Toughie No 3417 by Dada
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
A tad quirky, I thought, but crammed with Dada’s usual trademarks – a bombardment of double definitions and anagrams, plus a wee smidgeon of cheek and GK, hence the extra half-star. Nowt spooky, mind. All yours.
Across
8a Mineral in seaweed rejected (4)
IRON: Seaweed (sushi, etc) reversed/rejected.
9a Brilliant books (3)
LIT: Double definition. Brilliant as in illuminated and/or the books (in brief) that one reads for an English degree, even though mine certainly didn’t include 13a.
10a Far from bold colour (6)
YELLOW: Another double. Far from bold = not brave. Coldplay? No chance!
11a Numbers ultimately odds – these? (6)
SEVENS: [Number]S + (type of) odds = (these) odd numbers.
12a A trio unfortunately locked in jail, European (8)
CROATIAN: ATRIO, unfortunately, inside jail/prison.
13a Play bingo after suffering (10,5)
HEARTBREAK HOUSE: Bingo (call) after (emotional) suffering = an old play that premiered in 1920.
15a Knotted tie also cut off (7)
ISOLATE: TIEALSO, knotted.
17a Belter, teaspoon on boiled egg, possibly? (7)
CRACKER: How one might describe a teaspoon used to get into such an egg. Personally, I slice the top off with a knife, but each to their own.
20a Love and personality represented in book of letters (10,5)
EPISTOLARY NOVEL: LOVEPERSONALITY, represented.
23a Meal is on after whipping up kind of pudding (8)
SEMOLINA: MEALISON, whipped up.
25a Something to say on smut (6)
REMARK: The usual crosswordy “on” plus smut/stain.
26a Gem in a newly closed book (6)
ENIGMA: GEMINA, newly.
27a Three without one … leads to this? (3)
TWO: An acrostic, all-in-one sum. Simple but neat.
28a Flower from Cork, say, cut (4)
IRIS: How one might describe someone/summat from Cork, minus the final letter/cut.
Down
1d Stop in unoccupied zone when cleared (6)
FREEZE: Unoccupied/available + Z[on]E.
2d Key playing triangle (8)
INTEGRAL: TRIANGLE, playing.
3d Not a mile away from Havana? (5,3,2,5)
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR: The actual definition is confined within the first four words but the last two (plus question mark) are essential to make it (vaguely) cryptic. What is Havana most famous for? Apart from old motors and terrible food, obviously! Sweet, but Django’s peerless “Almost tragic – on Tube, Sol Campbell’s going round the wrong way” remains the one to beat.
4d Small heart tag (7)
STICKER: The usual “small” plus slang for “heart”.
5d Using one of two bent objects, come what may (2,4,2,2,5)
BY HOOK OR BY CROOK: A double definition, just about. But the second (come what may/via any means necessary) is the main meaning. Huntsman, name the film!
6d Basket’s opening, draw out of it (6)
BLOTTO: B[asket] + draw (for a jackpot, etc).
7d Oxygenated liquid measure, a drink (4)
COLA: Put the symbol for oxygen (oxygenated) inside one hundredth of a litre + ‘A’.
14d Spot nose evidently has! (3)
SEE: A fun lurker, hidden in the second and third words.
16d Vital liquid in drain (3)
SAP: Another double: noun and/or verb.
18d Food made without stuffing, popular takeaway dish (4,4)
CHOW MEIN: Slang for food + M[ad]E + the usual “popular”. I suspect the first word could be veering towards being same-sidey but that never bothers me much, and (with vaguely complicated Chinese/pidgin English/US origins) it’s debatable. I could say more but it would rapidly turn into a very dull 9a essay and you’d all slide into coma!
19d As is jargon-busting prior to a card game (7)
CANASTA: ‘AS’ busting/inside jargon/argot + ‘A’.
21d Scrounge cake (6)
SPONGE: Another double.
22d Bug for example’s eaten raw, I gathered (6)
EARWIG: RAWI, gathered, inside/eaten by the usual “for example”.
24d Bird bitten by woodpecker never! (4)
ERNE: A second lurker, hidden in the last two words.
Largely gentle-ish, with a raft of doubles, seven anagrams and a couple of lurkers. But there were a couple of scratchers: 19d’s synonym, 7d’s wordplay and 13a’s century-old play. 17a was fun despite its slightly odd surface, 20a was a lovely spot and 3d tickled me. How did you get on?
Floughie even for a Tuesday.
Thanks to ALP and Dada
Not hard when the four long clues succumbed.
Re 8a, when I studied metallurgy 50+ years ago, iron was a metal extracted from iron ore, a mineral.
thanks to ALP and Dada
(Although if forced to choose between “animal, vegetable or mineral …” Ah, well!
A very enjoyable opener to the Toughie week, with no brain damage suffered. Of the many likes I’ll pick 5,6 and 19D with 17A as favourite.
Many thanks to ALP and Dada.
Other than getting in a right old tangle with the fodder at 20a (convinced myself Love = O + And) before the bleedin’ obvious occurred this was a reasonably straightforward solve – still found it a notch up on his SPPs though easier than his Graun puzzles. I didn’t know GBS wrote the play but otherwise pleasingly free of obscurity. The 2 gentle long ‘uns at 3&5d my picks.
Thanks to Dada & ALP – with you with knife & soft boiled egg/ better soldier access (great tv show btw). Good music choices/enjoyed reading about Vashti. Had a feeling it was a QT film but cheated – actually found a clip of where it featured in the Kubrick rip-off, sorry homage plus this
Fairly straightforward though I didn’t know the 8a seaweed or the 13a play so needed to check both.
My ticks went to 26a, 7d and 19d.
Thanks to Dada and ALP.
Have to admit that I hadn’t heard of the play featured in 13a and the very thought of a 20a made me yawn but some reasonable humour to be found elsewhere. Apologies to our reviewer but I thought today’s 3d was far superior to the one conjured up by Django and my other podium places went to 17a and 19d.
Thanks to Dada for a very approachable Tuesday Toughie and to ALP for the review.
After seeing the grid I thought today’s offering may have been trickier than it proved to be. Fairly lightweight for a toughie but good fun nonetheless. Pinned my COTD medal on 1d.
Thanks Dada and ALP.
At first I thought “oh no not another Tuesday Toughie I can’t get a grip on” but I reached 10a and all went swimmingly. Enjoyed 6d’s “out of it” and the jargon busting at 19d -[btw folks it’s usually either canasta or euchre].
Mixed bag of music – always a joy to hear Marley and the Thompsons ensemble and I agree that seasick Steve is always preferable to Coldplay but I confess I didn’t see the point of Vashti Bunyan in the 60s either. Still exploring The Bad Plus from last week.
Thanks Dada and ALP.
Didn’t know the play, the book of letters or the seaweed which I had to check but apart from those, fairly straightforward. The two long down clues helped no end. Favourite was LOI 17a. Thanks to Dada and ALP.
Similar to the back pager I thought.. 6d LOI, reminded me of my father having something to say in the late 60s when I was delivered home too late….!
Thanks all