Toughie No 3077 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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Toughie No 3077

by StephenL  

Toughie No 3077 by Dada

Hints and tips by StephenL

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

Hello everyone from a (at the time of writing) muggy and very warm South Devon coast. This morning’s sea swim was definitely welcome.

Dada kicks off the Toughie week with a gentle puzzle that was nevertheless great fun to solve, as one would expect from this setter.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

7a Big, strong bandages (9)
STRAPPING: Triple definition, two adjectives and a noun.

8a Lost in the Bermuda Triangle, for example? (2,3)
AT SEA: The general location of the Bermuda Triangle is also a term for lost in the sense of confused or disorganised.

10a Top end on motor (6)
CARDIE: Append a synonym of end as a verb to a motor or automobile. Strangely my last one in though I suspected the type of top needed.

11a Surprisingly mean girl hardly developed (8)
GERMINAL: Anagram (surprisingly) of the following two words.

12a Both initials of Salvation Army on left shoe (6)
SANDAL Separate the initials of Salvation Army with a conjunction and append the abbreviation for Left.

14a Second warning in case of misprint (6)
MOMENT: Place a warning or portent inside the outer letters (case) of MisprinT.

16a Second bug (4)
TICK: Double definition, the less obvious being an informal word for a short time.

17a Additional payment applied to boarding public transport (5)
BONUS: Insert a preposition that could mean applied to inside (boarding) a form of public transport.

18a Oxygen and nitrogen in pumped out spring air (4)
SONG: The chemical symbols of Oxygen and Nitrogen are placed inside the outer letters  (pumped out) of SprinG.

19a Today’s clock and yesterday’s clock alternate (6)
SEESAW: The present tense of a synonym of clock as a verb and the past tense of the same synonym. The solution is a verb.

21a Sweetheart having returned, excitement ultimately rising (6)
REVOLT: Reverse (having returned) a sweetheart and add the final letter of excitemenT.

24a Nuts: items on Christmas table (8)
CRACKERS: Double definition, the nuts not being an item of food.

26a Refuse new arrivals on farm? (6)
LITTER: Double/cryptic definition, refuse here being a noun.

27a Relative pronoun clearly bracketed (5)
UNCLE: Hidden (bracketed).

28a One who wouldn’t appreciate checking the second blown fuse (9)
INTEGRATE: Place an ungrateful person around (checking)  “the” minus its middle letter (second blown) Very clever and worth the admission fee alone.

Down

1d Unlawfully remove resolution in speech? (5)
STEAL: A homophone (in speech) of a synonym of resolution or backbone.

2d Formidable second book (8)
HARDBACK: Synonyms of formidable or difficult and second as a verb.

3d Lay out drapes all over the place (6)
SPREAD: Anagram (all over the place) of DRAPES.

4d Problem with son riding horse (4)
SNAG: Place the abbreviation for Son on top of (riding) an informal word for a (clapped out) horse.

5d Union’s leader accommodated in a tidy chamber (6)
ATRIUM: A from the clue and a synonym of tidy as a verb or noun into which is inserted the initial letter of Union. Brought to mind this chap who I could equally accurately illustrate at 15d.

 

6d “Right”, in enigma, confusingly “left” (9)
REMAINING: Anagram (confusingly) of IN ENIGMA following the abbreviation for Right.

9d Oh dear, evidence of eaten sandwich? (6)
CRUMBS: Double definition, one an exclamation, the other pretty obvious.

13d Ship leaving Iceland, Northern Europe, rapidly first of all (5)
LINER: Initial letters (first of all) of the preceding five words.

15d Troublemaker revised brief on foreign currency (9)
FIREBRAND: Anagram (revised) of BRIEF followed by the currency of South Africa.

17d Bend showed way out? (6)
BOWLED: A synonym of bend and a verb meaning showed the way or went first. Lol.

18d Single sun ray, it flickers (8)
SOLITARY: Anagram (flickers) of RAY IT follows a poetic word for or the personification of the sun.

20d Island heading off Spaniards with chilling effect (6)
SICILY: The initial letter of Spaniards and an adverb meaning with chilling effect or coldly.

22d Lovely ground stroke in tennis (6)
VOLLEY: Anagram (ground) of LOVELY. Clever and a good spot.

23d Unimportant, like a gerbil or goldfish? (5)
PETTY: The solution could be a whimsical reference to the two types of animals being popular as kept domesticated ones in the same way as say a dog.

25d Second goal for forward (4)
SEND: The abbreviation for Second (the third time the word “second” has appeared at the beginning of a clue …it’s a good job Dada’s not in the Rookie Corner!!) and an aim or goal. Forward here is a verb.

Good stuff Dada, my Tuesday treats were 10&19a plus 22d with top spot going to 28a. Which ones tickled your fancy?

 

 

 

18 comments on “Toughie No 3077”

  1. A nice Tuesday Toughie. I did wonder whether the ‘seconds’ were a theme as 14 and 16a were related, but the other three seconds don’t seem to match either the first two or each other. My favourite clue was 19a

    Thanks to Dada and Stephen

  2. 10a was my last in too. In fact I spent as long on that one as the rest of the puzzle. Favourite clue 28a too, with an hon mensh to 19a.
    Thanks to Dada and SL [and for the tune at 27a – coincidentally I’ve just been working my way thro Steely Dan’s oeuvre].

    1. Great, pleased you approve of the music. I love all The Dan’s stuff but I seem to listen to Walter’s two solo albums the most. There are a lot of unreleased gems of his floating around on YouTube too.

  3. Not quite as easy for me, 2d, 10a and 16a eluded me. Otherwise not too tricky and an enjoyable solve. “Second” appears 5 times — I wonder if that is significant? Thank you Dada and Stephen, how refreshing to be able to cool down in the sea on a hot and humid morning.

  4. Very pleased with myself. Completed unaided and in good time. I know it’s only one star material, but nevertheless……… As cripticsue, my favourite is 19a – very clever, and, like Stephen,10a my LOI. I also liked 2d and 28a, but the podium could have been overflowing with many of the others hitting the spot. Thanks to Dada for the enjoyment and StephenL for the review.

    1. Well done on the completion Mhids. Gentle it may have been but still a Toughie so not to be sniffed at.

  5. As I commented earlier on the back page blog, for me, etc, there’s something about a Dada Toughie two days after a Sunday PP. As I started today’s I thought it would be a very good Sunday PP but by the time I finished it I decided that it wouldn’t. **/***

    However, candidates for favourite – 7a, 14a, 24a, and 5d – and the winner is 24a.

    Thanks to Dada and StephenL.

  6. 19a as certainly my favourite once I had parsed it correctly. Very clever. Overall this was a pleasantly entertaining Toughie that was not too difficult but was very enjoyable and rewarding to solve.

    Thanks to Dada and SL.

  7. Very Dadaish and very enjoyable – thanks to him and to SL.
    My fancy was tickled by 10a, 19a, 28a, 17d and 23d.

  8. Nicely judged for the Tuesday slot with just the odd clue reminding us that we’re in Toughie land.
    Good surface reads always win out for me and my picks from today’s bunch are 19&26a along with 2&22d.

    Thanks to Dada and also to Stephen for the review.

  9. That was a delight! It is so satisfying to get a Toughie under the belt. When I saw it was Dada I thought I would not get a look in but it gradually came together. The triple definition at 7a was a real treat and17d was very clever although I tried to enter the wrong last letter at first. My COTD is 23d because it made me laugh. The look I got from Hudson when I told him he was 23d was priceless. Head cocked to one side and ears pricked he just stared at me.

    Thank you for the fun, Dada. A great start to the puzzling week for me. Thank you, Stephen for the hints.

  10. Straightforward until it wasn’t. 10a, 16a and 2d tallinn as long as the rest put together. I’ll go with 19a as favourite as well. Thanks to Dada and SL.

  12. Like others we had 10a finishing well after the rest of the pack were already back in the changing rooms. Also took a little while to twig what was going on with 19a.
    Lots of fun as ever from this setter.
    Thanks Dada and SL.

  13. Tremendous guzzle. Solved at stupid o’clock aka 4.30am (struggling to sleep well in this heat) straight after the back-pager & most surprisingly in a marginally quicker time albeit didn’t have to think about how to write hints for these ones. Last in 19a my runaway fav & with big ticks for 10,14&24a plus 2,9,17&22d. I’m with JB – 23d the one dud in an otherwise super selection of clues proving yet again that it doesn’t have to be difficult to be good. Shame more haven’t heeded our reviewer’s advice & chanced their arm.
    Thanks to D for the entertainment & the other S for the hints, a great tune from Walter & commendable restraint from picturing Val Doonican in a 10a.
    Ps Hopefully 18holes, nearly 17,500 steps, plenty of sun & a couple of beers will help me catch up on some much needed zeds.

  14. Only noticed it was a Dada once I reached 23d.
    Always good..
    Last ones in were 19a and 20d.
    Thanks for a very enjoyable crossword..
    Thanks to StephenL for the review.

  15. Super puzzle, everything I could say has been said. COTD 19a.

    Many thanks to Dada Dada and Stephen

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