Sunday Toughie No 153
by Robyn
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
Ooh a Robyn – he was given a Sunday off (for good behaviour perhaps) but after a Beamish interlude he is back with a delightful Sunday Toughie
We have 16a and 14d clues and I have hinted half. I am sure some tricky ones remain unhinted so I will try and provide an extra nudge if you get stuck
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 Impressive holiday dwelling stops letting water in (10)
An adjective for the property of letting water or other fluids through goes around a temporary holiday dwelling.
9a Arch spanning across ruin (10)
Arch as in being a bit of a wag or mischievous, it spans a synonym of across.
13a Student, one with skill – this is outstanding (9)
Letters associated with student drivers, that Romans use for one and a synonym of skill. To have an outstanding debt.
15a Rich and famous person espousing helplessness (8)
Rich and creamy perhaps and the roster that the most famous aspire to be on. They bemoan their helplessness.
18a In France, you call for wartime hero (6)
An informal or singular you in French and to call on a phone.
During his lifetime he wasn’t regarded as a hero…
23a Stops entertaining old composition in church, examining instrument (9)
Lego™ Time – a synonym of stops around an abbreviation of old, then an abbreviation of a church around an abbreviated musical composition. A somewhat “invasive” instrument.
27a Debauchee, coming in stoned, whirled around (10)
Fruit that has been relieved of its stones contains a profligate, rake, debauched man.
28a
29a Drink ale? The rum’s in a poor state (4-2-4)
To drink ale perhaps? In one gulp, then an anagram (rum) of ale the.
Down
1d Case of alibi put in place – it holds water (4)
An abbreviation contains case letters.
Jack and Jill went up the hill…
3d Leaders in ecology need possible head, giving reason to go green? (12)
The leaders of ecology need, a synonym of possible and an Old English headland give us the reason for one of the deadly sins.
4d Strong, like an incomplete sedan? (8)
A sedan or similar vehicle without some vital parts. Sedan is an American (and New Zealand!) term for what we refer to as a saloon. Robyn has chosen this US term as they spell the vital parts missing as we spell the strong adjective.
8d Fuss is not stopping (8-2)
A double definition.
11d One undergoing action in court following awful protest (6,6)
A synonym of awful followed by an abbreviation of court and to protest.
14d Not on legendary boat boarded by millions? Wrong (3,3,4)
The opposite of on and the legendary boat that Noah built contains the abbreviation of millions.
22d Charm of Americans drinking vermouth cocktail (6)
An indicated Americanism! of charm and an informal noun for vermouth, that relates to its country of origin, lead us to a Cuban rum cocktail.
Compiler
Robyn
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I didn’t hint 6a but here is the musical link it suggests…
That’s All Folks…
Just been catching up on puzzles after a break for Christmas and family festivities. No time for crosswords with 5 grandchildren running round the place (well, one just beginning to crawl)…
This Robyn Toughie was tackled over breakfast today without any cause for indigestion. The smattering of 4-letter clues were not at all pesky and provided a decent framework to get started. The rest then fell into place before a second mug of coffee was required. Lots of great clues, as per usual, with most of my favourites found in the Across list: 1, 13, 15, 20 & (last one in) 27. To complete the double-podium places I went for 3d.
My thanks to Robyn and to SJB.
And may I take this opportunity to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!
I think that Jane would agree that the 4dheadland of visiting grandchildren can be enjoyable but wearing.
I too liked 27a as it gave an opportunity to show a bit of Billy Elliot – a show I went to see when I was at an earlier Birthday Bash.
I was glad to find a song to suggest the philosopher wasn’t quite such a boozer as Monty Python suggested
I may never forgive our setter for the bird that wasn’t and I’m also none too keen on the adding of ‘extra bits’ to words in order to make them fit the enumeration as in 3d. Having said that, I still found plenty to enjoy in this one with my top three being 1&13a plus 14d.
Thanks to Robyn and to SJB for the hints.
I was surprised 3d was a word.
I half expected 3d to be hyphenated but find it in the BRB without.
I am just pleased to see Robyn back in The Sunday Toughie as I really enjoy the way he “shifts gear” between Toughies and Mondays
Found three quarters of this reasonably straightforward for a Robyn Toughie but hit the wall in the NW. Even after I’d eventually figured out the holiday accommodation 3&4d + 9a proved extremely reluctant penny drops. I hadn’t realised that they spell the car part differently over the pond until trying to make sense of 4d & was scrambling around down the malady blind alley at 3d before twigging the correct green context.
As ever highly enjoyable with ticks aplenty but the stoned debauchee was my standout fav.
Thanks to Robyn & to John – lovely to see Van on Jools; great song & two cracking solos
Even though I left the philosopher unhinted, I was so pleased at finding an alternative to the obvious Monty Python song, that the song remained when the hint was dropped.
Another most enjoyable puzzle from Robyn – thanks to the maestro and SJB.
The clues I liked best were 15a, 3d and 4d.
I am pleased that 4d had got a like, I thought Sedan was an inspired way to emphasise two nations divided by a common language.
If the 2Kiwi’s see this I would be interested to see if it is an NZ term too
Gave up about 3 hours ago, with 2 left. Back from the pub now, and I’d expected the grey matter to have unravelled 11d and 24a after a suitable gap and a “couple” of pints. 24a has to be my cotd, but I had to throw in the towel with 11d. Had several words that fitted (one correct), but can’t really get it even now. Thanks danword….
And more thanks to Sloop and Robyn
I have stopped using danword, it is often wrong and is just clickbait to sell adverts to users.
My hint for 11d could/should have emphasised the grammatical nature. 11d is;
“A word or group of words denoting that upon which the action of a transitive verb is directed”
but English lessons are almost 50 years in my past now and I get refreshers from crosswords on a regular basis
I claim the right to buy you a pint at the Birthday Bash 😉🍺
Strangely I was better at foreign grammar and grammatical terms (French, German and to a lesser extent Russian) than English.
I’d be delighted to take you up on your offer at the birthday bash; where and when?
Btw, I agree with you re Danword, and I dislike reverting to them. The important thing is never to click on owt!
25th Jan, The Bridge House in Little Venice
I’ll be posting another blog with more details soon
Mama Bee and I will be staying at the Novotel in Paddington Friday and Saturday but most of the blog events will be at the Bridge House on the Saturday
https://www.thebridgehouselittlevenice.co.uk/#
Struggled to the end but still cannot parse 24a, so will have to take a punt.
I’ve chucked the paper out and can’t find the puzzle online . If you can let me know the clue I’ll try and help!
First day back at work, so I missed your plea for help.
I claim is the definition, the airline is our abbreviated national carrier and add the extreme letters of goes
A somewhat childish claim to the right over a sibling perhaps
Brilliant thanks for that. Obvious – duh!