Sunday Toughie No 78 by proXimal
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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A not as tough as he could be from proXimal today, getting the four long answers got me plenty of checkers. I have even had time to parse and write the review for a week on Wednesday, so If you need a little nudge on unhinted clues just ask
14a and 14d clues today and I have hinted half (ish), Plenty of Lego today but it was the little four-letter ones that amused me most today.
I have just noticed that he has set the EV today too, if my brain is up to it I would be interested to see how they compare
Here we go, Folks…
As it is a Prize puzzle I can only hint at a few and hope that will give you the checkers and inspiration to go further. I’ll return with the full review blog just after the closing date. Don’t forget to follow BD’s instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!
I hope I don’t have to redact any comments but I am new at this and don’t want to rock the boat. If in doubt, I’ll rub it out! I think that sentence is a bit redundant. You have all been so helpful in sorting out prior parsing failures, and I am sure I will need similar help again.
Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also” Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious. Don’t forget the Mine of useful information that Big Dave and his son Richard so meticulously prepared for us.
A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions. Some hints follow: Remember the site rules and play nicely.
Across
1a Papers around in person’s bag, as flying? (8,6)
We start with an all-in-one &lit. The papers you need to get on a plane are also an anagram of “person’s bag as” plus some other papers we carry reversed (around)
12a Beset by storm, left working vessel (7)
This sailing vessel is a wind of force 8, around L and a synonym of working
15a
17a Disgruntled old dons chef feeds crackers (7,3)
An anagram of chef feeds, and it contains/wears/dons O for old
19a Reddish-brown back seat to car retains covers (10)
When in doubt look for a lurker, and a reverse lurker to boot indicated by (back…covers) contained in four words of the clue
20a Smart and charismatic, flawed star I am to leave (4)
Remove an anagram (flawed) of star I am from charismatic and what remains is smart
26a ~
27a One taking pictures from pop artist, retired Australian unknown (9)
A bit of Lego here, start with ones Pop or Father, add an artist and finish with a reversal (retired) of an Australian and an unknown number in an equation
28a Record one in room at home, a politician being prejudiced (14)
More Lego here, Start with a record, add an abbreviation of room with the letter that looks like one inside, a synonym of at home and a politician of a blue hue.
Down
2d Parasite bringing down large bird (5)
Start with a parasitic wingless insect and bring the L for large down the order until you have a bird that resembles the blackbird
5d Reviewed performance record with foxtrot and what follows? (4)
A reversal (reviewed) of a performance record and the letter that foxtrot represents give us the sport currently contested at Hoylake, but where is the definition I hear you say it is what follows foxtrot in the NATO phonetic code
No sniggering at the back it is not Oscar!
8d
9d Professional wordless musical piece taken up before journalist predicted (14)
Start with an abbreviated professional, then a reversal (taken up) of unspoken or wordless and a musical piece and our usual journalist
14d Seemed correction fluid gets expended by new writer (4-3,3)
A synonym of seemed and a brand of correction fluid with the X (expended) replaced by N for new
18d Beastly driver having fight in vehicle (8)
A confused, noisy fight, goes into a motor vehicle to be someone who drives or rides the ships of the desert
24d Sharp, pronounced vertical in flight (5)
Hmm, this vertical part of a flight of stairs is not a homophone of this sharp thing in my personal lexicon, but the missing a is in the BRB so fair enough
25d Climbing charts: Monty Python repeat? (4)
A reversal (climbing) of some charts, also a foodstuff celebrated in song by Monty Python That I can’t play here as the answer is repeated endlessly
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Enjoyable Toughie – thanks to proXimal and SJB.
Pick of the bunch for me were 19a, 23a, 3d and 5d.
You’ve given rather too obvious hints for 24d and 25d!!
Oops sorry, trying to kill two 2d’s with one 14lb weight
Got there at the second sitting after taking a break to go round the bonny Ellon Castle Gardens.
Some fairly uncommon words today – or not ones which I use anyway. Used to find examples of 2d and 6d while wandering the Scottish hills but didn’t meet many examples of 18d.
Gave up on Sky coverage of 5d. Far too many interviews, adverts and other nonsense. Will wait for the BBC highlights in the evening.
Favourites include 8d, 25d and the clever 3d which was my LOI.
Thanks to the setter for the entertainment and SJB for the generous hinting.
I did have a pic of Kilt Rock on Skye for 8d but it wasn’t too clear. The gardens of Brodick Castle on the Isle of Arran persuaded me to join the Scottish National Trust, that and a dog that mistook the lily pads there for solid ground anyway
Saw Kilt Rock from the sea on a yachting trip round the Western Isles some years back. Still the best way to see it as it is designated drone-free (monitored by CCTV) for six months of the year to protect sea birds.
It would be a good example of 8d with a vertical columnar sill above horizontal layering. (Sorry – studied geology at university).
We joined the NTS mainly because of the horrendous parking charges down south. There is a reciprocal arrangement between the NT and NTS.
I have been getting a bit of a geological education from a professor of same making shorts about the geology of France on the TdF coverage.
I too appreciate that the NTS subscription is considerably cheaper than the NT and use it in England and Wales even more than in Scotland
Thank you SJB for the Matt! He’s the best part of the DT and I can’t get him any more with my puzzle sub. Sorry, off piste … I never do the Toughie!
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Why oh why did I forget to look for a lurker in 18a – no wonder I couldn’t parse it! The other bit of parsing that took far too long was the ‘pop’ in 27a.
Think it was two of the long ones that took my fancy – 26a & 8d.
Thanks to proXimal and to SJB for the hints.
Me too with the “pop” despite the fact that Mama Bee bears a similar female appellation!
I needed the hint for 5d but otherwise my trusty word search helped me, much to my surprise, to finish this
COTD the brilliant 20a
Rather enjoyed this. Slow at the off, one paced early on, picked up speed in the latter stages but refused at the last (3d – I’ll have another look but can’t see it for now). Liked the 4 peripheral long ‘uns & the 19a lurker but fav was 27a
Thanks to proXimal & to SJB
Stared at 3d blankly for some time yesterday & threw in the towel. Just remembered I still had it to finish after completing today’s Campbell & got it within 15seconds – it’s a funny old game 😊
I’m still struggling. So far 20a is my favourite. I shall probably go on chewing at this for th next few nights! Thank you messrs Setter & SjB. I am still having fun and games accessing the site since the emails stopped!
Bit late to comment, but it was late in the day before I decided to have a go. Couldn’t have done it without SJB’s hints, and personally speaking, I didn’t think the hints for 24d and 25d were obvious (perhaps they were changed?). Thanks for the hints SJB – I guess I should pass the pen on if I was to win it! I am trespassing on a crossword I ought to comment little on, but I thought 19a was very clever and as a newcomer, I was pleased to solve 10a. ‘Pop’ isn’t in my dialect but it’s practically a Usual Suspect now, so I’ll not complain.
I am starting to think that the good thing about very long words in crosswords (assuming use of a dictionary and/or thesaurus is permitted) is that few words will fit!?
Assuming I have got it right, I am not sure why 1a is cryptic?
It is a compound anagram and you need to add one set of papers to the fodder and find the other document you need to fly
Indeed they were as I was trying to write the review as well as the hints blog to save a bit of time and I forgot to erase the answers silly me.
Dictionaries Thesauri and lots of other tools are essential here. I get the crossword at Midnight and solve it with as many aids as I need in order to have time to write the blog in the morning, although crosswords I don’t have to blog are usually all my own work but on the whole I personally think that anything that helps “fill the lights” is ok by me