Toughie No 3275 by Django
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Huge thanks to Gazza for leaping into my Tuesday breach. I was sorry to miss out (for ghastly reasons that I won’t bore you with) on a re-match with Zenas/Prolixic but what a treat (as ever) today from Django. After a slow-ish start, this actually proved surprisingly breezy … in a good way. Over to you.
Across
1a Callously ditch husband and finally spill the beans knowing … (10)
RUTHLESSLY: A nounal synonym for ditch + H[usband] + the last/final letters of “spilL thE beanS” + knowing/wily. Cracking little opener and 6a caps the surface perfectly.
6a … audiotape captures scrap (4)
IOTA: Lurker, hidden in the first word.
10a Material, having moved last bit back one inch (5)
CREEP: (wrinkled) material with the last letter/bit moved back one place.
11a Many here are late heading to Graeme Garden’s following party (9)
GRAVEYARD: G[raeme] then (back) garden after/following (dance) party.
12a Peeled globe artichoke regularly cooked with a cabbage (8)
KOHLRABI: [g]LOB[e] + aRtIcHoKe cooked/anagrammed with/and A from the clue.
13a Runner and politician cut corners (5)
SKIMP: (Snow) runner + the usual politician.
15a Shock when say, art turns on home study group (7)
OUTRAGE: The usual say + ART from the clue, reversed/turning after/on “home study group”. This two-letter “synacronym” might prove a tad Marmite but I loved it!
17a State of European getting into all-round excellent Australian beer (7)
GEORGIA: E[uropean] inside the usual excellent + generic Aussie slang for beer, reversed/all-round.
18a Denied need to control 17 tons (7)
NEGATED: NEED from the clue (Django’s been very kind to us today with all these on-a-plate letters) controlling/outside the abbreviation for 17a + T[ons].
21a Shot of brownish-grey tree broadcast (3,4)
TOE POKE: Homophones/broadcast of (a) brownish grey colour and (a) well-known tree = a shot or kick in sport. I’d call it a punt myself, but there you go.
23a Stage article about actor who makes a living? (5)
APRON: One of the usual articles about/outside an actor (or anyone) who gets paid for their work, ie not an amateur. Hmm.
24a Forwards receiving advice to make allowances (8)
STIPENDS: Forwards (an email, say) outside/receiving the usual advice/gratuity.
27a Not even in equine stable overlooking island retreat (9)
INEQUABLE: A lurker in the third, fourth and fifth words, minus/overlooking the I[sland] + (bird) “retreat” in the middle.
28a Post Office keeping Fujitsu’s focus with a new keyboard? (5)
PIANO: PO outside/keeping fujItsu + A from the clue + N[ew].
29a Occasionally on for the record (4)
NOTE: oNfOrThE.
30a Breaks rule and it ends badly (10)
INTERLUDES: RULE+ITENDS, badly.
Down
1d and 2d Harry H Corbett and dad joke essentially cause trouble (4,3,4)
ROCK THE BOAT: HCORBETT + [d]A[d] + [j]OK[e], harried.
2d See 1d
3d Line with copy on back of novel is part of jacket’s design (5)
LAPEL: L[ine] + copy/imitate + [nove]L.
4d Notices drug ring is making a comeback (7)
SIGNAGE: The usual one-letter + (crime) ring + IS from the clue, reversed/making a comeback.
5d A row divides support for chief (7)
LEADING: A + (noisy) row inside/dividing support (for a table, etc).
7d and 8d Grace, say, after about a week in leaderless African country with little chance of success (2,1,4,3,1,6)
ON A WING AND A PRAYER: Grace (for example, ie something one might say before a meal, etc) after a synonym of about + A from the clue + W[eek] +IN from the clue + an East African country, leaderless/minus its first letter. Very Django-esque, this, as it sounds far more complicated than it really is!
8d See 7d
9d Maybe Jasper‘s posh fridge company raised quality (8)
GEMSTONE: A posh (Italian) fridge company reversed/raised + quality or character.
14d and 19d Perhaps stays in institution with man carrying weapon (10,7)
FOUNDATION GARMENT: A synonym for institution straight out of Chambers + the usual man carrying/outside the usual weapon = an item of clothing I think we would all probably call Spanx these days!
16d Discovered with cap gun, somehow misbehaving (6,2)
ACTING UP: wITh + CAPGUN, somehow/anagrammed.
19d See 14d
20d Rubbish here in south of France – heading north initially, to Belgium if necessary (7)
DUSTBIN: The French for “south” reversed (heading north) + the initial letters of the last four words.
21d Reported attempt to get engineers under ship (7)
TRIREME: Homophone of attempt (reported) + the slightly less usual four-letter (ie not two, for a change) engineers.
22d and 26d Various people putting spades beneath extra smooth turf (4,3,4)
ODDS AND SODS: Extra or left over + (to) smooth + (a piece of) turf, with S[pades] after. A delightful piece of Lego.
25d Eject Microsoft product after making copyright one of PowerPoint’s biggest features (5)
EXPEL: Microsoft product (spreadsheet) protecting/making copyright ONE of PowerPoint’s “biggest features”. There are two of them and they’re both capitals!
26d See 22d
A fair few reversals, the occasional exotic construction and some generous gimmes – as well as typically clever surfaces – made for a very fun solve indeed. I especially liked 1a, 11a, 12a, 15a and 25d. What did you make of it?
Loved the solve. Always enjoy Django. But his **** for enjoyment was overshadowed by the choice of videos by ALP ********. Several were unknown tracks to me
Many thanks to both look forward to the next ALP blog
What a delightful thing to say, thank you. Makes a lovely change – I’m so used to being on Jane’s musical naughty step!
I found this a lot more difficult than ALP appears to have done – definitely a 4* for both difficulty and enjoyment
Thanks to Django and ALP
Do you think if I shout very loudly someone at Telegraph Towers will REDUCE THE SIZE OF THE GRID TO MAKE IT THE SAME AS THE ONE ON THE OLD SITE because then we won’t have to check every time to make sure there isn’t, as there was today, “26d See 22d” all on its own on a separate sheet of paper.
For once there was no need for me to reduce the size of the display on my laptop to see the name of the compiler on the puzzles site – one glance at the down clues gave the game away. Thanks to Django for a very entertaining puzzle and to ALP for the review.
The highlights for me were 11a, 15a, 14/19d and 22/26d.
A fine puzzle, not too taxing and an enjoyable solve. I liked the joint 1a/6a surface and the longer lego clues.
I also enjoyed the fine audio selection from ALP whilst reading the blog – ta muchly!
Another good un. I particularly liked the tour de force charade at 7/8d, the posh fridge Co at 9 and the South of France at 20.
Thanks to Django for the puzzle and ALP for the blog and tunes. Haven’t met Georgia Pine Boy before, he reminds me a bit of Howlin Wolf. Haven’t come across that particular euphemism either!
Indeed. As close to the knuckle as one could go, I guess, back in the 30s! He certainly didn’t share the status of the great Howlin’ Wolf but he’s been pretty influential – covered by Skip James, Dylan and Led Zeppelin, etc.
Twenty one across is a gem. Great puzzle.. ***/***
A very enjoyable and not too taxing workout. Lots to like, but I particularly liked 11A, 22A, 28A, 20D, 22/26D, with 4D as favourite.
Many thanks to ALP and Django.
Much harder than 2 star difficulty for us but good fun all the way through with the quirkiness we have come to expect from this setter.
Thanks Django and Alp.
Reasonably straight forward after tuning in to Django’s wavelength. What an excellent puzzle, for me one of the best of the year to date, whether back page or Toughie.
From the topical 28a to the genius of 12a, 27a and 21d, or the wit of 1/2d and 11a. Not a dud in sight.
3* / 5*
Thank you so much Django, and also to ALP.
Thanks ALP and thanks all.
I wasn’t going to do a crossword today (erm, yesterday), but when I saw it was Django, I had to fit it in somehow, answering a few clues at a time between other tasks.
Highlights included 21a’s homophone (even though the solution phrase was new to me), 28a’s topical surface reading (on a day when Paula Vennells was being interrogated by Jason Beer KC at the Post Office inquiry), and 18a for “17 tons”.
Thank you to Django, and ALP for the nudges to get it finished.
Saved this belter for today as Elgar & Osmosis too ‘ard for this bear of very little brain. Not surprisingly found it a good deal tougher than our reviewer. A full grid with no letter reveal but needed explanations to fully parse a couple – missed taupe & the last bit of 1a. Too many goodies to pick out a fav.
Thanks to Django & to ALP – cracking music choices – love Pete’s vocal on Naked Eye & remember buying the record in the mid 70s from Virgin Records & Tapes in the Arcade in Cov (one of the earliest Branson stores).
Here’s a clip of Wynton & Eric doing Joliet Bound first recorded by Joe McCoy & written by his missus, Memphis Minnie