Toughie No 3082 by Hudson
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Hudson always sets a most enjoyable crossword (both in the Telegraph and other places) and this one was no exception.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought
Across
1a Following dodgy salami, ultimately experience sickness (7)
MALAISE Follow an anagram (dodgy) of SALAMI with the ultimate letter of experiencE
9a Son held in prison that is importing North American petrol (8)
GASOLINE The abbreviation for Son ‘held’ or inserted into a prison followed by the abbreviation for that is ‘importing’ the abbreviation for North
10a Small cat starts to attack colossal hairy bear (7)
STOMACH The abbreviation for Small, a male cat and the ‘starts’ to Attack Colossal Hairy
11a Emergency call Conservative bishop lodged that might end in tears (3,5)
SOB STORY An appeal for help (emergency call) and a way of referring to a Conservative into which is inserted (lodged) the chess abbreviation for Bishop
12a Shoot game husband corralled, showing enthusiasm (4-2)
GUNG-HO A verb meaning to shoot and a game of skill for two players into which is inserted (corralled) the abbreviation for husband combine to produce an (originally US) slang term for being excessively enthusiastic, eager, or zealous
13a Find Tories terribly cruel and despotic (4-6)
IRON-FISTED An anagram (terribly) of FIND TORIES
15a Heads of all states in African continent (4)
ASIA The ‘heads’ of All States In African
16a Clan boss caught robber moving tons by road to Edinburgh (9)
CHIEFTAIN The cricket abbreviation for caught and a robber where the abbreviation for Tons is moved from the start to the end of the word, followed by the road from London to Edinburgh
21a God of peace? (4)
ODIN Split this Scandinavian God 1,3 and you should see an amusing reference to peace (and quiet!)
22a Frail sacra I graze tackling large rock (5,5)
AILSA CRAIG Hidden in (tackling) frAIL SACRA I Graze
24a What Bill Clinton didn’t do at home with hard drink? (6)
INHALE The usual two-letter ‘at home’ with the abbreviation for Hard and a type of drink
25a A seedy bar in which that chap’s ingested glue (8)
ADHESIVE A (from the clue) and a seedy bar into which is inserted (ingested) a simple way of saying that chap’s
27a Outstanding amount of poise! (7)
BALANCE Double definition
28a Eastern Madame initially regularly binned product that’s full of holes (8)
EMMENTAL The abbreviation for Eastern, the abbreviated way the French would write Madame and the even (the odd – regular – letters being ‘binned) of iNiTiAlLy
29a Novelist/actor James perhaps retired, having sustained broken neck (7)
DICKENS The reversal (retired) of the forename of Mr James the actor, into which is inserted (having sustained) an anagram (broken) of NECK
Down
2d Selflessness of key game I’m hosting beginning on Saturday (8)
ALTRUISM A key on the bottom row of your computer keyboard, an abbreviated game and IM (from the clue) ‘hosting’ the beginning on Saturday
3d Tortuous anagram at first crushes the spirit (8)
ARMAGNAC An anagram (tortuous) of ANAGRAM followed by the first letter of Crushes
4d Joint King of France hid in bag left CIA angry (10)
SACROILIAC The French word for King hidden in a bag, followed by the abbreviation for Left and an anagram (angry) of CIA
5d It might make soup thicker if you turn up gas ring (4)
SAGO A reversal (up) of GAS (from the clue) followed by the ring-shaped letter
6d Compiler, a classist sort, sent up Japanese culture (6)
BONSAI A reversal (sent up) of the way our compiler might speak of himself, A (from the clue)and a person wishing to be associated with the upper classes
7d Tucked into Cagliari cottage cheese (7)
RICOTTA Tucked into cagliaRI COTTAge
8d Really weird kind of light fantastic! (4,3)
VERY ODD A type of coloured flare (light) used for signalling and a synonym for fantastic
11d Serpent eating wild fowl that fell from the sky (9)
SNOWFLAKE A serpent ‘eating’ an anagram (wild) of FOWL
14d Chief rang. IPA niffs somewhat … it’s got quite an odour (10)
FRANGIPANI Hidden in part of (somewhat) chieF RANG IPA NIffs
17d Rescue vessel capsizing on a hard rock in the Channel (5,3)
NOAHS ARK A reversal (capsizing) of ON followed by A (from the clue) and H (hard – the repetition radar beeped at this point!) and a Channel Island (rock)
18d Pan poster on Young Conservatives Association: “gutless” (5-3)
BILLY-CAN A poster, the abbreviation for Young Conservatives and the outside (gutless) letters of AssociatioN
19d Sweet mixture Arab fed to his bag carrier? (7)
CARAMEL The abbreviation for Arab inserted (fed) to the animal that might carry his bags
20d With aluminium taps, yours truly’s saving energy for pseudo-science (7)
ALCHEMY The chemical symbol for aluminium, the letters found on taps and a simple way of saying belonging to yours truly
23d Worker, having contracted mad cow disease, is on leave (6)
ABSENT One of Crosswordland’s workers into which is inserted (having contracted) the initials of the abbreviation for the proper name for mad cow disease
26d Five pound each, canned meat (4)
VEAL The abbreviation for each ‘canned’ or put between the Roman numeral for five and the abbreviation for pound
Like the back-pager, excellent without being difficult. Always lots to smile about with this compiler.
I strongly suspect the setter really enjoyed writing 13a&18d not to mention 11a, a bit repetitive but they were all great clues.
For my possible podium I’ll go with 16,21&29a plus 17&23d(lol)
Many thanks to Hudson and Cryptic Sue.
Together with the back-pager we’ve been given two first-rate and very enjoyable puzzles on our longest day. Thanks to Hudson and CS.
Amongst the clues I ticked were 12a, 13a (brilliant spot for the anagram fodder), 21a and 23d with my top pick being the very amusing 24a.
21, 22 and 24a are my podium choices from this most enjoyable puzzle that was testing without being overly difficult. A perfect accompaniment for a sunny afternoon.
Many thanks to Hudson and CS.
A rare attempt by me at the toughie and completed it, all bar one. I have certainly chosed a good day! Oddly it was writer Charles that confused and bemused me.
Must try harder!
Thanks to Hudson for this teaser better ( for me at least) upstairs than down!
Another excellent puzzle from our setter, just at the right level for me.
Top three here – after much deliberation – were 10&27a plus 23d.
Many thanks to Hudson and also to CS for a beautifully illustrated review.
Great fun. Lovely smooth clues and a sense of humour. Faves were 9,16 and 21a, the lovely 14d and top spot for me [with an alternative – if rather un-PC parsing] 28a – I reckon it’s E for Eastern, M for Madame initially, mental for “regularly binned” – as in Loony! and Bob’s your uncle.
Thanks to Hudson and CS
Mental = regularly binned? That’s a brilliant parsing but somehow I don’t think even Hudson would be so non-PC.
Whaddya mean even Hudson??? :)
Your reputation obviously precedes you, Hudson!
Ha! But seriously, although a clue which reads “Hudson knocked back nuts and cheese” might seem neat, it really is a complete non-starter I think and I certainly would never submit it…
Thanks to dear crypticsue for the lovely blog and to those who have taken the time to post a comment.
Best wishes to all, Rob/Hudson
Thank you for a lovely puzzle, right on wavelength 😊.
What a lovely puzzle – nicely challenging and a lot of fun.
A couple of questions. Wouldn’t the surface of 4d read more smoothly with “hidden” replacing “hid”? Why is “mixture” needed in 19d?
My top picks were 21a, 24a, 17d & 20d plus a bonus mark for the setter from me for the American indicator in 9d.
Many thanks to Hudson and to CS.
My take is that ‘hid’ is correct so that the surface read is “The joint that the king hid in the bag” whereas ‘hidden’ would imply the ‘joint king’ himself is hidden.
It can be a sweet in its own right but also as a mixture in its runny form.
Hope this helps Dave 🙂
Thanks, Philbert, Although, given the proliferation of drugs related clues that all setters use frequently, I can’t image why that sort of joint didn’t occur to me!
I still think “mixture” is unnecessary as the surface and definition would both be OK without it. But that’s certainly a very minor point.
Cracking puzzle – loved the lurker at 22a. Many thanks to Hudson and CS.
I rarely venture on to the Toughie page, getting defeated too often by the backpager. But having seen that I could solve the first 2 across clues I decided to have a go. Very happy I did as this was a lot of fun, even if I did need some hints to verify my answers, 29a being one example. Thanks to Hudson and CrypticSue. Will definitely keep an eye open for any more of his puzzles.
Witty, clever, tougher than the backpager but still accessible. Good fun.
Agreed. Solved 23 on my own, 4 with hints and Frangipanni. and the rock I did not know
That rock is the source of the quartz that makes the finest curling stones in the world – always used at the Olympics.
When we first looked at 14d we already had F_A as checkers and it occurred to us that FLATULENCE could fit the definition. A good thing we didn’t write it in.
Excellent fun with chuckles all the way through.
Thanks Hudson and CS.
Top notch throughout with ticks against just about every clue. Sadly no unaided finish for me as needed the nudge from Sue to get the sweet mixture – oddly enough I reckon I may have twigged the definition had the clue not contained mixture & then figured out the wordplay though hadn’t appreciated the AR abbreviation.
Thanks to Hudson for yet another entertaining puzzle (loved the political clues) & to CS for the review
Managed all but 6 without assistance ….
liked 23D “Worker, having contracted mad cow disease, is on leave (6)”