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Toughie 2804

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Toughie No 2804 by Sparks

Hints and tips by Halcyon

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***

Dutch has become unexpectedly unavailable to blog today and CrypticSue (you can see Crypticsue’s blog below – BD) has suffered a power cut.

Regular commenter Halcyon has kindly provided the following hints and tips

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1ac INVERSE:  Double def. How Lear set out his work also means upside down

5ac  OLD GOLD:  A short word for antique plus the alternate letters of googled gives a dull colour

9ac   MARTINI:  A species of swallow plus one gives an aperitif

10ac  IN ORDER:  Double def. The brothers are in a religious outfit.

11ac TRINITRIN:  The symbol for iodine sits inside 2 identical “fibres” topped and tailed

12ac SPEED:   The abbreviation for pressure inside a rather florid word for child gives a verb meaning career

13ac SPOOF:  A reel minus its last letter plus abbreviation for following gives a hoax

15ac TORMENTOR:  Two identical here-letter hills sandwich a 3 letter “race”

17ac  DOG EAT DOG:  Anagram [criminal] of GOT GOADED

19ac STEAM:  Dunno! Can’t see where the 1st letter comes from. BHA provide the last 4 to give a word for spirit

22ac SWIFT:   “Sort” around the abbreviation for wife gives hasty

23ac ITTY BITTY:  Decapitate a kids word for cat then a 3 letter word for chewed, then the outer letters of teddy gives a kids phrase for teeny weeny

25ac  DEFROCKED :  Lovely clue! Definition is “Make father lay”. First 3 letters of frozen go inside a word for floor

26Ac ORGANZA: The Private Eye word for publication plus an article surround an unknown to give a fabric.

27ac  SINKS IN:  A trig function follows a depression

28ac SHELTER:  Knock the last letters off a book ledge and an end . Put em together to get a retreat

Down

1d INMATES:  Dunno – I think the def is “lags” and is an anagram of matins but where does the “e” come from?

2d VERTIGO Anagram [faulting] of rig vote

3d  REIKI: Look inside Friekirche to get a massage technique

4d EMIGRATED:  A 3 letter record company [think Parlophone and Columbia] plus irritated [as in what you may do to cheese]

5d ONION:  Think of a 6 letter word for lawsuit beginning with act…. Where are the letters “act”?

6d DOORSTEPS: A 5 letter 60s band whose singer is in a cemetery in Paris loses its last letter and is followed by a 5 letter dance group to give a thick slice

7d ODDMENT:  Not an anagram! An adjective for rum is followed by a homophone of intended

8d DERIDER: The opener for Derbys is followed by a species of large ducks with the abbreviation for runs in to give a word I’ve never used for a mocker.

14d FRACTIOUS:  Anagram of RACIST plus alternate letters of buffoon gives a word for cross or sulky

16d RIGHTEOUS:  Anagram of HIT GROUSE meaning “just”

17d DOS A DOS:   The usual 3 letter word for parties followed by a fizzy mixer reversed gives a term I’m sure all you dancers will be familiar with. It’s in Chambers for the rest of us.

18d  GRIFFIN:   Be careful here. The abbreviation for the queen’s dad is followed by most of a word for uncertain then a 2 letter word for “wearing” to give an heraldic critter that also has another spelling.

20d EXTINCT:  Take a 5 letter word for rigorous and substitute its middle letter [which is the abbreviation for answer] by a 3 letter word for cash to give “dead”

21d MAYFAIR:  Very nice cryptic definition. The place in question is purple on my board.

22d INK IN:  Remove the single letter abbreviations for both second and son from 27a

24d BUGLE:  Another trixy one, A 6 letter word for mistake loses the abbreviation for “note”. If you’re thinking of a 3 letter word for mistake you’re on the wrong track

Toughie No 2804 by Sparks

Hints and tips by Crypticsue

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***

What a day Friday was! I had just realized that Dutch obviously wasn’t going to provide a blog for this Toughie and had got nearly to the end of drafting some quick hints, after which I was going to post the blog and then have a nice cup of tea. Storm Eunice then decided to gust enough to cause a power cut and so these hints and the cup of tea had to wait until Saturday morning.

Halcyon did a splendid job providing comments for all the clues yesterday afternoon, the Nina was discovered and discussed, and I think there were possibly more comments on a non-blog than on an actual one.

Just in case anyone needs to reveal a solution – here is a full blog for the Friday Toughie

******

An enjoyable Toughie once again from Sparks with a Nina – many of the clues had repeated words in them eg 5a

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a Lear’s work is so upside-down (7)
INVERSE Lear’s work always rhymed so could be said to be xx xxxxx

5a Dull colour of antique Googled on and off (3,4)
OLD GOLD A synonym for antique and the odd letters (on and off) of GoOgLeD

9a Swallow one drink (7)
MARTINI A member of the swallow family of birds and the letter representing one

10a Operating well, as brothers might be (2,5)
IN ORDER Working well or how religious brothers might be

11a Compound of iodine in identical unlimited fibres (9)
TRINITRIN The chemical symbol for iodine inserted into two lots (identical) of some fibres without their outside letters (unlimited)

12a Pressure to block child’s career (5)
SPEED The abbreviation for Pressure to ‘block’ a word for child

13a Reel briefly following hoax (5)
SPOOF Almost all (briefly) of a reel or bobbin followed by the abbreviation for Following

15a Race between hills, a source of pain (9)
TORMENTOR Race meaning members with a common ancestry goes between two of the same synonym for hill (hills)

17a Brutal criminal got goaded (3-3-3)
DOG-EAT-DOG An anagram (criminal) of GOT GOADED

19a Spirit shown by, say, Brighton and Hove Albion (5)
STEAM Brighton & Hove Albion are a football side found in the south of England. The answer is an abbreviation for South and another word for a football side

22a Hasty sort framing wife (5)
SWIFT A verb meaning to sort, possibly using a sieve, ‘framing’ the abbreviation for Wife

23a Very small cat decapitated chewed teddy, removing stuffing (4-5)
ITTY-BITTY An informal word for a cat without its first letter (decapitated), part of a verb meaning chewed, and the outside (removing stuffing) letters of TeddY

25a Make father lay half-frozen blocks in floor (7)
DEFROCK To remove a priesthood from a father – the first half of FROzen ‘blocks’ a floor

26a Publication article on unknown material (7)
ORGANZA Another word for a newspaper (publication), a mathematical unknown and A (from the clue)

27a Function after depression is understood (5,2)
SINKS IN A depression in a surface and a trigonometrical function

28a Retreat from ledge and end, backing off from both (7)
SHELTER Remove the ‘backing’ or last letters from synonyms for a ledge and an end

Down

1d Lags behind for service, matins needing translation (7)
INMATES These lags being found in a prison – an anagram (needing translation) of the last letter (behind) of servicE and MATINS

2d Rig vote, faulting complaint (7)
VERTIGO An anagram (faulting) of RIG VOTE

3d Healthcare technique used by Freikirche (5)
REIKI Used in fREIKIrche

4d Left record company irritated (9)
EMIGRATED A record company and another word for irritated

5d Head where act is in lawsuit? (5)
ONION The word ACT in an ACTION (lawsuit) is found xx xxx

6d Sixties band stopped early dance-music group making loadsa bread (9)
DOORSTEPS A sixties band without its final letter (stopped early) and a dance-music group combine to make large chunks of bread

7d Leftover rum intended to be picked up (7)
ODDMENT A synonym for rum in the sense of strange and a homophone (to be picked up) of a synonym for intended

8d One mocks opener for Derbyshire — runs required to break duck (7)
DERIDER The ‘opener’ for Derbyshire and the cricket abbreviation for runs ‘breaks’ a type of duck

14d Racist buffoon regularly waving cross (9)
FRACTIOUS An anagram (waving) of RACIST and the regular letters of bUfFoOn

16d Shot hit grouse? Just (9)
RIGHTEOUS An anagram (shot) of HIT GROUSE

17d Dance parties — drink up (3-1-3)
DOS-A-DOS More of a dance move really – the usual ‘dances’ and a reversal up of a type of drink

18d King mostly uncertain wearing heraldic feature (7)
GRIFFIN The regnal cipher of any of the Kings called George, most of an informal word meaning uncertain and the two-letter word used to indicate ‘wearing’

20d Dead rigorous, exchanging answer for cash (7)
EXTINCT Change the abbreviation for Answer in a synonym for rigorous with a slang word for money

21d Where to buy priciest accommodation on board? (7)
MAYFAIR The most expensive place on a Monopoly board

23d Definitely confirm 27 is missing second son (3,2)
INK IN The solution to 27a without the abbreviations for Second and Son

24d Mistake to suppress note in horn (5)
BUGLE Remove the abbreviation for Note from a mistake

 

52 comments on “Toughie 2804”

  1. I’m in the middle of bashing out some quick hints for today’s Toughie. I’ll post them as soon as I can

  2. Crypticsue has been derailed – blog along when possible.

    Actually, she has a powercut.

    I’m dealing with windswept train passengers till midnight.

  3. A power cut? You would have thought that all those turbines would be producing enough today, wouldn’t you?

    Stay safe everybody.

    1. I see that one of those huge wind turbines has been wrecked by the wind and its blades have become embedded in the ground nearby – in South Wales I think.

        1. Isn’t it just so. We’re lucky in my bit of the county – no power outages, so have been busy making a walnut cake this afternoon. I’d have cussed if the electricity had gone down during cooking that. :-) :-)

    2. You’re right, Malcolm: it turns out the turbines have produced† more energy in this storm — so much they’ve made energy prices fall. Wholesale prices, obviously, but clearly it’s been significant.

      Best wishes to all those currently awaiting reconnection.

      † Do they actually “produce” energy? Capture it? Convert it?

  4. I could set out my parsing of all the clues except 19a and 1d as ordinary text if that would help. Would take about 30 mins to type out I guess. Any use?

    2. I’m sure better folks than I will have got there before me but I can post my parsings of 19a and 1d here if you like.

  5. ACROSS
    1. Double def. How Lear set out his work also means upside down
    5. A short word for antique plus the alternate letters of googled gives a dull colour
    9. A species of swallow plus one gives an aperitif
    10. Double def. The brothers are in a religious outfit.
    11. the symbol for iodine sits inside 2 identical “fibres” topped and tailed
    12. The abbrev for pressure inside a rather florid word for child gives a verb meaning career
    13 A reel minus its last letter plus abbrev for following gives a hoax
    15 two identical here-letter hills sandwich a 3 letter “race”
    17 Anagram [criminal] of got goaded
    19 Dunno! Can’t see where the 1st letter comes from. BHA provide the last 4 to give a word for spirit
    22 “Sort” around the abbrev for wife gives hasty
    23 Decapitate a kids word for cat then a 3 letter word for chewed, then the outer letters of teddy gives a kids phrase for teeny weeny
    25 Lovely clue! Definition is “Make father lay”. First 3 letters of frozen go inside a word for floor
    26 the Private Eye word for publication plus an article surround an unknown to give a fabric.
    27 A trig function follows a depression
    28 Knock the last letters off a book ledge and an end . Put em together to get a retreat.

    I’ll post these now- just in case. Downs to follow

    2. 19a Verve or gusto by a S of England group of 11 players.
      1d Lags (often old ones) Anagram of behind letter of servicE and MATINS

    3. Thank you so much, Halcyon — those were just enough to get me unstuck, and I managed to complete it, which I certainly couldn’t have done without you.

      You’re right that 25a is a lovely clue. Good luck to CrypticSue with her power, Tilsit with his passengers, and Dutch.

    4. How very kind–and downright noble–of you to do this for us, Halcyon. My score of 97% correct (I missed the double fibres in the compound by a letter) has now been rectified to 100%. Thank you so very much for stepping in for us.

  6. DOWN
    1 Dunno – I think the def is “lags” and is an anagram of matins but where does the “e” come from?
    2 Anagram [faulting] of rig vote
    3 Look inside Friekirche to get a massage technique
    4 A 3 letter record corp [think Parlophone and Columbia] plus irritated [as in what you may do to cheese]
    5 Think of a 6 letter word for lawsuit beginning with act…. Where are the letters “act”?
    6 A 5 letter 60s band whose singer is in a cemetery in Paris loses its last letter and is followed by a 5 letter dance group to give a thick slice.
    7 Not an anagram! An adjective for rum is followed by a homophone of intended
    8 The opener for Derbys is followed by a species of large ducks with the abbrev for runs in to give a word I’ve never used for a mocker.
    14 Anagram of racist plus alternate letters of buffoon gives a word for cross or sulky
    16 Anagram of hit grouse meaning “just”
    17 The usual 3 letter word for parties followed by a fizzy mixer reversed gives a term I’m sure all you dancers will be familiar with .It’s in Chambers for the rest of us.
    18 Be careful here. The abbrev for the queen’s dad is followed by most of a word for uncertain then a 2 letter word for “wearing” to give an heraldic critter that also has another spelling.
    20 Take a 5 letter word for rigorous and substitute its middle letter [which is the abbrev for answer] by a 3 letter word for cash to give “dead”
    21 Very nice cryptic def. The place in question is purple on my board.
    22 Remove the single letter abbrevs for both second and son from 27a
    24 Another trixy one, A 6 letter word for mistake loses the abbrev for “note”. If you’re thinking of a 3 letter word for mistake you’re on the wrong track.

    Whew – hope it’s of some use to somebody. Let me know if I’ve got anything wrong.

    1. Thanks again, especially for the explanation for 5d, which I hadn’t managed to parse — it’s very clever.

      17d is more of a step in a dance than an entire dance. I’ve encountered it in cèilidhs/céilís/barn dances, but only as ‘do-si-do’ rather the form in the answer.

      1. I believe the dos-a-dos is a reference to the French back-to-back movement when turning around your partner, not facing each other.

        1. Yeah — fold your arms, walk past your partner to your left of them as they do the same to you, then side-step to the right with your backs to each other, step backwards so you cross on the opposite side, and you should be back where you started. So the 17d spelling makes more sense etymologically, but isn’t the (mangled) way it’s more often now seen in English.

    2. Many thanks for stepping into the breach, halcyon.
      I enjoyed the puzzle – thanks to Sparks. My ticks went to 13a, 25a, 5d and 21d.

      Sparks usually provides some sort of Nina in his puzzles but I can’t spot it. Anyone?

      1. Several of the answers have repeated words within them: Across – old gold, trinitrin, tormentor, dog eat dog, itty bitty, sinks in. Down – dos a dos, onion, ink in, derider. Does that constitute a nina?

        1. Well spotted! And if you discard ‘sinks in’, then those aren’t just repetitions but more specifically answers where the first few letters are repeated at the end.

            1. Ooops. Of course. I was just looking at ‘in’, somehow completely failing to spot the ‘s’ across the word boundary.

      2. I was looking for some sort of football nina – we have Wolves in Old Gold and BHA but I am stuck from there.

    3. 1D – the ‘e’ is “behind for service”.
      21D — or very dark blue on my antique one!

  7. Loved this, it’s not very often I’m able to finish a Friday puzzle so this gem was a welcome surprise.
    Thought 25a and 1d were very clever indeed, liked 19&27a too but for amusement and sheer audacity my top two are 23a and 6d. Fabulous stuff.
    Many thanks to Sparks and well done Halcyon.

  11. Delighted to get within 11a of an unaided finish but hacked off that I needed a letter reveal to figure it out not that I’d ever heard of it – got the string bit but failed to see it had to be topped & tailed twice. Far better than I usually manage on a non Elgar Friday though. 6d my clear favourite in a very enjoyable puzzle.
    Thanks to Sparks & to Halcyon for stepping in – well done.

  12. Many thanks to Halcyon for stepping in, and very best wishes to CS and Dutch – I hope you, and everyone on this blog – are OK… I didn’t figure out why the first letter of 19a was what it was either, so thanks to those who spotted that. I’m not convinced that the group in 6d were (are?) are a ‘dance-music group’ – they were a music group who sort-of danced, which is not the same thing at all, surely?

    25a obviously a favourite, both for professional reasons and because the definition is so brilliantly hidden. Bravo!

  13. Firstly, a big thank you to Halcyon for stepping up to the mark at very short notice. My problems came with the spelling of 23a where I was hung up on the ‘yellow polka-dot bikini’ idea and also the spelling of 17d which I’d never really thought about although I can see it now. Pleased to see that my leap of faith with 11a proved to be accurate, who’d have thought it!
    Top three here were 25a plus 6&8d.

    Thanks to Sparks – hugs for Sparky – and to Halcyon who did us proud today.

  14. Thanks to Halcyon

    According to the Village WhatsApp, the power company won’t let the workers climb up and fix the problem until the wind dies down. :cry:

    We are very dependent on electricity here. No gas and of course the oil central heating needs electricity to work. Looks like dinner will cheese sandwiches and or cereal

  15. OK, everyone. How are you? Here in South Devon we’re fine. No power cuts and the newly installed solar panels are still in place on the roof. What a relief! My gardener in Kent reports all is well there so I guess I’m luckier than CS.
    Now to fill in the gaps on this cross word which so far, is kinder than the usual Friday offering.
    Aren’t the planes landing at Heathrow incredible?

  16. Sounds like wild conditions for many of you. Stay safe everyone.
    Really enjoyable puzzle with the last to slot in and parse being 11a.
    25a our favourite.
    Thanks Sparks and Halcyon for so competently stepping up to the plate at such short notice.

  17. P.S. A really big thankyou to Halcyon for stepping up to the plate. Come on Wordle fans…, allow a little Americanism!

  18. What a wonderful collaborative effort. Special thanks to Halcyon but also to everyone else who chipped in on a couple.
    Thanks to Sparks our 15a today

  20. Thanks to Halcyon for stepping in so kindly.
    Hope everyone is safe.
    Found Sparks to be quite benevolent and managed to complete without any hiccups.
    Didn’t spot the Nina.
    Thanks to Sparks and to Halcyon for the review.

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