Toughie 3231 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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Toughie 3231

by Gazza  

Toughie No 3231 by Beam
Hints and tips by Gazza

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BD Rating  Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

Beam has given us a fairly gentle puzzle today. Thanks to him.

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

Across Clues

1a  Double eagle giving handicap (9)
ALBATROSS: this meaning of double eagle doesn’t feature in Chambers or Collins but it is in Merriam-Webster so it seems to be an American usage. It’s a golf score of three under par for a hole (the maths being suspect since an eagle is two under par). We need the more usual name for such a score which is also the name for something that weighs one down (based on Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner).

6a  Opening party with old queen (4)
DOOR: a festive party and abbreviations for old and queen.

10a  More cunning vacuous solicitor accepts perjury? (5)
SLIER: the outer letters of solicitor contain a synonym of perjury.

11a  Twisting, concealing promises to return unconventionally (9)
CURIOUSLY: an adjective meaning twisting contains our usual promises to pay. ‘to return’ here is a link meaning to yield.

12a  Beat donkey after drink round river (7)
SURPASS: a donkey follows a verb to drink containing the abbreviation for river.

13a  Fill endless menu with Cheddar, say (7)
ENGORGE: ‘menu’ stripped of both ends followed by the name of the spectacular natural landmark at Cheddar in Somerset.

14a  Perchance story’s about old relative (8)
ANCESTOR: hidden.

16a  Small automobile with loud muffler (5)
SCARF: the abbreviation for small, an automobile and the abbreviation for loud.

19a  Tries other sites occasionally (5)
TESTS: occasional letters from words two and three.

21a  Hilarity after ringing expression of disgust (8)
LAUGHTER: an adverb meaning after contains an expression of disgust.

24a  Put away tailing puritanical bishop (7)
PRIMATE: a verb meaning put away or consumed follows a synonym of puritanical.

25a  Public consuming a cold ham (7)
OVERACT: an adjective meaning public contains A and the tap abbreviation for cold.

27a  Saw parking space (9)
PLATITUDE: the abbreviation for parking and a word meaning space or room to manoeuvre.

28a  Chile’s so long! (5)
ADIOS: the official language of Chile is Spanish.

29a  Right let in extreme nationalists, initially (4)
LIEN: the initial letters of four words in the clue.

30a  Controversy about Republican vote’s final shame (9)
DISREPUTE: a controversy or argument contains the abbreviation for Republican and the final letter of vote.

Down Clues

1d  Pass is tantalisingly going round teammate (9)
ASSISTANT: a hidden word.

2d  Last of fertiliser under cheese plant (5)
BRIER: the last letter of fertiliser follows a creamy cheese.

3d  Following detailed article peruses yarns (7)
THREADS: a grammatical article without its tail letter and a verb meaning peruses.

4d  Cause and effect? (8)
OCCASION: two verbal synonyms of the answer.

5d  Rows ship around lake (6)
SERIES: our usual abbreviated ship contains one of the five Great Lakes.

7d  Sharp odour rising over skivvy (9)
OBSERVANT: reverse the abbreviation for a personal odour and follow that with a skivvy or minion.

8d  Frost, for the audience, producing poetry (5)
RHYME: this sounds like a type of frost or frozen dew.

9d  Deposits grand in rich deposits (6)
LODGES: the abbreviation for grand goes into rich veins of ore under the earth.

15d  Actors’ one take shows discipline (9)
CASTIGATE: assemble the word for the group of actors in a play or film, the Roman numeral for one and a word for the take or money paid by spectators at a sporting event.

17d  Anticipate cheers in wood with sweetheart (9)
FORETASTE: insert a short word of thanks (cheers!) in a wood and finish with Beam’s swEetheart.

18d  Lady finding singles in pubs (8)
BARONESS: a word for singles goes inside a synonym of pubs.

20d  Equilibrium unaltered supporting edges of seat (6)
STASIS: a phrase (2,2) meaning unaltered follows the outer letters of seat.

22d  Rating about empty election bombshell (7)
GRENADE: a synonym of rating or level contains the outer letters of election.

23d  One might be coming or going (6)
GERUND: a grammatical term for a noun formed from a verb. Other examples might be heckling, jeering and booing.

24d  Father and friend of the Pope (5)
PAPAL: an affectionate word for one’s father and a synonym of friend.

26d  Nice parting speech? (5)
ADIEU: how someone in Nice might say farewell.

The top clues for me were 21a, 15d and 23d. Which one(s) did you favour?

 

27 comments on “Toughie 3231”

  1. Very nice indeed! It was not too tough and a lot of fun.

    My top picks were 14a, 21a, 27a, 18d, 23d & 26d.

    I do hope that the crossing two answers in the SE corner are not Beam bidding us farewell.

    Many thanks to Beam and to Gazza.

      1. She certainly would, hope Mr T pops in to assure us that the references were simply to the end of this crossword.

    2. That had not struck me until re-reading your post – what a terrible thought, and I very much hope that it is not the case. Losing Beam/RayT would be truly awful, and coming on top of losing Jay and Don Giovanni as DT setters would simply be too much in too short a time.

      We’ve had some good new setters, and each brings their own style to the back or inside pages, but I for one would love to see those two back on a regular basis, let alone not losing Beam/RayT.

    3. I immediately looked for a farewell theme elsewhere but it didn’t happen. Let’s hope it was just a quirky joke🤞

  2. I really enjoyed this trademark Beam, from the Queen to the sweetheart, the lurkers to the acrostic, and the perennial need to look beyond the obvious synonym for something less familiar. Wonderful. All bar 7 went in very swiftly, but I spent more than that time again on those final clues, with pennies dropping much more slowly – 23d my penultimate and I don’t know how – or indeed from where – I dragged that one up; the groan was audible when 28a was finally filled in. Cracking clues throughout, with highlights being 14a, 21a, 28a, 2d, & 23d.

    Many thanks indeed to Beam, and also to Gazza – some quite superb cartoons there!

  3. SOLVING this puzzle was straightforward until 23d. That reluctant penny drop & 30a kiboshed a sub ** time completion. Grammar isn’t my strong point & while I was aware of the term I’m not confident I’d have been able to explain it clearly. Well at least I can now & know what the 23d is in my first sentence.
    Excellent clueing as ever & a very enjoyable solve. 13a was my favourite for no other reason than I like the word.
    Thanks to B&G

  4. Relieved to see that I wasn’t the only one who had a blank moment over 23d – I spent quite a long time looking for a palindrome.
    Luverly stuff as always from Mr T/Beam and the stars for me were 11,16&21a.

    Devotions as ever to the great man and many thanks to Gazza for the review and excellent cartoons – wonder whether RD will be tempted to try the female bishop’s moves at his chess club!

  5. Great fun and nicely accessible for a Toughie.
    I saw 23d early on, so no issues there. The last couple to fall were 9d and 24a, which now look quite straightforward. ‘Twas ever thus.
    Thank you Ray – like others, I trust that there is no hidden message in 28a and 26d.
    Thanks also to Gazza – I love your cartoons – very jealous!

  6. Nit too many comments thus far but it has all been said. Thanks to Beam and Gazza.

  7. I agree with all the comments above. Favourite was 11a. Thank you Beam for this thoroughly enjoyable crossword and to Gazza.

  8. Evening all. Thanks to Gazza for the analysis and to everybody for your observations. Oh, and no hidden messages!

    RayT

    1. Good evening, Mr T, thank you for both the Beam crossword and the reassurance that you left no hidden messages – I was worrying about having to go into therapy!

    4. Thanks for the enjoyable puzzle, Ray, and thanks for the reassurance that you’re not jumping ship.

    5. Much relieved to read that, Mr T Beam, and thank you again for the great puzzle.

    6. Good job too – you’d have had to stump up for Jane’s therapy & I reckon she’d have required a fair few sessions. Great puzzle.

  9. What a boost to the morale to be able to complete the toughie in one go. 23d was last one in – must go and do some homework. Many thanks to all.

  10. Excellent fun as usual and such a relief to have the reassurance that there was no hidden message in the SW.
    Thanks Beam and Gazza.

  11. Splendid toughie. Beaten by the SW corner, trying too hard to fit stable into 29d. Thanks Ray T and Gazza for the hints that got me over the line.

  12. Needed help to finish this, so thanks for that.
    23d showed that I’m never too old to learn a bit more about grammar.
    Still can’t understand how “saw” relates to 27a.

  13. What a crosswording genius is Ray T/Beam, so glad it’s not adios or adieu! A brilliant puzzle, as ever.

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