Toughie No 3317 by Dada
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Excellent from Dada today, I thought. Yes, there are six anagrams but they’re almost all partials so it didn’t feel like overkill. Pretty light and lively, but there is certainly some GK that, though eminently gettable from the wordplay, was new to me. Hence the extra half-point. I can but hope that passes muster! All yours.
Across
1a Offensive recording with article kept in a binder? (10,4)
INSULATING TAPE: Offensive/rude + recording/cassette containing one of the usual articles = summat that binds.
9a Bitten by exhausted old king cobra? (7)
SERPENT: Old king (eg, Edward VIII) inside/bitten by exhausted/done in.
10a Content for tot entertained by the box? (7)
CARTOON: [t]O[t] entertained by/inside (the) box/container. Fun &lit. I always think this use of “the” is verging on padding but you see it a lot, so it’s clearly absolutely fine. And the surface needs it, of course.
11a Alliance, rank lot disposing of leader (4)
AXIS: Rank’s lot (ie, vehicles) loses its first letter.
12a Little maiden overcome by hearts breaking (10)
SHATTERING: A word for a small amount has its M[aiden] replaced/overcome by H[earts].
14a Flipped over dessert I see, sponge (6)
LOOFAH: Setters’ usual dessert pudding (gooseberry?) reversed/flipped + a two-letter synonym for the expression “I see/get it”.
15a Commercial found in Sun, yet terribly faint (8)
UNSTEADY: The usual commercial inside SUNYET, terribly.
17a Awful wine: squeal about that (8)
SHOCKING: (German) wine, with (to) squeal/rat about/outside.
18a Fruit cut beside Italian river, citrus (6)
POMELO: A fruit minus its last letter after/by the usual Italian river (not the Tiber, the other one) = a fruit (tree).
21a Play very defensively thus: be organised on field (4,3,3)
PARK THE BUS: THUSBE, organised on/after field or rec, etc. I vaguely remembered this expression but it’s not in (my) Chambers and I was convinced it was an Americanism. According to Collins, it’s not.
22a Casanova and Peg (4)
STUD: Double definition. Casanova, rather ungallantly, boasted of taking more than 132 lovers, including “five from England”, so it’s quite possible at least one of them was called Peg!
24a Forgiving sin ultimately, that is central to religious observance (7)
LENIENT: [si]N + I.E. central to/inside a religious observance/fast.
25a One enjoys eating very big flower (7)
EPICURE: Very big/grand + one of our usual (Yorkshire) “flowers”.
26a Propose first of toasts “to his queen”, possibly, taking drink first (3,3,8)
POP THE QUESTION: (Fizzy) drink (first) + T[oasts] + TOHISQUEEN, possibly.
Down
1d Two poles rising high after one put in (7)
INSTALL: The two poles + (rising) high/lofty after the usual one. No, I have no idea what this means either.
2d Raft’s rotation spinning towards European waters (6,2,7)
STRAIT OF OTRANTO: RAFTSROTATION, spinning + TO[wards] = some stretch of water, apparently.
3d Lyric lacked candour (4)
LIED: Double definition, with the lyric being German.
4d Restless after little time, minute (6)
TITCHY: Restless (as in ***** feet) follows T[ime].
5d Oxygen, element in particular drug (8)
NICOTINE: The “synonym” for particular which seems to be proving very popular with setters of late contains O[xygen] + element. It’s metallic but then most of them are so that’s not terribly helpful, I realise.
6d Failure, socialist dance (6,4)
TURKEY TROT: Failure or flop + the socialist that’s not “red”, “left”, “pinko” or “commie” but the other one = the dance that you only ever see in a crossword.
7d A cocktail served up quaffed by tipsy Puerto Rican star (7,8)
PROXIMA CENTAURI: A + cocktail/mélange, reversed (served up) inside/quaffed by PUERTORICAN, tipsy = a star I’d not heard of but I did know the much better known system from which it derives its name and that helped enormously. I suspect I won’t be alone here!
8d Tricky holding arm up in comfortable manner (6)
SNUGLY: Tricky/cunning contains arm/weapon, reversed (up).
13d Support cryptic setter in this way (10)
BACKSTREET: Support/second + SETTER, cryptic.
16d Peacekeepers put an end to tumult over the French trouble (8)
UNSETTLE: The usual peacekeepers (2) + (to) put + [tumul]T + French “the”.
17d Provide drink and put to use (6)
SUPPLY: The usual (to) drink + put to use (as in trade, etc).
19d Man, tired runner? (3,4)
OLD BEAN: Tired/worn + the usual-ish “runner”.
20d Office sweetheart full of hurt, essentially (6)
BUREAU: Sweetheart or lover (male) contains [h]UR[t].
23d Show of affection, a little peck is sensual (4)
KISS: A lurker, hidden in the last three words.
A jaunty mix of clues including, of course, a couple of tight double definitions. I enjoyed 1a, 10a, 12a and 7d but, on balance, 26a (plausible surface, fun construction) was my favourite. How did you get on?
Had to look up the first half of the star, but otherwise a nice smooth solve.
Thanks both
Took a while to get going [that seems to be a Tuesday norm nowadays] but not as hard as it first seemed. I enjoyed the all in one at 10a and the v. big flower at 25a. Failed to parse 12a so thanks to ALP for that and the Oasis clip. Thanks to Dada too, of course.
Very enjoyable – thanks to Dada and ALP.
I liked 10a, 26a and 19d but my favourite has to be 11a for the ‘rank lot’.
I took took a while to get going. My favourite was the rank lot in 11a
Thanks to Dada and ALP
A good tougher than the average Tuesday Toughie, which took me a while to get into. I failed with 7D because I had never heard of that star. I finished the south before I was able to break into the north, but got there in the end.
My 2 joint favourites were the very clever 10 and 11A.
Many thanks to ALP and Dada
I found this slightly harder going than I might expect for a Tuesday , but the journey was well worth the effort. From many fun and clever clues, I have to join the bandwagon that is growing for 11a.
Thanks a lot to Dada and ALP.
This setter is always good fun and we are look forward to seeing his name there when we print out. We’ll happily join the team supporting 11a.
Thanks Dada and ALP.
Huntsman and early commenters on the backpager suggested that was a bit harder than usual, so as somebody who sometimes has struggled with Tuesday backpagers, I thought I’d give this Toughie a try instead.
With hindsight that was a mistake. On the first pass I only got 2 answers (20d and 23d). Thank you, ALP, for your hints — I think in the end I used them for more answers than I didn’t! I gave up with the star still empty.
My favourites were 12a and 25a. Thank you, Dada, for the crossword. I aspire to get to the level where I can solve a puzzle like this.
“with hindsight that was a mistake”. Wrong.
You’ve been on this site longer than ALP, Tom wotzit, Tipcat and many other newcomers who always seem to claim success.
Stick with it. Often they are easier than you might think. Although today’s Albanian sea was bonkers.
Oh, I’m not going anywhere! And I’ve got much further with Dada Toughies before. But in this particular case, the puzzle was definitely beyond my current skills, so I probably should’ve attempted the backpager instead.
Another vote for the rank lot as runaway favourite with 1,21&26a other particular likes. Very slow to get started & it seemed a fair bit chewier than many Dada Toughies. Eventually twigged the cocktail in the fodder but had never heard of the first word at 7d & the least said about 2d the better (for bonkers substitute an expletive). So much for a quick solve before much needed shut eye but enjoyed the tussle.
Thanks to D&A – outstanding screenplay recall for 12a. Cash my pick of the tunes.
I enjoyed a lot of this crossword, and was fortunate that three of the long ‘uns, including the sea, fell straightforwardly. However my nemesis was a gaggle of a half-dozen clues in the NW which together took me as long as the rest of the puzzle combined. Many wonderful clues and sparks of genius (including that sea) but I thought 1a very weak / tenuous, and ‘that’ in 17a felt clumsy. Otherwise a great and quite challenging Sunday Dada Toughie. On a Tuesday!
Many thanks to Dada and ALP