Toughie No 1493 by Warbler
Hints and tips by Toro
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Those pesky warblers! After blogging from east Norfolk last Tuesday I tried and failed to catch up with a Pallas’s Warbler that had been spotted in coastal woodland. Today it was 8d that eluded me. I thought I was going to tear through this puzzle but slowed down a lot in the lower half. All very enjoyable though.
Across
1a Smoochy Romeo almost lost his parental inheritance (1-10)
Y-CHROMOSOME Anagram of SMOOCHY ROME(o).
10a It’s upright to vote right instead of left? (5)
ERECT To vote, with L(eft) replaced by R(ight).
11a Curiously lovable wife very absorbed in that part of locomotive (4-5)
BLOW-VALVE Anagram of LOVABLE W(ife) around V(ery).
12a Irregular soldier sounds like big thug (9)
GUERRILLA Sounds like a word for a thug or heavy.
13a Silly argument about recipe for fish (5)
SPRAT A silly argument or tiff around R(ecipe).
14a Genre of theatre there’s no reason to see? (6)
ABSURD Cryptic definition of a genre of theatre associated with Pinter, Beckett, Ionesco and others.
16a Features needed for good health? (4-4)
CHIN-CHIN A facial feature, repeated.
18a A politician visiting Herts town is going on a walking tour (8)
TRAMPING A + an elected politician, both inside a Hertfordshire town that is, among other things, the location of the headquarters of the British Trust for Ornithology.
20a Will’s fairy trap (6)
COBWEB One of the fairies in “Will” Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and a kind of fly trap.
23a In Spain friend regularly warms in glow (5)
AMIGO Look at the alternate letters in WARMSINGLOW.
24a Shrub in hotel garden designed around yard area (9)
HYDRANGEA H(otel) + anagram of GARDEN around Y(ard) A(rea).
26a Decree artillery is to surround island (9)
ORDINANCE Artillery or mounted guns around I(sland).
27a Central parts of rain-cloud on top of Everest inspire (5)
IMBUE Meteorological term for a large grey rain cloud, minus the first and last letters, + E(verest).
28a Angry judge, taken in by divorced spouse, reptilian journalist (11)
EXASPERATED To judge or assess inserted somewhere inside divorced spouse + a reptilian (a snake, in fact) + the usual journalist.
Down
2d Dear French present, with cents put by (5)
CHERE C(ents) + present or in attendance. (A purely foreign-language word, but familiar enough.)
3d Frisky terrier injured batsman, perhaps (7)
RETIRER Anagram of TERRIER.
4d Ever-changing Alabama city (6)
MOBILE Fluid or shifting, and a city in Alabama.
5d Small cat in pain, having a paunch (8)
STOMACHY S(mall) + male cat + suffering pains.
6d Takes up residence in Nov, semi having been given makeover (5,2)
MOVES IN Anagram of NOV SEMI.
7d NCO announced conductor’s musical interval (8-5)
SERGEANT-MAJOR Soundalike of Malcolm, English conductor and composer (d.1967), then a musical interval or difference in pitch between two notes.
8d Short priest cut humorous poem (8)
CLERIHEW Clergyman or woman minus the last letter + to cut or chop.
9d Playing Scrabble with date — that’s given new double chance of success (4,3,6)
BELT AND BRACES Anagram of SCRABBLE DATE around N(ew).
15d Blows in the main spot we hear turn south (3,5)
SEA WINDS Soundalike of to spot or notice + to turn or twist + S(outh).
17d Wearing flimsy garments with middle cut out? They’re all the rage! (2-6)
IN-THINGS Wearing (of clothes) + flimsy or insubstantial + G(arment)S.
19d Paragon‘s forlorn hope coming to nothing (7)
PHOENIX Anagram of HOPE + nothing, zip or nada.
21d Instrument found in old vehicle in America (7)
OCARINA O(ld) + a vehicle + IN + A(merica).
ARVE Error: need id and provider |
22d A duke needs that woman’s love ultimately to remain faithful (6)
ADHERE A + D(uke) + feminine possessive pronoun + (lov)E.
25d Actor loses money in bet (5)
GABLE To bet or wager, after deleting M(oney).
I was tickled by several of the anagram clues – 1a, 24a and 9d especially.
Over to you – please rate and comment on this puzzle below.
Stuck on 14a ……
The answer is rather ‘silly’, I am afraid.
Ridiculous as well…
Ludicrous…
I found this pretty straightforward so **/****. No problem with 8d – I really am doing too many crosswords. Only major hold up was 19d as I had never seen this defined as a paragon although I now see it is in the BRB.
Thanks to Toro and Warbler.
I really enjoyed this one, and I could do it which is always a plus!
My last two answers were 14a – never heard of the term – and 9d – an anagram so no excuses there but just couldn’t see it for ages.
I liked 1a and 5 and 8d. My favourite was 16a.
With thanks to Warbler and to Toro.
PS Toro – please don’t think I’m nit-picking – I’m not but you only need the W(ife) in the 11a anagram.
Thanks for picking that up Kath. I’ll change it. And please do point out such mistakes – it helps.
We might be looking at the revised version, but it is correct in the hint as written now. It does need the W(ife) and the V(ery) to make up the fodder.
At least it shows that I do read the hints!
Very gentle stuff – thanks to Warbler and Toro. My last one in was 17d as I was originally convinced that the flimsy garments were thongs.
I prefer your version.
Me too with the thongs! I think this could be a good time for you to quote your favourite clue to do with thongs – you told me about it a very long time ago – it’s brilliant!
Is this the one you mean? It comes from a Firefly Toughie.
Fondle a thicker thong? (5)
Ha! Brilliant.
Yes – of course it is!
It followed on from a Ray T clue:- “It’s tiny – hardly obscuring naked glutes to begin with.”
With apologies to Ray T if that’s not completely right.
**/****
Lovely stuff. Didn’t find it completely straightforward though. Working out some of the wordplay/anagrams held me up a bit. Had to check 8d…not sure if I’d heard that word before. Possibly…just forgotten.
9d gets the favourite vote, for the clue and the illustration.
Many thanks to Warbler and to Toro for a lovely blog.
Thanks to setter and reviewer. I was all done except for 14 ac, which I just couldn’t see. Thanks for the much needed hint. ***/***.
Fairly straightforward I thought, with only 17d holding me up. That was only due to the fact that I was trying soooo hard to make thongs fit (unfortunately they don’t come in my size – damn those size 0 models). Joking aside, 1a was the first clue in and the rest just fell into place.
Thanks to Warbler for the fun and Toro for his review.
Think I’ll go for a 2.5*/3*. Took me ages to work out the 9d anagram and hadn’t come across 8d before.
19d – I opted for ‘IN (no)THINGS’ – wrong, but it got me there!
Favourite by far was 20a.
Thanks to Warbler – not as many birds as usual today! Also thanks to Toro for the great review and particularly for the 21d clip – what an amazing sound.
Thanks toro, great pictures.
My favourite is the poetic 19d (Paragon’s forlorn hope coming to nothing). I also liked the naked scrabble one (or perhaps it can be played in the answer).
I liked the wordplay to 17d, but the answer I hadn’t heard as a serious expression, anyway it isn’t in brb.
Many thanks warbler and toro
It’s in BRB 12th ed. as an example of one of the first adjectival meanings of ‘in’. I think “the in thing” for “all the rage” is common enough, though I’m not sure one hears “in things” very often.
I’ve just got what you meant about naked Scrabble being played in 9d – nice!
What has really impressed us is the extra cleverness in the clue for 1a that Toro has pointed out in his review. We wonder whether this was intended by the setter. We’ll give her the benefit of the doubt and say, ” Well done Warbler” and Toro for spotting it. We rattled through this one fairly rapidly with 27a the last one to fall. Warbler always seems to keep us smiling right through the solve as she did with this one.
Thanks Warbler and Toro.
Also learned about clerihews and limericks while I was at it. Nice clue.
But 17d was my last one also.
18a was new to me too. It seems it has a very different meaning in NZ.
Le theatre de l’absurde in 14a brought back some good memories. Genet, Ionesco, Beckett, great playwrights.
And on the other hand, 20a ( Will’s fairy trap) made me think of Tommy Cooper and his wife in the attic joke.
Can’t do without a giggle really.
Thanks to Warbler and to Toro for pointing out that the Bard discovered the chromosomes.
Is this the one JL?
We really liked this puzzle even though a bit of head scratching was going on…
***/***
A good start to the week’s toughies: 2.5*/4*. My favourite was either 1a or 8d. I must say that l thought 2d slightly offside, though, and l would be grateful if setters found another musical instrument. 21d comes up so often that l start writing it in as soon as l see the word “instrument”! Nevertheless, thanks to Warbler, and to Toro for the review.
Obviously on the solver friendly side, and twice as enjoyable for that.The clues I found most enjoyable were 1a (terrific ), 14a, 16a, 20a, 27a and 9d.
Thanks Toro for the great review and especially the pic at 24a.
I always love a Warbler puzzle .
I enjoyed this on the whole, though I didn’t care for 2D, 3D or 5D. I also fell at the fence on 14A and 8D, but that was my fault. Loved 1A 20A and 9D. Thanks Warbler and Toro.
What with erect smoochy romeos, naked scrabble, clues pointing towards thongs and blow valves I am beginning to wonder what toughie land is really all about. I’m outa here.
It’s for those who like a hard one.
Sailed through this over a bowl of Corn Flakes – far easier than the back-pager that exercised me last night. My favourite has to 8d, if only because it brought to mind my favourite clerihew, by W H Auden:
“Lord Byron
Succumbed to a siren.
His flesh was weak,
Hers, Greek”