complete.
Thanks to Kcit and Gazza though unusually I didn’t need any parsing help today.
Therefore */***
I thought this was excellent, though I needed the hint to parse 13d which I just couldn’t see. Obvious now it’s pointed out. I agree with Gazza’s ticks and add 19a to complete the podium. Thanks to Kcit and Gazza.
I enjoyed this more than today’s back pager despite it taking far longer for me to get the feel of it. I liked 19a but my favourite clue was 21a.
Many thanks to Kcit and Gaza.
I mentioned in my comment for the Ray T that his puzzle took longer to complete than this Toughie, and I see I was not alone in that. That said, I enjoyed this crossword very much, especially 21 and 23a, plus 2d.
My thanks to Kcit for the fun, and to Gaza.
We explored all sorts of options before we got 15d sorted.
Enjoyable solve for us.
Thanks Kcit and Gazza.
A charming puzzle, full of delight and wit. Favourite is 19a, which is one of the funniest plays I’ve ever seen. Also liked 23 & 25a. Indeed, the whole puzzle! Thanks to Gazza and Kcit.
Well I guess I’m the exception because I found this much tougher than the back pager. Abandoned it 8 answers shy of completion & returned to it this evening but needed to reveal 3 checkers in the SE to complete. The only 2d I’ve ever heard of was called Ethel so that penny took an eternity to drop & can’t say I was familiar with the word at 15d either. I tried to adhere to MP’s code for the 16a anagram but the pencil & paper eventually came out too. Despite my struggles still very enjoyable. 19a just pipped 18d as my pick of the bunch.
Thanks to Kcit & Gazza
Very late getting around to this one and it definitely took me more time than the Ray T – perhaps the old grey matter is getting tired!
13d had me fooled for a while and I dithered over the ending of 15d but everything else came together quite well.
23a made me smile and my favourite was 19a.
Thanks to Kcit and to Gazza for the review.
Came to a grinding halt last night, with the SE still to do, and 13d and 19a. This morning I could see them all fairly quickly, although I hadn’t heard of 19a.
***/**** for me
Thanks Gazza and Kcit