Sunday Toughie No 144
by Zandio
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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Many thanks to Zandio who sent me an advance copy of the puzzle as I will be/am boozing with crossword peeps at the S&B in York. Fortunately, this puzzle was not as “Gross” as its number suggests and apart from not knowing enough about RFK Jr it was a not-too-tuff tuffie
Along with the Sunday Toughie, Zandio sent the GK puzzle that appears next to the toughie and for those interested in all things Sloggers & Betters I believe there is a bit of a theme to be discovered
We have 14a and 14d clues today and as has become my practice I have hinted just under half, A bonus nudge may be available if required but bear in mind I may be feeling a little hungover after the aforementioned boozing
Here we go…
As it is a Prize puzzle I can only hint at a few and hope that will give you the checkers and inspiration to go further. I’ll be back just after the closing date with the full blog. Don’t forget to follow BD’s instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!
I hope I don’t have to redact any comments but I am new at this and don’t want to rock the boat. If in doubt, I’ll rub it out! I think that sentence is a bit redundant. You have all been so helpful in sorting out prior parsing failures, and I am sure I will need similar help again.
Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also” Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious. Don’t forget the Mine of useful information that Big Dave and his son Richard so meticulously prepared for us.
A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions. Some hints follow: Remember the site rules and play nicely
Across
1a Sweetheart cycling and old man reeling come together (7)
A sweetheart with whom you are romantically linked cycles one letter, then an informal old man is reversed
9a Two pieces of fabric fencing in the step down (5,2,3,5)
Two pieces of fabric, one used to toss over a sofa and the other used for drying go around two little words in the clue. How your corner would indicate you wish to step down from a boxing bout
11a Wishes to entertain seamen with special number for dances (9)
A synonym of wishes entertains military seamen and a special number that is the ratio between the circumference and diameter of a circle
12a Judges, penned by prophet, on reflection keeps repeating (9)
A visionary prophet is reversed and pens a synonym of judges
18a Cool coverage pitched Soho event as oddly overlooked (3,6)
Overlook odd letters of four words in the clue
22a Crunch time for Wimbledon ace? (5,2,2,6)
An ace at Wimbledon is a serve that the opposition can’t touch, it is also a crunch time, when your undies have crept so far up that they can no longer be retrieved gracefully – Looking at you Rafa (not)
24a Rookie golfer’s start interrupted by bad weather (7)
The peg where golfers start around some bad weather
Down
1d Unconscious, ducks squashed by drive in the park? (7)
Unconscious and an abbreviation of drive contains letters that would represent scores of ducks
3d Partly finances a crew Olympians set up with no capital (5-4)
When in doubt look for a lurker… One of the best examples of a reverse lurker is hidden here
5d Guru RFK Jr’s message goes over head of ex-PM (9)
I have been trying to avoid American politics as it is all a bit depressing at the moment, I bunged this in from the definition and our most recent ex-PM’s forename, but didn’t know how RFK Jr gave me the first 4 letters. Friends old and new at the S&B in York helped. There is an acronym associated with Donald Trump’s ambition to restore American greatness, RFK Jr has endorsed this and added his own ambition to improve the well-being of Americans by reducing chemical additives in food
BD didn’t want politics to be a feature of the blog, so I won’t add my opinions here. The acronym of RFK Jr’s campaign to restore American “well-being” provides the first 4 letters of the solution that will be known to Beatles fans
7d Organ on pier where Ed airs his compositions? (9,6)
A synonym of organ goes on a synonym of pier for the place where an Editor may air his compositions
13d With Barbie’s boy engaged, proof’s going about she’s this (6,3)
An anagram of PROOF’S about Barbie’s boyfriend a synonym of to be engaged to marry perhaps
19d Popular overhead railway in Philly, maybe board here? (5)
A synonym of popular and a type of raised railway that is in Philadelphia and other US cities
20d This could be beach volleyball wear (5)
A double definition to finish
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Two songs for Philly! but I love them both
That’s All Folks…
Thank you for the comments on the smaller GK crossword, the prize one. There is a theme. I am sorry I could not attend this year.
I hope to visit York next year.
Thanks to you too, I know JH appreciated it especially when The Peter Firth film came to mind
I have handed out a few copies of your puzzle to S&B attendees waiting for trains home. It was very well received.
I hope to see you in York next year
I have a new strategy with this setter’s Toughies – I hazard a guess as to what the answers could just about be at a push but don’t write any of them in until the very last minute. Worked well today, might try it again next time! Top two for me were 24a & 7d.
Thanks to Zandio and to SJB (hic!) for the hints.
I confess to bunging in 5d not parsed but help from the S&B got me over the line
Some charming surfaces and the usual quirk. Not too tough – fun and playful, as ever. 22a’s beautifully neat, 24a’s surface is ace and 2d’s sweet. Cracking lurkers too. Re 13d, is she though?! Many thanks to Zandio and Sloop. Super bit of Bruce. Enjoy York!
Barbie’s BF is notoriously poorly equipped in the wedding tackle dept so I doubt they will be able to consummate any engagement
Haha. Stop it!!
As SJB intimated, Zandio was not being too hard on us today. The only query I had was the ‘RFK Jr’ reference, and I’d have preferred to remain blissfully ignorant of what my research uncovered…
22a was a clear favourite for me, with 11a and 2d runners up. I also thought 18a and 3d were masterpieces of their kind.
My thanks to Zandio and SJB.
Me too re RFK Jr, I have been trying to ignore American politics for some time, I soon erased the clip of RFK Jr and DT for the second bit of the Beatles
I applaud your choice…
Hello, compiler here. Thanks very much for taking the time to solve, hint and discuss.
Thanks, SJB, for the always interesting musical selection, though I must admit the blog sent me off to listen to Aqua’s little piece of genius.
Nice to see Cephas dropping in — hello, Peter!
Talking of Telegraph setters’ pseudonyms, I was pleased to get in a reference to ‘Samuel’ in this puzzle, following ‘Lancaster’ in last week’s Friday back-pager. Hello to Chris, our esteemed Puzzles Editor, if he reads this.
Thanks again for taking a look on a Sunday.
All the best.
Thank you again for allowing my much-abused brain cells an early start on this. There is a segment on Greatest Hits Radio that would put Aqua in the Cheese rather than Crackers playlist but I rather think it might get the popular vote. Quite how Barbie could be 13d when the BF has nothing more than a Made in China stamp in his underpants beats me!
Very enjoyable indeed – thanks to Zandio and SJB.
I too needed to check out what RFK Jr’s message to the US public was.
Ticks from me for 5a, 2d and 3d but clue of the day is the excellent 22a.
I agree with your ticks and COTD but as almost all clues merit at least a tick or two I wonder what Kath would think
Reminds me of Churchill’s purported agreement to allow the London rubber company to supply the Russians with outrageouly large condoms. Stamp them medium size! Apologies to the ladies!
Should be reply to sjb at comment 5 above
No worries – there is an option to move it but I don’t know how to make it do it
That anecdote certainly sounds very Churchillian
Comfortably the pick of today’s 2 prize puzzles for me. Very enjoyable indeed. Had to look up the both the slogan & the overhead railway reference to fully understand the whys (5&19d) but otherwise pleasingly straightforward. Ticks at 5,9,11,22&24a + 2&3d. I asked 3 groups of golfers for the answer to 24a today & not one of twelve came up with the correct answer.
Thanks to Zandio & John – as you’ve 2 Philly songs can I add another Come Together (In The Morning) one
Feel Free😉Long time since I listened to that Thanks
You must have had a load of fair-weather golfers out today
I have been trying to work on an anagram of Here Comes the Sun and managed to come up with Mourns the Cheese but how to work it into a crossword clue is proving elusive
Hallo. It’s the Late Daisygirl. I’ve just finished it – huge sense of satisfaction- thank you so much Zandio. I am sure you and your fellow setters are keeping my brain oiled. Wonderful lurker at 14d, 20d was my last one in. 10a favourite amongst a wide field of runners. Thanks to SJB –
When did you sneak up behind me for that 20d photo?! I await my next pen. 🤭
In those 20d knickers there is nowhere to keep one mythical nevermind your fourth
Came back to this after a week as I only managed to complete about a quarter of it the first time round. Funny how you can stare at clues for ages and not make head nor tail of them, and then come back after a break and they fall into place easily. Must be the subconscious working in the background. I eventually managed to complete all except for the first part of 5D. The reference to RFK Jr was lost on me and I only had a vague notion of the Beatles connection (bit before my time).
Anyway, a cracking puzzle. Thanks to Zandio and SJB.
I too was puzzled by the RFK Jr connection and took help from others to see but I am old enough to remember the Beatles and their Guru so that was a bung in