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Toughie 3276

by Dutch  

Toughie No 3276 by Osmosis

Hints and tips by Dutch

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ****

 

I think it’s Osmosis. Does anyone know where to get the toughie setters these days? Pretty hard, I thought. I didn’t parse 1a, I hope someone can help.

Across

1a       Open hosts, entertaining thousand, book first musician (10)
TROMBONIST: I can see the thousand book and the first, but I’m not seeing how ‘Open hosts’ translates to TROON

6a      Period piece that’s minimalist? (4)
WHIT: Two meanings, the first a period after Easter

9a       Monetary bonus for the boozy bohemian? (4,6)
FREE SPIRIT: – This would be a gift to the boozy

10a     Order scarves having swapped sides (4)
ASBO: Some 4-letter neckwear (including the plural S) where the first and last half of the word are swapped

12       One might get hooked using dealer’s original crack (4)
DACE: The first letter (original) of dealer plus a word for crack or expert

13a      Adorn passing van’s bonnet possibly (9)
HEADDRESS: a word meaning to adorn or decorate follows a word meaning van or front

15a      Keep boxed hits by speaker (4,4)
FORT KNOX: A homophone (by speaker) of a 6-letter word for boxed (the sport) and a 6 letter word meaning hits

 

16a      Multiple issues with unknown illness (6)
QUINSY: A set of 5 babies plus an algebraic unknown

18a      Bill and Audrey securing vehicle (6)
LANDAU:   Hidden (… securing)

20a      Telly’s so horrendous … viewing Prime, Sky not so much (8)
HAIRLESS: The first letter (viewing Prime) of horrendous, a 3-letter word for sky, and a word meaning not so much

23a       Marcus spending half cricket match wearing leather guard (9)
CUSTODIAN: The second half of marCUS, then the abbreviation for a type of cricket match goes inside a 3-letter word meaning to leather

24a       One’s blue bike docked (4)
MOPE: A motorised bicycle without the last letter

26a      Californian never rails against own continent (4)
NARY: The abbreviation for rail track follows the Californian’s continent

27a       Charlie before noon entering leaderless colouring task (10)
ASSIGNMENT: A 3-letter Charlie, then the abbreviation for noon goes inside some colouring without the first letter (leaderless)

28a       Each lying about married male – it’s fiction (4)
EMMA: The abbreviation for each goes around the abbreviations for married and male

29a        Main seaman swivelled and split smalls; seam on both sides gone (7,3)
BARENTS SEA: The reversal (swivelled) of a 2-letter abbreviation for seaman, a word meaning split or torn, twice the abbreviation for small and sEAm without the outer letters

Down

1d         Lock empty flat below group of workers (4)
TUFT: FlaT without the inner letters goes underneath the abbreviation for a group of workers

2d        Writer in toga, Piero, regularly describing gladiatorial contests? (4-3)
OPEN-AIR: A 3-letter writing implement goes inside the even letters of ‘toga piero’

3d        Actor ruined episode, reciting initially parrot fashion (6,6)
BUSTER KEATON: A 4-letter word for ruined or broken, the abbreviation for episode, the first letter of reciting, a new zealand parrot, and a 3-letter wword for fashion

4d        Virginia’s mate Nick picked up underlyng sound of bay? (8)
NEIGHBOR: An American spelling. The reversal (picked up) of a 3-letter word meaning to nick or steal goes underneath a homophone of the sound a horse makes

5d        Plonk cropped top on middle of blazer (6)
SHIRAZ: A 5-letter top (garment) withoutthe last letter plus the middle two letters of blazer

7d        Surprised cries over e.g. worker Henry’s belly flop (3-4)
HAS-BEEN: The reversal of some surprised cries (though the reversal seems not to include the plural S), A worker insect, and the central letter (belly) of Henry

8d        Degenerate broadcaster is consumed by dry red (10)
TROTSKYIST: A 3-letter word for degenerate or decay, a broadcasting company, IS from the clue, all inside an abstainer

11d      Maybe mid-morning drive, gold model uncovered, lifted artist (7,5)
EDOUARD MANET: A reversal (lifted) of a (3,2) mid morning time, the abbreviation for drive, the chemical symbol for gold, and MODEL without the outer letters

14d       Wrong recruits left in charge in store (3-7)
OFF-LICENCE: A 7-letter wrong contains (recruits)the abbreviations for left and in charge

17d       Jurgen’s sure and cool making complaint (8)
JAUNDICE: The German word for yes (sure) and ‘and’, then a 3-letter word meaning cool

19d       Relief as body of maps conserved by National Trust eccentric (7)
NOSTRUM: The abbreviation for a type of maps goes inside the abbreviation for National trust, plus a word for eccentric or odd

21d        Kiss for Mike in Victoria perhaps daily (7)
EXPRESS:  Queen Victoria was EMPRESS of India. Change the  letter with radio code mike to a kiss.

22d        Sleep with most intimate American, missing company (6)
SIESTA: A 7-letter word for most intimate plus the abbreviation for American, then remove the abbreviation for company from the front

25d        Walk the full extent of Swansea (4)
STOA: Split (1,2,1) this can be the full extent of the letters in Swansea

I quite like the Telly clue (20a). Which were your favourites?

13 comments on “Toughie 3276”

  1. Huntsman may be able to confirm but Troon is one of the golf courses that hosts the Open

    Since the passing of the old website the only way to find out the setter is from clicking the three dots …
    In a circle

  2. A nice Friday puzzle from the master of the nearly impenetrable charade. I assumed Open hosts in 1a was Troon and thought it a top clue, along with Telly at 20a, parrot fashion at 3d and Jurgen at 17d.
    Thanks to Osmosis and Dutch.

  3. I do the Toughie on my laptop via the Telegraph website and that gives the name of the setter. As for the puzzle, full marks for originality and entertainment, with plenty of excellent clues from which to pick favourites. 1a was mine, ahead of Telly at 20a.

    Thanks to Osmosis for a great challenge, and to Dutch.

  4. Having only finished last week’s Elgar this morning, I didn’t think this was too bad at a mere ******** and a little help from Chambers.

    I’m maybe more interested in golf than some. So 1 across made sense to me. But I did confirm via Google that the host of this year’s open in indeed Troon.

    [Please don’t quote solving times – see Comment Etiquette #6. Gazza]

    1. You’ve changed your alias so this needed moderation. Both aliases will work from now on.

  5. An excellent Friday Toughie which was doable. I failed on 2 clues because I bunged in the wrong artist at 11D even though I couldn’t parse it and that messed up 20A. I’m annoyed with myself for not completing through my own stupid fault. However I enjoyed this well constructed puzzle with many ticks. My favourite was 9A lol.
    Thanks to Dutch and Osmosis.

  6. a properly tough toughie head-scratchinly difficult but well worth the effort thanks to Dutch and the setter, Osmosis?

  7. Hard work but we did stick with it and eventually got it all sorted. Favourite is 11a for the satisfaction of working out the justification for what started out as a wild guess.
    Thanks Osmosis and Dutch.

  8. Re 7d. The surprised cries are HA’S, over (above, rather than reversed) the BEE and N

  9. Late on parade today, travelling up for a stay near Bamburgh, a little village called Warenford.

    Very tough. Some of these took a good while to parse. Got there eventually.

    Thanks Osmosis & Dutch

  10. Reading this next day. I’m in awe of anyone who finished this. I got one lurker and that was that

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