Toughie 3405 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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Toughie 3405

by ALP  

Toughie No 3405 by Dada
Hints and tips by ALP

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***/****

Dada’s certainly putting in a shift this week, with two on Sunday and another today. I cautiously dare to think we might all agree on difficulty as eight anagrams did, surely, make this pretty gentle. And there’s nowt wrong with gentle on a Tuesday, especially in January. All yours.

Across

1a Like a miniskirt? Replace fleece! (5-6)
SHORT-CHANGE: Like a miniskirt (as in the length) + replace/switch. Fun surface.

10a With blades lifted, head shaved (5)
OARED: Lifted/rose, minus the first letter.

11a A shake came in, or hot drink (9)
AMERICANO: ‘A’ + CAMEINOR, shake(n). This clip is a bit of a cheat but it’s pretty much the only non-sweary snippet from an album that I love despite the fact that true Jim Morrison fans seem to hate it with a passion!

12a Moving art on into special unit, a city in California (5,4)
SANTA ROSA: ARTON, moving, inside “special (forces) unit” + ‘A’ from the clue. I did like “special unit” but it’s a slightly odd surface, no?

13a Show-off taking on backhander on the backhand! (5)
POSER: The usual “on” + backhander/bribe, reversed (on the backhand).

14a Medical solution and thin bandages ending on arm (6)
REMEDY: Thin (of voice, say) bandages/contains [ar]M.

16a Large part of inheritance upset our son (8)
GENEROUS: Part of (biological) inheritance + OUR, upset, and the usual “son”.

18a Pure soul? Bet a criminal! (8)
ABSOLUTE: SOULBETA, criminal.

20a Revolutionary for whom capitalism originally a fit? Not entirely! (6)
CASTRO: C[apitalism] + ‘A’ from the clue + fit/tantrum, minus its last letter.

23a Conference aimed at I don’t know what (5)
FORUM: Aimed at/in aid of + one of the usual hesitations (“I don’t know what”).

24a Shifted role acted out (9)
RELOCATED: ROLEACTED, out.

26a Observer features diary written by an advertiser (9)
SLOGANEER: Observer/spectator features/contains diary/journal + ‘AN’ from the clue.

27a Dramatist dressed in someone’s bikini, viewed from behind (5)
IBSEN: Reverse lurker, hidden in the fourth and fifth words.

28a Dreariest plays with no purpose (6,5)
RAISON D’ETRE: DREARIEST+NO, playing. I can but applaud this surface following the previous answer. My sentiments entirely!

Down

2d Winger playing deeper than that lady (5)
HERON: Playing/operating after (“deeper than” in a down) the usual “that lady”.

3d Dismiss evidently embarrassed eccentric (3-4)
RED-CARD: Evidently or visibly embarrassed + eccentric/wag.

4d Children’s writer beginning on childish material (6)
CRAYON: C[hildish] + a kind of material/fabric.

5d Queen once incarcerated by savage where all wild – mean lot? (8)
AVERAGES: Our former queen inside SAVAGE, wild. Does the “where all” (as opposed to just “wild savage”, say) really add much to the surface? Debatable, I’d say. Fun definition, mind.

6d See good, simple cryptic (7)
GLIMPSE: The usual “good” + SIMPLE, cryptic.

7d Total shambles, stuff bowled early in the day? (4,9)
DOG’S BREAKFAST: What might be put in a bowl (usually on the floor) first thing.

8d Document left behind I don’t know (8)
PASSPORT: The nautical “left” behind/after Mastermind’s “I don’t know”.

9d Similar writer (13)
CORRESPONDENT: Double definition.

15d Swell food served with oyster? (8)
MUSHROOM: (to) swell, as a verb = a foodstuff (with or without the specific “oyster”).

17d Eyes catching king in the altogether (8)
STARKERS: A rather poetic word for “eyes” contains/catches one of our usual “king”s.

19d Classical character embodying a modern dance (7)
LAMBADA: Classical/Greek character/letter embodies/contains ‘A’ from the clue.

21d Store in line with busy place (7)
ARCHIVE: Line/curve + busy place (of industry).

22d Brief affair burying gold and old coin (6)
FLORIN: Affair/romance, minus its last letter, buries/contains one of the usual “gold”s.

25d Outburst of tears, and suspect calmer? (5)
TASER: Outburst of TEARS. Nice surface/definition.

I did think this was a tad anagram heavy, hence a very brisk solve, but that did make for make for some entertaining surfaces (25d etc). Three of the (ever so slightly) trickier clues caught my fancy – 13a, 16a and 26a. How did you get on?

14 comments on “Toughie 3405”

  1. Another standard crossword from Dada (anagrams and old friends) with nothing to distinguish it from the Sunday cryptic as it was definitely on the floughie side

    Thanks to him and ALP

  2. Yep agree it’s just the solitary * for difficulty & in my view much easier than his Sunday Toughie but good fun to solve. Absolutely fine with a floughie here though agree it was anagram heavy. 7d my standout fav for the cricket allusion in the surface & also enjoyed 1,13,16&26a.
    Thanks to D&A – young Bob’s getting on a bit now but he still sings ‘em well & I love the Strong Persuader album & play it often.

  3. An enjoyable easy start to the Toughie week and I agree with your rating ALP. I too felt 5D only needed “wild savage, “where all” being superfluous. BTW ALP, 22D’s brief affair would be minus the last letter, not the first, wouldn’t it?
    Out of the many I enjoyed I’ll pick 16,23, and 26A and 8 15 and 17D with favourite 7D.
    Many thanks as always to ALP for the blog and Dada for the enjoyment.

    1. Oops, thanks for spotting that now-corrected typo. I thought I’d amended that in the edit, but obviously not. Everyone needs a decent sub!

  4. Gentle and entertaining – thanks to Dada and ALP.
    I particularly liked the witty definitions ‘stuff bowled early in the day’ (7d) and ‘suspect calmer’ (25d) as well as 1a, 20a and 3d.

  5. There were a few that made me scratch my head so not entirely straightforward for me, but good fun. Favourite was 3d. Thanks to Dada and ALP.

  6. Looks like I’m the only one who found this a bit tricky. The anagrams came as blessed relief as I struggled with the well-disguised definitions and wordplay. Or is it just that I have a problem with Tuesdays? Whatever, there were some nice clues and I vote for 16a [lovely smooth surface] 23a [very clever and how true – certainly applies to most of the conferences I went to] 7d [as cryptic defs go this was near the top] and 17d [I just couldn’t find his word for “eyes”].
    Thanks to Dada and ALP.

  7. Our setter employing the soft pedal which was much appreciated as I have had a friend visiting today which didn’t leave as much time as usual for crosswords. Clues I particularly enjoyed included 1&25a plus 7,8&25d.

    Thanks to Dada and to ALP for the review and the 19d clip. Question if I may – does your wife share your musical tastes or do you employ earphones at home?

  9. A pleasant stroll through anagram-rich countryside with the suspect calmer the highlight for me. In 5d the “where all” is needed to give a plural antecedent to “mean lot”, otherwise it doesn’t read well. Thanks to setter and blogger alike.

  10. I chose to do this puzzle on Wednesday over the cryptic puzzle offered on the back page for Wednesday. I do NOT get on with that setter and his clueing, so I avoid when I can. Dada offers a much better puzzle and presentation IMHO. This was no exception.

    2.5*/4* for me

    Favourites 1a, 14a, 27a, 7d, 17d & 22d — with co-winners 7d & 22d
    Wonder how many remember 22d from all those years ago? Likely a few on this blog but I am sure there are some that don’t remember pre-decimalization

    Thanks to Dada & ALP for blog/hints

  11. There are some days when I can solve a Silvanus puzzle and some days I can’t….today was the latter! So I was very glad to have kept this in reserve and a fine puzzle it was too. 1a and 7d made me chuckle.
    Thanks to Dada and ALP.

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