Sunday Toughie No 155
by proXimal
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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proXimal returns with a Spoonerism to start and some compound anagrams. The Spoonerism wasn’t a problem as it was just a transposition of initial letters rather than sounds, but I spent rather a long time mulling over what and where to extract the compound anagrams. I was in a Nabakovian rabbit hole over a simple girls name before sense prevailed.
We have 14a and 14d clues and I have hinted half. If a few tricky ones have hit the cutting room floor I may be able to give a nudge if asked.
Here we go, Folks…
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 return with the full review blog just after the closing date. 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
6a Thievish war was protracted according to Spooner (5-8)
Synonyms of war and protracted were treated by swapping initials.
9a Difficult task taking middle of the road shakily, avoiding flooded ground (4,4)
Two anagram indicators (shakily and ground) as flooded is removed in anagram form from middle of the road leaving the fodder for the anagram of the difficult task.
11a Woman‘s name spoken aloud (6)
I spent way too long reminiscing about Vladimir Nabakov and the light of his life
“light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. ******: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth.”
It is just a homophone (spoken aloud) of an alias, nickname or real name. one of the “24a buds” that met in Central Perk.
14a Like French one and the German being apart (7)
A synonym of like, followed by a French one and a German the.
20a Bird mother on a large embankment (5,3)
A from the clue, a large water bird and a mother, usually of cattle, horses, etc. I liked this as I have a theodolite from The Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company that was used to survey this large embankment in Egypt.
25a Go down on record and confess (8)
A recording format and to go down in a bout of fisticuffs perhaps.
26a 31 days to leave centre in American city (6)
One of the months that has 31 days leaves its central letters and adds in from the clue.
Down
1d Extremely irritating fool, one subject to firing (8)
The extreme letters of irritating, a fool, a Roman one and a synonym of subject to.
4d Central city areas previously with arcades at intervals (6)
I originally had this as an &lit, but I see some wordplay too. A synonym of previously (as in it happened some time…) and alternate letters (at intervals) of arcades. A candidate for THE LIST™ but these plural places of assembly or trading in Ancient Greece did feature arcades and do ring a bell.
6d The Parisian checks second item for sport (8,5)
One of the French terms a Parisian would use for the, checks you make on ballot papers perhaps and a synonym of a second as a brief moment of time.
7d Vanish having consumed money abroad in the end (13)
having consumed and the standard monetary unit of several Arab Republics in a synonym of the end. To vanish like “passengers” on Star Trek transporters.
17d Red final demand, also ignored, is shredded (8)
An anagram (is shredded) of final demand but ignore a synonym of also too.
18d Pressure increase on busy person cut short – that’s welcoming (6,2)
An abbreviation of pressure and a synonym of increase on a busy worker insect that is cut short.
22d Cloned animal circles run in amusing way (6)
The first successfully cloned animal containing R for run.
Compiler
proXimal
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As is usual for me with proXimal Toughies (well any Toughies really) a good few answers went in well in advance of figuring out the why – 9&23a + 7d to name but three. You weren’t alone with Nabokov John & even after pegging the correct name I was slow to twig the homophone. My clear favourite was the opening Spoonerism which for no reason in particular prompted my thoughts to stray to The War of Jenkins’ Ear. Very much enjoyed the puzzle (much more so the other one) which was pleasingly free of obscurity – I happily recalled the pluralisation of the meeting areas & reckon it’s just the first 3 words as the def.
Thanks to proXimal & to John & especially for Ron Moody – sheer choreographed perfection
23a sent me to a certain ballet dancer who should have secured her “wrapper” before it wrapped around the back wheels of her car. I extended the definition of 4d as the central city areas do usually have arcades.
I enjoyed this – thanks to proXimal and SJB.
11a was my last answer (the checkers weren’t helpful) and I too considered the Nabakov connection as well as another possibilty before homing in on the right answer (even though the homophone doesn’t work for me).
My ticks went to 6a, 8a, 3d, 7d and 22d.
Invariably struggle to remember that this setter uses compound anagrams, really should write myself a reminder note!
Unusually, the Spoonerism got my clue of the day award – took me a while to realise exactly what was the definition but the revelation when I twigged was well worth the effort. Other big ticks went to 11a – another that took a while – and 7d which simply appealed.
Thanks to proXimal for the Sunday challenge and to SJB for the hints – I can appreciate the organist’s talent but have to say that the piece she was playing didn’t particularly ‘float my boat’.
After a few weeks off proXimal puzzles for Dada and Beam, I too found his compounds difficult to see.
I agree, Anna has performed better than that Fantasia on Bach but I was in a bit of a deep “rabbit hole” and have two blogs to watch over today.
Some very strange contrasts in our family’s ‘entertainments’ today – Mrs SB has contented herself in watching televised FA Cup matches this afternoon, whilst I ‘buried’ myself in Dada and proXimal crossword puzzles. Meanwhile, younger son and the two granddaughters were off east to Ipswich to see their team do battle with Bristol Rovers. I think we all are happy with our choices, with the way things either have or are turning out this afternoon. The Dada Proximal combination has kept me more than happy since the footie began, with the Sunday Cryptic my favourite of the pair. The Nabakov connection also went through my mind, but I dismissed it soon enough after realising that I had never heard of anyone else with that name, but I did go to primary school with one named in the solution and my parsing made more sense too. All in all a super solve all built from and around my answer to 13d and ending strangely enough with 10a. Too many excellent clues/answers to name them all, but suffice it to say that 26a floated my boat today as did 22d. Thanks to Proximal and to SJB. Very much enjoyed.
I prepared the blog whilst watching a bit of “my team” squeaking a win against much lower opposition (Leeds Utd 1 Harrogate Town 0) and did wonder if the FA 13d was relevant. Together with 10a a football theme came to mind;
Oooops. I’ve recycled our papers now, so I can’t comment on those two clues – you clearly spotted something that I hadn’t noticed, SJB :-) :-)
Today’s crossword is tomorrow’s fish and chips wrapper – or it would have been if elf & safety had meant that newspapers can no longer be recycled in that way
Yes, how times have changed. Years ago our local chippie would always be grateful for a bale of old newspapers, but not any more. Now they usually all go with any cardboard and all other waste paper to be collected every fortnight by our bin men.
Thanks for helping me parse 9a. I was stuck on 26a
and your hint has enabled me to finally complete the puzzle. Thanks SJB and P.
Happy to help – putting the words to lights ∆ is what we are all about
Don’t understand the reason for 12a answer …. Any hints please?
Loathe is the definition, a decrepit craft (usually an aircraft but anything decrepit enough can be referred to in this way) preceded by (on) a particular river in the SW
Clicked on this toughie by mistake instead of usual Sunday cryptic, didn’t realise until I’d completed it !
I’d say it was quite gentle for a toughie and really enjoyed it only sticking points were 7d and 36 across.
Thanks to proximal and sloop
* difficulty on the Toughie scale for the puzzle. ***** difficulty for understanding the references to Nabakov! I’ve clearly led a sheltered life…
An enjoyable puzzle from proXimal with which to wind down on Sunday evening. The precise 6a Spoonerism received an immediate tick, and 11a, 23a, 3d, 17d & 22d soon followed suit. 23a was my last one in, but fell into place once I had entered the checker provided by the artfully misleading 17d.
Thank you to proXimal, and my thanks also to SJB.
Steady solve.