Toughie No 3413 by Musaeus
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
Not too taxing today despite the double unches (Musaeus seems to like ‘em) some quirky definitions and a handful of peculiar surfaces – 14a, etc. And I still think 9a’s apostrophe is in the wrong place! Still, ‘twas very jolly. All yours.
Across
1a Swanky hospital blocked bonus (4)
PLUS: Swanky/luxurious with the usual “hospital” blocked/deleted.
3a St Charlie, blushing, gets common approval (6,4)
STREET CRED: “St” in full (not saint) + the NATO “Charlie” + blushing (colour).
8a Information, easy to digest, provided by steward? (2-6)
IN-FLIGHT: The abbreviation of “information” + easy to digest/not stodgy. The whole clue could, I suppose, be underlined as an all-in-one.
9a Neighbour’s grass on hedges close to Arab horse (6)
DOBBIN: The (surely this should read Neighbours’ not Neighbour’s?) Australian (apparently, but very common here too) for (to) grass on or “shop” expressed as (3,2) hedges/contains [Ara]B.
10a Exhausted swinging iron? Holiday must follow (6)
EFFETE: The symbol for “iron” reversed/swinging + holiday/festival.
11a Turn away from a fib in parties regularly (8)
ALIENATE: ‘A’ + the usual “fib” + iNpArTiEs.
13a Fortify me in retreat before scene of Harold’s downfall (8)
EMBATTLE: ‘ME’ reversed + where Harold was killed in 1066. Not that it was called this at the time!
14a New note beside vacuous memsahib’s plant in colloquial parlance (6)
ENTOMB: NOTE, new, + M[emsahi]B. A rather odd surface, no?
16a Cut back on item of seafood – constant for husband (6)
SCRIMP: Prawn-like seafood (I have no idea what the actual difference is, I just know there is one!) with the usual “constant” replacing the usual “husband”.
19a Is parent behind tea? It’s a positive attraction (8)
CHARISMA: ‘IS’+ (a) parent after (in its longer form) the usual “tea”.
21a Little Maureen and girls getting treacle (8)
MOLASSES: Short form of Maureen + the usual-ish girls (not gals).
22a Stumble, therefore returning for exam at Cambridge (6)
TRIPOS: Stumble/fall + the two-letter “therefore” reversed. Cambridge seems to have odd words for pretty much everything – exams, terms, etc. Very odd if you ask me.
23a See what fake diamond is (6)
NOTICE: How one might describe a fake diamond as (3,3)
24a I am following public beginning to earn beyond what’s usual (8)
OVERTIME: I’M after public/open, + E[arn].
25a Surface repairs? Small man needs loads (4,6)
SKIN GRAFTS: The usual “small” + (chess) man + loads/legions. I’ve never used or heard the last synonym (for this specific definition) in the plural (as opposed to the common singular) but it’s perfectly possible.
26a Do bear losing second-class (4)
ROOK: (to) bear/stand, losing its initial “second-class”, as per homework, etc.
Down
1d Delectably absurd post-kiss frog dropping name not so frequently (9)
PRICELESS: What a fairytale frog turns into after a kiss, minus its N[ame] + not so frequently/so much.
2d Check laminates, fix one if broken (4-11)
SELF-EXAMINATION: LAMINATESFIXONE, broken.
3d Section of FBI agents in place (7)
SEGMENT: Feds (1-3) inside (to) place/fix.
4d You’d like to escape this career involving a trustee (3,4)
RAT RACE: (to) career involves/contains ‘A’ + the abbreviation for “trustee”.
5d In an upright way, perhaps, border on discerning (7)
ENDWISE: Border/rim + discerning/sage.
6d Dresser, say, with care for senior member (7,8)
CABINET MINISTER: What a dresser, as furniture, is an example of + (to) care/tend.
7d Daughter, outstanding around noon bop (5)
DANCE: The usual “daughter” + outstanding/super round/containing the usual “noon”.
12d Among the French you start to manage corporation (3)
TUM: The French for “you” + M[anage].
15d After bread, gulp sauce (5,4)
BRASS NECK: One of the usual “bread”s (not tin, not dough) + gulp/down.
17d Bill is unmoved and left out (3)
COO: Unmoved/unruffled, minus its L[eft]. Why, when these words are synonymous, are they so often said as a pair? I’ve certainly seen this answer defined (by Robyn, I think) before as “Bill’s partner”. Just tautology or there is some vague distinction?
18d French chemist is finished driving up French road (7)
PASTEUR: Finished/over + French road, reversed. There must be a raft of famous French chemists but this is the only one I know!
19d Rejected from clubs like Hooray Henrietta? (4-3)
CAST-OFF: The usual “clubs” + the usual “like” + (a) Hooray.
20d Perhaps she‘s cast in play without reservation in Hollywood? (7)
ACTRESS: CAST, in play, without/outside the US (Hollywood) short form of “reservation”. Another clue in which all the words could be (but aren’t, by me!) underlined as the surface wordplay certainly adds considerably to the definition. The use of “cast” immediately after 19d seems a slight shame.
21d Museum hosting popular bar (5)
MINUS: The abbreviation for “museum” hosts/contains the usual “popular”.
Refreshingly, there are just three (two of them partials) anagrams. Some reliance on obvious abbreviations, mind. MUS for museum, RES for reservation, INF for information, etc. Brisk fun though. I liked the gently convincing surfaces of 10a and 15d but, despite that apostrophe and the pretty odd surface (grass hedges, sure, but grass on hedges?) I particularly enjoyed 9a’s wordplay. How did you get on?
Friendly even for a Tuesday. Can’t remember when I last heard anyone call a horse 9a
Thanks to Musaeus and ALP
25A rafts is a common abbreviation for lots of. (Listed in Collins)
Welcome to the blog, John.
What did you think of the puzzle?
I made such a mess of this but now, having read the review, can’t say that I’m particularly annoyed with myself, just obviously on a totally different wavelength to our setter. Of the ones I did solve, my stand-out favourite was 1d.
Thanks and apologies to Musaeus and thanks to ALP for being on his wavelength when it came to the review!
An enoyable puzzle with some nice touches – thanks to Musaeus and ALP.
I suppose that someone appearing in Neighbours could be called a Neighbour.
My ticks went 8a, 6d and 15d with my favourite being 1d.
Much ‘arder for me than thee (& Sue NTS). Got to within 1 of a finish & not for first time fell foul of a gee-gee. Didn’t actually need to read the hint as the penny immediately dropped when I read Sue’s comment. Will also ‘fess up to a check via the puzzle app facility midway through when temporarily stalled. Top 3 for me in no particular order were 16&25a + 15d.
Thanks to Musaeus for an enjoyable puzzle & to ALP – haven’t read the review properly yet but have listened to the music. Love the NY&CH cover & have already checked a few other tunes out – perhaps I should have watched SOA if only for the music. Love a bit of the Stereo MCs & memories past + the jazz & Keys.
Forgot about 1d which needs to unseat one of the others.
SOA’s soundtrack is probably my favourite of all time. Good enough to keep even Tarantino on his toes..
Thank you ALP and Musaeus. A very enjoyable puzzle with not too much 24a required to solve. 22a was new to me but gettable from the clue and confirmed by a quick online search. **/***
Good Morning Everyone, an enjoyable crossword but could someone explain the parsing to 9a, I as I have searched Bradfords and Chambers crossword dictionary and I am still baffled. thanks to Musaeus and Alp
(To) dob in = (Aust/NZ, as might be said on the Oz show) to inform on or grass up/on, thus DOB IN hedges/contains B
thank you
Not too taxing, which makes a change on Tuesdays for me. I agree about the apostrophe in 9a but also agree it’s a great clue, as is the equally cheeky 1d [post-kiss frog! what’s not to like?]
Thanks to Musaeus and ALP for the blog and music – a pretty eclectic mix this time. Loved the Floyd cover .
I love The BP. You should check this cover out too.
Way better than the Floyd cover in my view. Big ✅
OK, that’s the next few evenings sorted. Many thanks.
I always assumed that bill and *** (17d) referred to birds courtship behaviour, with ‘bill’ describing the rubbing of beaks, whilst *** describing the vocal part of the process. On that basis I would not have considered them synonymous.
Yes, I’ve always thought there had to be some distinction. But, according to Chambers, they are (apart from bill’s additional “caress” meaning) largely synonymous..
Bill = to caress or talk fondly
Coo = to speak fondly
I found this a steady solve but not as easy as some of you. I seemed to work in an anticlockwise direction, from SW to NW. I needed ALP’s parsing to confirm 3 of my answers and I had RANK for class at 26A.
Joint favourites were 25A and 1D.
Many thanks to ALP and Musaeus.
Interesting that there’s a lot of love out there for 1d. The post-kiss frog is, of course, clever and fun. But I did find the surface rather bonkers. I initially thought “frog” could be a slur for a Frenchman which would sort of make sense. But it would have to be capped up to be that. It’s also derogatory. Not that I have ever objected to be called a Rosbif! But setters do tend to avoid any potential upset if possible. Quite rightly.
Naah – forget frog = French. It’s just bonkers and bonkers can be good – remember Petitjean [of blessed memory]?
I actually completed this marginally faster than I did the regular cryptic, but then I made a meal of the latter. I particularly liked the slightly groanworthy 23a. Thanks to Musaeus and to ALP for a bit of help with parsing and some excellent and interesting/new to me music.
I was another one apparently not on wavelength as I made hard work of parts of this. I had to check 22a as I hadn’t heard of it, but fairly clued. Favourite was 25a. Thanks Musaeus and ALP.
Late on the toughie page as usual for me because I still have to be careful which Toughies to tackle ( the easier ones */** only) and because it takes me a while to complete them.
Not this one though. Enjoyed it.. Thanks ALP for marking my card and for the review