Toughie No 3373 by Donnybrook
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Ever so gentle (will we all agree for once, I wonder?!) and highly enjoyable. A little literature, recreational drugs, a dollop of Latin and some cricket. Right up my street – well, apart from the drugs, obviously. All yours.
Across
1a Yard in a favela, say – refuge for debtors (6)
ASYLUM: Y[ard] inside ‘A’ from the clue + what a “favela” is (say) an example of.
5a English used in passage with three lines in correspondence (8)
PARALLEL: The usual “English” inserted into/used in a four-letter passage (of writing) and three of the usual “line(s)”.
10a Signal stream working (6)
BECKON: A (northern) word for “stream” plus the usual “working”.
11a Iron Lady back to join Little Women’s cause (8)
FEMINISM: The usual “iron” and then the lady’s who’s neither a Mrs or a Miss, reversed (back) after/joining little/tiny.
12a Old-hat Bond somehow less than sensational (5-3-7)
BLOOD-AND-THUNDER: OLDHATBOND somehow + less than/below.
16a Pin inset with silver for rural tenant? (8)
COTTAGER: Pin or wedge containing/inset with the usual “silver”.
18a Live on the periphery? (6)
RESIDE: The usual “on” plus (out)side.
20a Wine there is missing – litres pumped in? (6)
CLARET: Latin for “there is missing” and hence the word for a proofreading mark that indicates an omission, with the usual “litres” inserted/pumped in.
21a Barbarians around very French woman after game (8)
HUNTRESS: Barbarians/enemies containing/around the French for “very”. Lovely definition.
22a Lower form runs northern school (9,6)
SECONDARY MODERN: Lower/lesser + form/style + the usual “runs” and “northern”.
27a Forming concepts in hide at Iona (8)
IDEATION: Lurker, hidden in the last three words.
28a Film maker turned up with hawk-headed god (6)
CAMERA: Turned up/arrived + the old Egyptian sun god who had the head of a falcon and the body of a human.
29a Unbaptised male defective in head (8)
NAMELESS: MALE, defective, inside the usual-ish “head”. Subtle definition.
30a Wealth from positions taken on Roman coin (6)
ASSETS: Positions/places after/taken on an old (copper) Roman coin (2).
Down
2d Reportedly snatch fleece for abrasive stripper? (5,4)
STEEL WOOL: Homophone of snatch/pinch + (sheep’s) fleece.
3d Body of water to leak out with rain, accommodating duck (4,7)
LAKE ONTARIO: TOLEAKRAIN, out, with the usual “duck” inserted/accommodated.
4d Food for mind in article supporting German writer (5)
MANNA: One of the usual articles supports/follows (Thomas) one of the more readable German writers.
6d Lively beer reservist drained (5)
ALERT: The usual “beer” + r[eservis]t (drained).
7d I’m going to pass on gold rings (5)
ADIEU: To pass on/die with one of the usual “gold(s)” ringing/circling.
8d Boy stopped by Irish landowner (5)
LAIRD: The boy that’s not a son stopped by/contains the abbreviation for Irish.
9d and13d Legendary cycle given rewrite tortured Mahler (2,5,1’6)
LE MORTE D’ARTHUR: TORTUREDMAHLER, given rewrite. Note the enumeration. Mustafa will be pleased!
13d See 9d
14d Horse dispenses with one grey wader (5)
HERON: Horse (as drug) minus/dispensing with the usual “one”.
15d Astrologer savvy about game over before noon (11)
NOSTRADAMUS: Savvy/common sense about/contains (pub) game that’s reversed/over + the two-letter “before noon”.
17d Gallon swallowed by daughter confined to school (5)
GATED: The abbreviation for “gallon” + swallowed/consumed + the usual “daughter”.
19d Trouble restarted for British soldier (6,3)
DESERT RAT: Trouble RESTARTED.
20d Sea snake Iranian initially placed in US loo (7)
CASPIAN: A snake and I[ranian] inside a word for “loo”. I see (my) Chambers doesn’t actually Americanise this but it always seems pretty American to me!
23d Best middle-distance runner circling base (5)
CREAM: Middle-distance runner (Steve) circles/contains the mathematical “base”.
24d New and deadly female missed in old province (5)
NATAL: The abbreviation for “new” + a synonym of deadly, missing its initial F[emale].
25d First thirteen letters put with small, small things (5)
ATOMS: How to describe the first half of the alphabet (1,2,1) + S[mall]. An oldie but a goodie.
26d Lord’s club stocking MDMA: a place attracting many (5)
MECCA: Lord’s cricket club (need I say more?) contains/stocks the MDMA drug, + ‘A’ from the clue.
Five anagrams, one lurker, one homophone and a wealth of abbreviations made for a super-brisk solve. Difficult to nail down a shortlist as I enjoyed so much of this but I especially liked 11a, 21a and 29a. However, 15d’s Lego takes it. How did you get on?
PS Jolly well done to Duncan over in RC. That is quite the score! Bravo.
Yup, cannot disagree. Great fun and no more than an early-week back pager if one had the GK. Left the 9d/13d chestnut until the end knowing that with enough checkers the answer would fall, especially with D’, and parsed it post-solve.
So the good: once again the puzzle includes the apostrophe, proving beyond a doubt that the DT can do it, so no setter let alone the editing team has any excuse in future not to enumerate a clue correctly.
& the continually bluddy appalling: once again the editing team / IT team have Failed. Why on earth do they find it so difficult to ensure a puzzle prints on a single sheet of paper? I ended up with 26d printed on my Times crossword. It’s not blasted rocket science (ok, rocket engineering) to make sure it all fits on one page!
Many thanks to Donny & ALP. Many “could do betters” to the DT.
I agree that this was a very gentle Toughie, more of a Wednesday backpager really
I also agree with Mustafa G about the fact that Telegraph Towers lulled us in to a false sense of security so we forget t check how many pages the print will be and end up with a single clue on a separate piece of paper
Thanks to Donnybrook and ALP. No thanks to the DT
I complete this fun puzzle in less time than the backpager, and that was pretty swift. I just hope that those who don’t normally have a crack at the Toughies give this one a go, as it was uber user-friendly. 15d was my top clue.
Thanks to Donny and ALP.
Yep – about right for a Tuesday. I’ll give it 1* for the LHS but 2 for the right and good fun overall. My top picks are 7d [I’m going] 15d [nice construction] and 20d, which seemed quite topical and made me smile.
Thanks to DB for the puzzle and ALP for the blog and tunes. I’m only voting for the oldies today – Willie and Koko and Jeff and Imogen [with Tal on the bass I see]. Do please listen to the whole Koko taylor album ALP, it’s a belter.
I certainly will.
I agree this was user friendly but I had to look up favela, 27a, the roman coin and the German writer. Needed the hints to parse 20a, 14d and 24d. So I didn’t find this easy by any stretch of the imagination, but I enjoyed the challenge. 15d was also my favourite. Thanks to Donnybrook ams ALP.
And
Great fun – thanks to Donnybrook and ALP.
Add me to those who forgot to check the number of pages before pressing the ‘print’ button.
The clues I liked best were 11a, 2d, 7d and 26d.
Couple of bits of GK that I needed to check post-solve but certainly an ideal puzzle for the Tuesday Toughie slot. Tops for me were 10,11&22a.
Thanks to Donnybrook and to ALP for the review.
Re 29a, “unbaptised” and “nameless” are not synonymous. It is perfectly possible to have a name without having been baptised.
Absolutely – that grated with me, too.
Yep that was a floughie one alright – can’t recall finishing a Donny puzzle in this slot so quickly. Fully agree with the 4* enjoyment rating too. Wasn’t familiar with the Malory work so that had to wait for the full complement of checkers (correct enumeration helped too) but otherwise a problem free solve. Ticks for me at 10&11a + 2,15&26d.
Thanks to Donny & to ALP – loved the Willie Dixon/KokoTaylor clip & need to check out a bit more of both The Steel Woods & SKM. Back Door Slam do a terrific Outside Woman Blues & among a host of great Rollin&Tumblin covers I really like Van’s take (The Prophet Speaks album) & one by Buddy Guy&Junior Wells – worth checking out if you don’t know ‘em.
Yep, I love the B&J version but, oddly, I didn’t know Van’s take. I’ll definitely have a listen, ta. Couldn’t agree more re Back Door Slam’s OW. That’s the best cover I know. I’m fond of Blind Joe’s original, too, but it sounds just a little tired now!
Cheers. Just listened to the Back Door Slam version of OWB and have to agree. I think Cream are coasting at the RAH gig and it’s great to hear a bunch of youngsters with everything to prove. So much music: so little time.
1*/4* …….
liked 26D “Lord’s club stocking MDMA: a place attracting many (5)”