Toughie 1507

47 comments on “Toughie 1507”

1. Well, not quite a write-in for me, but still reasonably smooth.

   I appreciated the precise letter-deletion instructions (conclusively devoid of energy in 18a, deficient at both ends in 1d – ironically I was misled by that piece of attempted clarity, interpreting it as missing both start and finish).

   I liked 11a (two rings), 3d (all-in-one), 14d (one’s turned to get fare) and 17d (the diva, wordplay and surface).

   Took me ages to get “second book” in 9d. I enjoyed 13a (paired animals), but somehow “like” didn’t seem the right word to indicate a location. I thought the end of 6d was a bit awkward. Not keen on 12a; “object” and “garage work” perhaps a bit vague. Wasn’t aware the instrument in 19a was dated – seems to me we’ve seen it recently.

   But all good fun, thank you Shamus and thank you Bufo for the review

   1. Re the ‘second’ book reference – as children in primary school we were taught to recite the whole of the Old Testament on a Thursday morning before we listened to a religious parable on the radio in the classroom. For the life of me I can’t remember what station it was on but I’m sure the narrator was David Kossoff (I think)

      1. … we were taught to recite the whole of the Old Testament on a Thursday morning … That must have taken hours and hours – and I thought our RI lessons were bad enough.

         1. Boom, boom…..

            You know what I meant you rascal

2. Far too easy IMHO but enjoyable nonetheless. I think this may be the easiest toughie I’ve ever completed and certainly from Shamus.

   Thanks to ‘the man’ himself for the puzzle and Bufo for the review.

3. **/****

   I’ve given this a 2* difficulty because of 18d. It was my last in and all I could do was stare at it. Then I wrote the letters down, re-read the clue, stared some more. It took an embarrassingly long time for the penny to drop.

   The rest was as easy as I’ve known Shamus to be. Maybe not really a Toughie but very enjoyable. I did the same as Dutch re 1d also agree about 12a. I’d never heard of 7a either but got it from the wordplay and checked. Thought 13a was utterly delicious.

   Many thanks to Shamus and to Bufo for a fine blog.

4. More than happy to have a benign offering this morning, which leaves my whole day free. The only delay was in parsing 18D, for which Google was needed. Thanks Shamus and Bufo.

   1. Hi Chris – for when you pop back in.
      Don’t know whether you can bring up the ‘Thought for the day’ on the right of the blog – today’s might make you smile!

      1. I can, and it did.

5. The answer to 7d is missing it’s second word. Needs it to make sense

   My last one was 15d. Got the answer but not the word play.

6. **/***

   Nice puzzle. Thanks for the review which I needed for checking/understanding a couple of guessed answers!
   Thanks again.

7. Paris Saint-Germain would probably zlatan Everton.
   Yes, to zlatan has become a recognised verb in France
   I can’t believe either that 7a was my last one. Was trying to find a 5 letter river in Wales first then I went through the Western half of European countries
   except the ones where a w at the end would certainly not do. D’oh.
   When I finally got it, I then thought: Hang on, his name is Billy Wilder not Wyler. So Googled it and found that he is a Billy too. Oh dear. What a mess.
   Thanks to Shamus and to Bufo for the review.

   1. I’ve just had to Google your post re zlatan. He’s a footballer evidently. How is he a verb?

      1. In the late sixties we used to say a defence had been “Georged”. It’s reallyquite clever because they were actually “Bested”.

      2. Yes Hanni,
         In fact he is the main attacker at the PSG.
         But google “zlataner” and you’ll find the explanations.

         1. Ahh got it! Although to be fair I had to Google PSG earlier to double check.

8. No Bufo it was far from a read and write in my case.
   There were enough easy ones to encourage me to keep going, 1a , 13a and 16a in particular.
   Lots of likes , perhaps 20d or 25a are my favourites.
   Thanks to Bufo and Shamus.

9. The obscurities in 18d, (all mysterious territory to me) and 7a (he died 34 years ago for goodness sake) had me reaching for Google for confirmation. Apart from that it did all go together smoothly but I did spend time going over all the clues again to make sure I had all the nuances of the wordplay. I enjoyed it.
   Thanks Shamus and Bufo.

10. Osmosis tomorrow.

    1. eek

       1. Eek indeed.

11. Ah well – at least the twinkly-eyed one can have a laugh at my expense today. Just a few write-ins and then the remainder fought me every step of the way! For instance – how does the IRA come to figure in 19a, what the heck is PSG, do I really need to know all about the issues in Israel etc. etc.
    Nevertheless, a great sense of satisfaction in the completion and plenty to enjoy – 13a&14d get my vote.

    My thanks to Shamus and also to Bufo for blogging – despite the fact that your comments made me feel really, really stupid.

    1. I just took Irish firm to mean IRA.

12. No – not a complete write in for me – I got a bit snarled up in the bottom if you’ll all pardon the expression.
    18d was a total mystery until nothing else would fit.
    I spent far too long trying to make 23a an anagram including ‘fan’.
    Rather stupidly couldn’t see 20d for ages.
    I needed the hint to explain 4d although it had to be something to do with rap.
    I’m hopeless with film directors although 7a was such a nice clue that all I had to do was follow the instructions and look him up.
    I really don’t mind a non-tough Toughie from time to time and I enjoyed this – good for flagging morale.
    With thanks to Shamus and to Bufo.

13. Thanks to Shamus and to Bufo for the review and hints. Confidence has been restored after today’s back pager disaster. Not a read and write for me, but thoroughly entertaining. Some super clues. Needed the hints to parse 1d. Last in and favourite was 18d. Great fun, was 3*/4* for me.

    1. Exactly how I felt.

14. It was nice to have both the time to attempt a Toughie (lots needed!), and a Toughie I could do some of – I used electronic help as always, but only needed the hints for a few in the bottom half. I liked 13a, 23a, 4d, and the cryptic definition in 14d, but wasn’t sure about 24a – is that a fair definition?
    Thanks to Shamus and Bufo.

    1. I had the same thoughts as you about the definition of 24a but the BRB allows titan to be an adjective meaning titanic.

       1. Ah, thank you. The BRB is next to me, but it easier to look up Collins online, so I did.

15. This was too easy for a Toughie but would have been a splendid Tues or Thurs back pager – wrong envelope day?

    Anyway, no real favourite but thanks to Shamus and Bufo.

16. I suppose I’m being totally dense but I cannot see how 1d works. Can somebody spell out for me step by step please? Otherwise a gentle toughie! Thanks Bufo and Shamus.

    1. You need a word for label, as in to name = CALL
       Then a word for a space or opening = ORIFICE
       Remove the last letters from each (deficient at both ends)
       Put what’s left together and you get the heating bit.

    2. Hi Sheffieldsy,
       Take the first two words of the clue – you need another word for both of them. ‘label’ becomes ‘call’ (as in giving someone a label) and ‘space’ becomes ‘orifice’. Then remove the last letter from both of them (deficient at both ends) and put together what you’re left with – ‘cal-orific’.

    3. Sorry, Pommers – that’s the second time today that I’ve been writing as you were posting!

       1. Well we can’t say the blog doesn’t jump in to help…that’s 3 of us with the same explanation!

          1. Thank goodness it was the SAME explanation.

       2. When are you going to do a blog Jane? Seems to me you should have a go at one as you keep giving people hints.

          If you like you could start like Kath did by sharing mine. Takes the risk away but lets you get some real-time experience. I’m next in the chair on 10 Dec if you want to try it.
          

          1. Yup. Agree Pommers. I did it Jane. Your turn next. We expect your blog on the 10th. No excuses.

             Edit…I’ve already emailed you about it.

          2. Yay Jane. Yay Jane Yay Jane. Have a go.

    4. Start with a 4 letter word for labelling something, ‘cal(l)’ without the last letter. Follow this with the word ‘orific(e), a space, without it’s last last letter, deficient at both ends from the clue. And you get the definition of ‘heating’.

       1. Thanks all, got it now. Surprised you didn’t hear the suppressed curse half way round the country! What an orifice I am.

          1. I wouldn’t worry about it. We’ve all had the ‘bang your head on the desk moments’…or just swear.

             1. I smack myself on the head with a metal tea- tray. Doesn’t hurt much but make a satisfiingly loud clang. I must go through about 4 trays a year.

                1. I go through about 4 a week. You ever do Mephisto? Azed? It’s all bad. Come to think of it I only own 2 trays. I own 4 horses. Not that that is relevant.

                   1. I never even look at Mephisto, Azed, Enigmatic Variations, Listener or anything like them. Don’t see the point as I’m not a masochist and I don’t like brain pain. I’m just a simple lad wot likes 15×15 blocked puzzles like those in the DT, Grauniad, FT, Indy and Times. I get more than enough brain pain from those at times.

                      1. They are designed to torture. I once tried The Daily Mail. It was wrong.

                         1. Daily Mail is by Duggie Anderson. Not my cup of tea either.

                            He also does Grauniad as Crucible, Indy as Radian and the FT as Redshank. I really can’t get on his wavelength so avoid all of the above.

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