Toughie 3199 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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Toughie 3199

Toughie No 3199 by Beam
Hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating – Difficulty **Enjoyment ***

Many thanks to Beam for his usual entertaining, succinct and anagram-less puzzle.

Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.

Across Clues

1a Impotent employing frozen water, it’s clear (10)
NOTICEABLE: a phrase (3,4) meaning impotent contains frozen water.

6a Get prince occasionally to be heroic (4)
EPIC: occasional letters from the first two words.

10a Greek character melodiously articulates thoughts (7)
MUSINGS: the twelfth letter of the Greek alphabet and a verb meaning ‘melodiously articulates’.

11a Trudged from bar haunt after time (7)
TRODDEN: a straight bar and the haunt of a wild animal follow the physics abbreviation for time.

12a This should get people going! (8)
LAXATIVE: cryptic definition of something to speed up one’s motions.

13a Bit of silence for the audience (5)
PIECE: a homophone of a word meaning silence or calm.

15a Recluse before old power, reportedly (7)
EREMITE: an archaic preposition meaning before and a homophone of a word meaning power or strength.

17a Beefy things taking runs, naked runs (7)
STREAKS: some edible beefy things containing the cricket abbreviation for runs.

19a Hospital department system includes small charge (7)
ENTRUST: our usual hospital department followed by a (usually dreary) system or routine containing the clothing abbreviation for small.

21a Belly could be advantage eating everything (7)
BALLOON: a word meaning advantage or something beneficial containing a synonym of everything. Belly here is a verb.

22a Prize fight consumed by publicity (5)
AWARD: a serious fight is contained inside abbreviated publicity.

24a Caught by dearest, ran, getting divorce (8)
ESTRANGE: hidden in the clue.

27a It isn’t commonly journalist being corrupted (7)
TAINTED: a common spoken contraction of “it isn’t” and our usual abbreviated senior journalist.

28a Revealing the French monarch accepting answer (7)
LEAKING: a French definite article and a male monarch bracket an abbreviation for answer.

29a Queen appearance money backed rock band? (4)
REEF: a single-letter abbreviation for queen followed by the reversal of a word for appearance money.

30a Gouache art, in essence, embodying strength (10)
HEARTINESS: our second hidden word.

Down Clues

1d English gent getting elevated for title (4)
NAME: stick together an abbreviation for English and another word for gent and reverse it all.

2d Will try to accept pet name (9)
TESTAMENT: a verb to try or evaluate contains an adjective meaning pet or domesticated and the abbreviation for name.

3d Chase one’s neighbour, grinding away initially! (5)
CONGA: initial letters from the first five words.

4d Gold colour for good sign (7)
AUSPICE: the chemical symbol for gold and a reddish-brown colour.

5d Learning three Rs possibly (7)
LETTERS: the answer could be three Rs (or a multiple number of any other alphabetic character).

7d Shave around day’s start for father (5)
PADRE: a verb to shave or trim containing the starting letter of day.

8d Familiar rascal periodically found in nunnery (10)
CONVERSANT: the odd letters of rascal are found inside another word for a nunnery.

9d Physical work escalates inside pen (8)
CORPORAL: reverse our usual abbreviated work inside a pen for livestock.

14d Supporter with complaint about new player (10)
BENEFACTOR: an informal complaint or grievance contains the abbreviation for new. Append someone appearing in a play.

16d Overwhelm single sister? Go steady! (8)
INUNDATE: assemble the letter that resembles one, a religious sister and a verb to go steady.

18d Against help with sweetheart suppressing desires (9)
ALONGSIDE: a synonym for help and Beam’s usual swEetheart containing a verb meaning desires.

20d Dainty, oddly dulcet strum (7)
TWEEDLE: an adjective meaning dainty or quaint and the odd letters of dulcet. Not a verb I knew but the wordplay is clear.

21d One hits balls tackling large fighter (7)
BATTLER: the modern name for someone who hits singles, fours and sixes contains the clothing abbreviation for large.

23d Girl caught inside a tale (5)
ALICE: the cricket abbreviation for caught goes inside A and a fabricated tale.

25d Violin top concealing dull interior (5)
AMATI: a violin made by a famous Italian instrument-making family comes from an abbreviation meaning top or first-class containing an adjective meaning dull.

26d Starts to appear geriatric, exhibiting senility? (4)
AGES: the starting letters of four words in the clue.

The clues I liked included 24a, 2d and 3d but favourite has to be the LOL 12a. Which one(s) did the trick for you?

9 comments on “Toughie 3199

  1. Elegant as always. Couple of typically quirky synonyms (system, etc) but that’s to be expected and only adds to the fun – and lots to be had. 14d was brilliant and 18d’s “against” superb. Clues don’t come much tighter than 5d and 3d is probably the most accurate description I’ve ever seen! Thanks to Beam and Gazza, of course.

  2. A faster solve than the back-pager & merciful respite from the rigours of the last two Toughies. Entertaining as ever & with 12a the runaway fav. Last in for me was 30a, initially a definition bung in & a potential parsing head scratch until I realised it was a lurker.
    Thanks to Ray T & to Gazza

  3. Typical excellence from the master of brevity.

    I think I’ll settle on the quirky 5d as my favourite.

    Many thanks to Beam and to Gazza.

  4. At last one I could manage with relative ease. Rayt at his best. Favourite has to be the excellent and amusing 12a. Thanks to Rayt and Gazza.

  5. We find that we had one wrong. We had assumed that ‘people going’ referred to a life hereafter and happily wrote in PARADISE and mentally thanked Beam for clever misdirection. Ah well! You can’t win them all.
    A really enjoyable solve none the less.
    Thanks Beam and Gazza.

    1. Seems a perfectly valid answer to me which I’d have happily entered if I’d thought of it first.

  6. I also had Paradise, glad I’m not alone in the DNF club. Otherwise a speedy solve.

    Thanks to Beam and Gazza.

  7. Late to comment but loved this one as much as I always do this setter’s puzzles whichever page they appear on. An abundance of ticks on my paper but I think the familiar rascal raised the biggest laugh.

    Devotions as usual to Mr T/Beam and many thanks to Gazza for the review and great cartoons – really laughed at the guy who left everything to himself!

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