Toughie 516

Toughie No 516 by Osmosis

Cogito Ergo Word Sum (I think I’ve got the wordplay)

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

Afternoon All!. Gazza has graciously stepped aside this afternoon to let me have a bash at my first Toughie review. I must admit to a feeling of trepidation when I realized it was to be Osmosis as I sometimes struggle with him.

In the event it was one of his more gentle puzzles but as ever with Osmosis the wordplay is often worked out after solving the clue from a definition and checking letters. This was certainly the case with a number of clues including 1a, 13a, 6d and 22d.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.  You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.

Across

1a           With lead in pencil, I end up pausing in lady’s company? (11)
{PHILANDERER} – Excellent wordplay that I only managed to parse when replying to Prolixic. I was just replying to say I hadn’t worked it out yet when the penny dropped. I would say that this is an &Lit or all-in-one clue. The definition gives you a rake, roué, Casanova or ladies man. Start with P (the Leading letter in Pencil, then place I LAND (I end up) + ER (for pausing), inside ‘lady’s (in lady’s company). You can see that the entire sentence is used in the wordplay, and also that the entire sentence is the definition – so an &Lit it is. Cracking start to a puzzle.

10a         Nancy’s friend heads for South Shields wrongly (5)
{AMISS} – Nancy is the first word in order to hide the capitalization; so we want the word for friend as spoken by a native of the city. Then add the heads of South and Shields for an adverb meaning wrongly.

11a         Providing protection for valuable item? It’s what gallery attendants do (9)
{WATCHCASE} – A definition and cryptic definition. What might protect a timepiece and a museum guard staring at an exhibit in a glass housing.

12a         Mum, resentfully, snubbed leadership of Anthony Eden (7-2)
{SHANGRI-LA} – A synonym of Eden, a place for delight and peace. Start with a short word for ‘mum’ as in ‘quiet’, then all but the last (snubbed) of a synonym for ‘resentfully’ and then add the leading letter of Anthony. A nice ‘lift and separate’ as the surface reading of ‘leadership of Anthony Eden’ is well worked.

ARVE Error: need id and provider

13a         Character connecting TV initially names time that is free (5)
{UNTIE} – A cheeky little definition for the first letter – it is the character that is between (connecting) T and V in the alphabet. Follow that with the Initials of Name and Time and then the abbreviation for the Latin phrase ‘That is’ to get a verb meaning ‘to free’.

14a         Perennial home for Windsor relatives (6)
{SORREL} – A Perennial plant, Rumex acetosa, is hidden in (has a home in) Windsor relatives.

16a         Fergie perhaps hassled ref close to half-time, with no penalty given (4-4)
{SCOT-FREE} – A lovely surface reading that might well describe an angry Sir Alex Ferguson badgering a referee to give a penalty (though I am sure he never does that!). In any case we need the nationality of Sir Alex followed by a hassled anagram of REF then the closing letter of half-timE. This gives an adjectival phrase for ‘without a penalty or fine’.

18a         Overhearing total scepticism, managed to sink putt (5,3)
{HOLED OUT} – Golf haters prepare to gnash your teeth!. A phrase for ‘managed to sink a putt’ is a homophone (overhearing) of words meaning ‘total’ and ‘scepticism’

20a         Doctor’s regularly citing da Vinci artwork (6)
{MOSAIC} – The artwork in question is made up of lots of little tiles called tessera. Start with MO’S for Medical Officer’s (doctor’s) then take every other letter (regularly citing) in ‘da Vinci’. I’ll let you lot figure out which ones!.

23a         Chemical company occupies periphery to restrain toxin (5)
{RICIN} – An old British chemical company, when placed inside (occupying) the outside letters (periphery) of RestraiN, lead to a neurotoxin derived from the castor bean.

24a         One leaves piano having played intro — it goes down well in wine bar? (5,4)
{PINOT NOIR} – Remove A for One from PIANO then add an anagram (having played) of INTRO. This leads to a variety of red wine that goes down very well thank you!

26a         Uranium in test room moved nearest the edge (9)
{OUTERMOST} – An adjective meaning furthest from the middle (i.e. nearest the edge). Place the chemical symbol for Uranium in an anagram of TEST ROOM.

27a         Delayed, getting round Mediterranean resort (2,3)
{ON ICE} – Initially I was looking for a Med resort of LA TEO. What we actually need is O + a Mediterranean resort. When split 2,3 it gives a word meaning ‘delayed’ or ‘shelved’ as might be used to describe a plan or policy that is developed but delayed in implementation.

28a         Two with gnashed teeth do some cleaning and peg out (4,3,4)
{BITE THE DUST} – An informal phrase for peg out, turn up ones toes or die. Start with BI (for two) then an anagram of TEETH (gnashed – lovely indicator) and follow with a word for ‘clean around the home’.

Down

2d           Intermittently hear international footballers here in the Middle East (5)
{HAIFA} – The largest city in northern Israel. We need the odd letters in HeAr (intermittently) then I for International and finally the abbreviation for the governing body of football in the UK.

3d           Promoted green gas — alternative housing fuel in Italy … (7)
{LASAGNE} – Another excellent surface reading with a cheeky definition of ‘fuel in Italy’. This actually refers to a certain type of Italian food (fuel for the body!). Housing tells you that this is a hidden word clue and ‘promoted’ refers to the fact that the hidden word is reversed inside ‘green gas alternative’.

4d           … green person recycling bin with wee (6)
{NEWBIE} – The elision between the clues is here this time as both clues are linked thematically via the green/eco surface readings. The definition here is ‘green person’, particularly used on the internet for inexperienced bloggers. It is a recycled anagram of BIN and WEE

5d           Transport from hospital department administered by church (8)
{ENTRANCE} – A charade or wordsum that will seem slightly chestnutty to more experienced solvers. Start with the ubiquitous Crosswordland hospital department then add a synonym for administered then an abbreviation for the Church of England. Transport here is a verb meaning to delight or spellbind.

6d           Heart of Texas in the USA — it’s awful empty (7)
{EXHAUST} – Thanks to Prolixic for helping with the wordplay. Place X (the middle/heart of teXas) into THE USA and make an anagram (it’s awful). The result is a verb meaning empty or use up. I was trying to use the EXA from Texas and got confused!

7d           Noisily criticises what tiler does? (6,3,4)
{RAISES THE ROOF} – A gentle definition and cryptic definition. A phrase meaning noisily criticizes and also the action of a tiler building up the top of a house.

8d           Camel largely encapsulates the essence of itinerant culture (8)
{BACTERIA} – Another very nice surface reading making one think of a nomadic desert tribe. In fact the definition is a scientific one for what may grow in a Petri Dish (culture). Take most of a double humped camel (largely tells you to take all but the last) and insert (encapsulate) the middle letter (essence) of itinErant.

9d           He thought deeply about second of scenes in EastEnders broadcast (4,9)
{RENE DESCARTES} – I first thought that there was an error here until I realize I had missed a word. We need to find a philosopher dubbed the ‘Father of Modern Philosophy’ and also the inventor of Cartesian Geometry which leads to part of his surname. We need  RE (about – I missed this initially), and then C (the second letter of sCenes) inside an anagram (broadcast) of EASTENDERS.

15d         Engineer boosted business during late shift (8)
{RELOCATE} – Shift or move house. Take RE (the abbreviation for a Royal Engineer) then reverse (boost i.e. turn up) a short word for business or company inside (during) the word LATE.

17d         Sweater with hole near bottom? Work attire, ultimately, that’s for skipper in US (4,4)
{JUMP ROPE} – A US word for the playground game of skipping and what you do it with. A synonym of sweater with its second to last letter removed (a hole at the bottom!) then the abbreviation of a musical work followed by the last letter in attirE (ultimately)

19d         Classic bread finally eaten in expensive islands (7)
{DENARII} – An excellent definition of classic bread (Roman coins!). Put the last letter of eateN (finally) in a word meaning expensive and follow that with two Islands.

21d         Stunned couple back winning colt unexpectedly (3,4)
{OUT COLD} – Stunned or unconscious. Put an anagram of COLT (unexpectedly) inside the reverse (back) of a word for a twosome. Winning is the insertion indicator.

22d         Shop containers redirected outside to crush (6)
{SNITCH} – I was just about to email Crypticsue on the wordplay when Gnomethang’s Law kicked in!  Shop is a slang word for ‘Tell On’ or ‘implicate’ and we want another informal word for the same. Reverse (redirect) some metal containers then add the outside of CrusH.

25d         Drops moist crackers (5)
{OMITS} – Well you would – we only like crunchy crackers!. Crackers is the anagram indicator for MOIST. The definition is ‘drops’ as in leaves out.

A thoroughly entertaining puzzle from Osmosis with some amusing moments. I particularly enjoyed 3d and 19d but my favourite today was 16a. Finally thanks to Gazza for giving me a crack at a Toughie – I hope I haven’t given too much away; it is quite difficult to change from a weekend full review where all is revealed to a Hints and Tips style of review!