Toughie No 421 by Busman
Hints and tips by Bufo
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Trickier than I expected for a Busman toughie but no real problems understanding the clues except for 23 down which I really had to think about.
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Across
3a Live without husband soon (2,1,3)
{IN A BIT} Remove H (husband) from a 7-letter word for live (dwell in)
6a Drink too much to exercise (4)
{TOPE} TO + exercise (physical education) gives “drink too much”
8a Philosophical disciple developing its small company (5)
{STOIC} An anagram (developing) of ITS CO (company)
9a Affected sound of port bell out east (11)
{HIGHFALUTIN} A word meaning “affected” is formed from a homophone of an Israeli port + the name of a bell rung at Lloyd’s of London that has lost the letter E (out east)
10a Note with German terms of reference (5)
{REMIT} The second note of the sol-fa scale + the German word for “with”
11a Info gives two examples of such an expedient (4,7)
{HALF MEASURE} IN(CH) and FO(OT) are the two examples
16a Result of high stroke? (6)
{UPSHOT} High + stroke (as in cricket) gives a result
17a Gold gingers up patronage (8)
{AUSPICES} The atomic symbol for gold + gingers up gives “patronage”
19a Greeny sandpiper in trouble (8)
{BANKNOTE} A greeny is a slang term for a £1 note. Put a type of sandpiper inside a source of evil, misery, etc.
20a Dramatist is master of corn (6)
{MILLER} Two meanings: an American dramatist and someone who produces corn
22a Make-up repeating as arranged (6,5)
{GREASE PAINT} An anagram (arranged) of REPEATING AS gives make-up as used in the theatre
25a Cut short decent dress styles (5)
{MODES} Remove the last letter from a word meaning “decent”
27a Pledge by photo-fixer, Felix East (11)
{HYPOTHECATE} A word meaning “pledge” is formed from a photographic fixing agent + Felix *** *** (a cartoon character) + E (East)
28a Backing popular award for petrified daughter (5)
{NIOBE} A reversal of “popular” + an award gives a mythological daughter who was turned into stone after her children had been slain
29a She’s coming out before time. Such a liability! (4)
{DEBT} A young woman making her first appearance in society + T (time) gives a liability
30a Insist on a switch-back (6)
{ASSERT} A + the reversal of switch (lock of hair) gives “insist”
Down
1d Heartless doorman is addict (4)
{USER} Remove the middle letter from a doorman to give someone who takes drugs
2d Reason for third estate seen in trouble (6,5)
{COMMON SENSE} The third estate (see Chambers under estate) + an anagram (in trouble) of SEEN gives “reason”
3d Old toothy bird in church, history may reveal (11)
{ICHTHYORNIS} An extinct Cretaceous sea bird with reptilian teeth set in sockets is an anagram of IN CH HISTORY
4d Old money for theatrical sponsors (6)
{ANGELS} Two meanings: former English coins and people who finance theatrical ventures
5d Shocking facts about member of Welsh parliament, as above (8)
{INFAMOUS} A 4-letter abbreviated word for facts goes round the abbreviation for Assembly Member (of the National Assembly for Wales) and this is followed by the abbreviation for ut supra (as above)
6d Ruffians finally coming in, accordingly (5)
{THUGS} G (the last letter of coming) goes inside accordingly to give ruffians
7d Foregoing head of house (5)
{PRIOR} Two meanings: foregoing and an ecclesiastical head
12d A very subdued application for a date (11)
{APPOINTMENT} A + the abbreviation for pianissimo (very subdued) + an application (for rubbing into the skin)
13d Horribly cold funeral is not necessary (8-3)
{UNCALLED FOR} An anagram (horribly) of COLD FUNERAL
14d Warrant runs out during middle of week (6)
{ENSURE} An anagram (out) of RUNS inside EE (middle of week)
15d Sweet deception (6)
{HUMBUG} Two meanings: a hard boiled sweet (minty and stripy) and deception (bah!)
18d Plugs small hats (8)
{STOPPERS} S (small ) + hats gives plugs
21d Lively examination on church (6)
{VIVACE} A musical term meaning “lively” consists of an oral examination + CE (church)
23d Sound of hoar — or score draw? (5)
{RHYME} It’s a homophone of a word for hoarfrost, but it took me ages to work out that “score draw” is meant to be an example of this. It’s nothing like it the way I pronounce these words!
24d Round (twelve of them?) (5)
{ABOUT} A boxing contest usually consists of twelve rounds
26d Killed a large number (4)
{SLEW} Two meanings: killed and a large number (N Am inf according to Chambers)
Does 23 down work in your accent?
Agreed it was certainly a lot tougher than the last few Busman’s (and that is quite welcome!) with a number of obscure-to-me words. 9a and 19a were favourites for me and among the last to go in. I thought that 23d might not appeal as an answer to certain dialects – these sorts of clues (and some homophones) often are discussed on Times for the Times.
My other problem is I am quite gfood at starting to spell a wide range of Prehistoric reptiles but am slightly less good at stopping!.
Thanks to Bufo for the review and Busman for the challenge.
//Does 23 down work in your accent?//
Yes, particularly if I hit ‘Estuary Mode’!
It also works in my North Yorkshire accent!
23d Roar and score rhyme with eachother
Welcome to the blog Ray
The two words do rhyme, but I think Bufo is correct in that the intended rhyme is score with draw.
Where I live hoar, or, score and draw all rhyme!
Enjoyable puzzle, thanks Busman and Bufo.
Enjoyed this. Last to go in was 19a – knew it needed a type of sandpiper but there was an awful lot to plough through. No trouble with 23d – p’raps I’ve got the same accent as Busman!. Raining here so was happy to settle down with this over lunch.
Thanks to Busman & Bufo.
Most enjoyable jaunt from Busman I liked 3a, 23d works ok for the Scottish accent. Thanks Busman and thanks Bufo for a great review.
23 works for me and I got it reasonably quickly but I still agonised over greeny sandpiper.
At least I can add another prehistoric bird to my list.
The reasoning seemed a bit tenuous….or perhaps I haven’t had enough coffee.
Welcome to the blog Ozonedog
some quite amusing clues: 3a, 9a and 11a particularly good.
Enjoyable ride from Busman today. Many thanks to him for the treat. Favourite clue was 9a. Thanks too to Bufo for the review.
Score draw worked for me but would have sat here all day without help on 19a. Still can’t work that one out. Thank you for enlivening a grey day! (That’s another 23d!!)
The sandpiper i also known as a KNOT. Put that inside BANE.
Very enjoyable, but got really held up with the spelling of 3d, which wasn’t in any of my books! (and we’re in foreign climes with limited internet so thank goodness for the blog!). 23d works fine with broad Yorkshire!
A very nice Thursday puzzle for a lovely sunny day in E Kent, where 23d does work in our accent. Did need the dictionary for 3d – oe of those where I knew the letters but wasn’t sure how to put them together. Favourites 9a and 27a. Thanks to Busman for the fun and Bufo for the explanations.
The few clues I got were correct, and 23d was one of them but it took time for the penny to drop!. Definitely over my head but enjoyed having a go. Thankyou Busman and Bufo, needed your blog to finish
Definitely a Busman’s holiday for me – found it very difficult!
Definitely a toughie but stru
I’m sorry, I’ll write that again! (Damned Dell laptop)
Definitely a toughie but struggled through. Only used the blog to explain a couple. Not convinced with 24d. I thought they went in 3s, 10s, or 15s normally. Also thought that 5d (which I guessed from the across letters) was unnecessarily convoluted. Liked 17a.Put me in mind of a joke about an Aussie spelling champion.