Toughie No 3353 by Donnybrook
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****
Slightly chewier than usual, I’d say. At least on the parsing front. And there’s some fairly quirky GK in here. The dollop of classive and an 19th century novel are pretty straightforward, the fabric (argh!) and the bed less so. But the parsing is more than fair for the trickier words and the trickier parsing is softened by more than fair definitions. So it all balances out. 27a is still extraordinary, mind! Fun and smart, as always. All yours.
Across
1a Cast in powerful position reportedly taking break (6,4)
THROWN AWAY: A homophone (reportedly) of a powerful position/seat + a synonym of “taking (a) break”, ie on holiday/abroad.
6a Mirror to both sides of southern recess (4)
APSE: (To) mirror/copy contains (on both sides of) S[outhern].
10a Mischievous duo taking female out for drive (5)
IMPEL: Two (different) mischiefs, minus/taking out the second’s ultimate F[emale].
11a A misfortune being confined to unfashionable bed (9)
PAILLASSE: ‘A’ from the clue + misfortune/ailment, inside/confined to unfashionable/dated. New to me, but the parsing’s happily kind.
12a Saw man chasing second-rate online contributor (7)
BLOGGER: Saw man = a man who might use a saw (ha!) chasing/following second-rate (as marked homework, etc). Horribly appropriate for a Tuesday!
13a West Indian taking Chinese across first island? (7)
HAITIAN: The three-letter Chinese (people) contains/goes across a way of saying “first island” as (3,1). Alternatively, if you can accept that Elizabeth I = Elizabeth the first, you could read it as I (first) + a three-letter Kiwi island but that’s highly unlikely and the question mark definitely suggests the first, far more sensible option.
14a Unduly protracted, like The Sword in the Stone? (4-5-3)
LONG-DRAWN-OUT: A cryptic-ish definition alluding to the time it took to do what to that sword!
18a Doctor here? Let’s try a medical hub (6,6)
HARLEY STREET: Vaguely all-in-one-ish. HERELETSTRYA, doctored.
21a Fruit went up, hiked at first by smallest amount (7)
ROSEHIP: Went up/ascended + H[iked] + the smallest amount (of money).
23a Did coach express disapproval? Nothing revolutionary (7)
TUTORED: (To) disapprove audibly + the usual “nothing” + the usual generic “revolutionary”.
24a Ship’s cargo is pale blue cloth (5-4)
SWANS-DOWN: (Steam)ship loaded with/containing pale/faint + blue/low. I was frankly amazed to biff this correctly (never heard of it) but, again, the parsing’s pretty clear.
25a Here Shanklin is a North American (5)
IOWAN: Where the town of Shanklin is (abbreviated) + ‘A’ from the clue plus the usual “North”.
26a Farewell from animals who don’t bite in Elysium? (4)
EDEN: An expression of farewell (2-2) exits from an eight-letter word for toothless animals. Outrageous!
27a Sea-girt on pole, Phoebus seen from east in city (3,7)
LOS ANGELES: Even more outrageous! This was quite a sweaty parse, I have to admit. And I did have to put my glasses on for that first word after reading that ‘T’ as an ‘L’ which led me a merry mermaid dance. First, cricket’s “on” + one of the two poles is surrounded or “girt” by SEA. Then, add a three-letter alternative name for the sun god Phoebus. Finally, reverse it all (from the east). To be brutally honest, if you’ve got some checkers, it’s probably easier just to bung it in off the back of the suggestive enumeration. I certainly would have done, ordinarily!
Down
1d Terrible boy regularly selected du Maurier novel (6)
TRILBY: TeRrIbLeBoY = a novel by Daphne’s grandfather, hugely popular in, ahem, 1894.
2d Average round? High point making eagle? (6)
RAPTOR: The usual “average” reversed/round + a (rocky) high point.
3d Iron used in wayward drive becomes futile enterprise (4-5,5)
WILD-GOOSE CHASE: (A tailor’s, apparently) iron (5) goes in(side) two rather more straightforward synonyms of “wayward” and “chase”. Another one where the telling enumeration and simple definition are a blessing.
4d Poisoners taking in a pasta sauce for veggie (9)
ASPARAGUS: Poisoners, AKA poisonous snakes (brilliant), contain/take in ‘A’ from the clue plus probably the best-known pasta sauce.
5d Scotsman, in the East End, from Mennonite sect (5)
AMISH: How a Cockney might say a popular male Scots name. Not Ian, for once, which I applaud!
7d Ask one fellow: who rules the waves? (8)
POSEIDON: (to) ask (a question, etc) + the usual “one” + the usual professorial fellow. It seems pointless to ask whether he still rules the waves because, let’s face it, he never really did!
8d Maybe diner eating egg won’t require a long time (8)
ETERNITY: Diner/restaurant, containing a three-letter “egg”, minus the ‘A’.
9d Weary girls went swimming freestyle (3-2,9)
ALL-IN WRESTLING: A synonym for weary + GIRLSWENT, swimming. We had this from Dada recently but this is another, fun way to clue it.
15d Game girl brought up in a mythical land (9)
RURITANIA: (The best) game (2) + a girl’s name + IN, reversed/brought up + ‘A’ from the clue.
16d Go to protect Kamala, ousting a Republican hypocrite? (8)
PHARISEE: The usual “(to) go” (3) contains/protects Kamala’s surname, minus a/one of its two R[epublicans].
17d City where small outlaw tucks into cheese (8)
BRISBANE: S[mall] + (to) outlaw inside the usual-ish (French) cheese.
19d Digger may use this phone number to ring bank (6)
TROWEL: A (shortened) phone/phone number rings/surrounds bank/tier.
20d Handsome youth said no unfortunately (6)
ADONIS: SAIDNO, unfortunately.
22d Puff for short time (5)
PROMO: The three-letter “for” plus the two-letter “short time”.
Clever word choice, some sharp construction and just three anagrams. Impressive. I especially liked 26a, 5d, 8d and 22d but 12a (“saw man” is simply delightful) wins for me. How did you get on?
Another great crossword from Donnybrook. I had all the required knowledge so finished in a time I’d associate with a Wednesday backpager.
The clues I really liked were 10a 12a and the one that caught my eye on my way downstairs from the printer, 25a
Many thanks to Donnybrook and ALP
It took me a while to get going with a few words I hadn’t heard of like 11A and 24A. Like you ALP, I thought 9D was the same anagram as you, but then realised only “girls went” was the anagram and “all in” came from Weary.
Lots to like including 10A, 18A and 17D with podium going to 12A.
Many thanks to ALP and Donnybrook.
Ah, good spot, ta. That was sloppy of me re 9d. It must have been getting late by that point! Apologies.
Not at all like a Wednesday backpager for me, but then I’m not blessed with CS’s talents!
Didn’t have a clue about the du Maurier novel so had to appeal to Mr G about that, elsewhere I had the required GK it just took a while to come to the surface……..
Ticks here went to 10a plus 2,4&7d.
Thanks to Donnybrook and to ALP for the review – loved the jogging geese! By the way, I think your hint for 9d might need a slight adjustment.
Definitely on the chewier side for a Tuesday Toughie; I enjoyed it a lot. Thanks to Donnybrook and ALP.
My ticks went to 12a, 25a, 15d and 22d.
I’m definitely in Jane’s camp in thinking this is not much like a Wednesday back pager. CS I applaud your talents! In fact it might have taken me till next Wednesday to parse my bung in at 27a. So thanks to you ALP for doing the hard work. I’d not heard of the 24a cloth, nor was I familiar with the alternative spelling used here for the 11a bed, so thanks again to ALP for helping me get though to a finish. Thanks of course too to Donnybrook for the fun and improving my education.
Crikey on the chewier side – you ain’t kidding Gazza. Still at least our reviewer gave it a 2.5* difficulty rating. Thoroughly enjoyed the battle albeit right on the limits of my ability so pleased to complete without a letter reveal. A few of the unknowns were pegged from the wordplay (11&24a + 1&22d) then confirmed with Mr G. Conversely some of the more obvious answers were a sod to figure out the why. I couldn’t figure out the goose bit & despite knowing it had something to do with edentate the farewell bit went over my head. As a golfer I obviously liked the 2d surface & loved 16d but my podium would be Sue’s selections.
Thanks to Donny & to ALP – enjoyed the music clips as per.
I rather thought 2d would appeal – even wrote ‘Huntsman’ alongside it!
Surprisingly I managed this unaided and without too much head scratching. I admit to not parsing 27a, which could have been nothing else. Like Sue I had the required GK which was fortunate, and Tipcat’s hint got me started. No particular favourite but my pick of the bunch is 11a, which reminded me of camping with guides as a teenager, 7d and 16d. Thanks to Donnybrook for the pleasure and ALP for the wonderfully comprehensive blog.
What a bluddy wonderful puzzle! Thank you so much Donny for the Doh! moments, penny-drops and outright laughs in this absolutely cracking Toughie. Most of it would not have been out of place on a Friday backpager at most for me, but some of the left-field clueing more than justified its Toughie slot.
I’m more used to the alternative spelling of the bed, which caused problems with the Mennonite; could not get a Liverpool(?) football manager out of my mind for the North American, so while the answer came with the three checkers, the parsing was a real Doh! Had not heard of the tailor’s iron.
But ticks galore, so will limit the Honours Board to 26a, 27a, 4d, 16d & 17d, with COTD 7d.
Many thanks to Donny and also to ALP
This was definitely a toughie for me. Needed the hints to parse 21a, 26a, 27a and 3d and not heard of 11a or 24a. Most of the pleasure of this was actually completing it although I did enjoy the challenge. Favourite was 15d. Thanks to Donnybrook and ALP.
25a was our last in as the geography was new to us, but easily checked.
A thoroughly enjoyable solve with so many ticks we won’t even try to pick a favourite.
Thanks Donnybrook and ALP.
Thanks ALP and all. I thought I was in today for some reason, so didn’t look in on Tues.
Cheers
Donny
Huge thanks for popping in. I thought you’d forgotten us! An absolute cracker, ta lots.