Toughie No 3433 by Hudson
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***/****
Well, this was a * breeze until I hit 16d’s “plan to avoid bankruptcy” and 20d’s “Joe”. Still, very Tuesday: a jolly, pikestaff-plain theme and typically smart clueing that felt pleasingly free. The extra star is just for those two clues alone! All yours.
Across
1a Dispensation of vitamin D, A or K that’s served over the counter (5,7)
VODKA MARTINI: VITAMINDAORK, dispensed.
9a Country crooner not much cop, as some say (9)
SINGAPORE: Homophone (as some say) of “crooner not much cop” expressed as two words.
10a Chuck away small fish (5)
SLING: The usual “small” + fish (or heather!).
11a Racecourse: next bets here totally unlimited! (6)
EXETER: Remove the outer letters (totally unlimited) from the second, third and fourth words.
12a Orally assert rights to mineral deposit in mine (8)
CLAYMORE: Homophone (orally) of “assert rights to” + the usual “mineral deposit”.
13a Secret Formula R can escape bottles (6)
ARCANE: Lurker, hidden in “Formula … escape”.
15a Oxygen-depleted tobacco users to receive a hundred pounds (8)
SMACKERS: The word for tobacco users, minus its O[xygen] contains/receives A + C.
18a Egghead supporter at home by TV set (8)
BRAINBOX: The usual “supporter” and “at home” + (the) TV set.
19a Pleased mum’s sent back golf journal which isn’t for her (3,3)
LAD MAG: Synonyms for “pleased” and mum/mother, with the G[olf] from the first word moved to the end/sent back.
21a Tipsy wife I left in the gloaming (8)
TWILIGHT: Tipsy/or drunk with W[ife] + I + L[eft] inserted/in(side).
23a Retired Russian fighter allowed a drink (6)
GIMLET: The usual Russian fighter (plane) reversed/retired + “allowed”.
26a Possible remedy for student that is Iranian, exhausted? (3-2)
LIE-IN: The usual “student” + the abbreviation for “that is” + I[rania]N. I never quite know how many words to underline in clues like this. It’s essentially an all-in-one as the “student” and “exhausted” are pretty crucial, but the Iranian is somewhat of a red herring!
27a Its associated project, ironically, was to raze tall buildings (9)
MANHATTAN: WWII atomic bomb project named after a US borough known … for its own tall buildings.
28a Tools second gang beginning to dredge waterways (12)
SCREWDRIVERS: The usual “second” + gang (boat, say) + D[redge] + waterways (not canals).
Down
1d Beware! CSI: Vegas coming up features various body parts (7)
VISCERA: Reverse lurker, hidden in the first three words.
2d Daughter, Italian hothead, upset poet (5)
DANTE: The usual “daughter” + Sicily’s (in)famous “hothead” (smoker, blower, etc) reversed.
3d Greek king soon to engage plucky male (9)
AGAMEMNON: “Soon” (poetic, etc) contains/engages plucky/up for it + the usual “male”.
4d Shrub falls over on a regular basis (4)
ALOE: Alternate (on a regular basis) letters in “falls over”.
5d Catholic mission serving a hot meal (3,5)
THE ALAMO: AHOTMEAL, served.
6d Horrid wine I downed to see in New Year (5)
NASTY: Crosswords’ favourite wine has its ‘I’ removed/downed and goes inside (ie see(n) in) the abbreviated New Year.
7d Carved mullion fitted with base that sits on the floor (8)
LINOLEUM: MULLION, carved, fitted with/contains the symbol for “base” (maths).
8d Fairytale character therefore turned on discontented sisters (6)
OGRESS: Therefore/thus, reversed, plus S[ister]S.
14d Article edited to include northern musician (8)
CLARINET: ARTICLE (edited) includes/contains the usual “northern”.
16d Daily plan to avoid bankruptcy starts to resemble, increasingly, a racket (9)
CHARIVARI: The usual (4) daily/cleaner + the abbreviation for “individual voluntary agreement” (thanks, Chambers!) + R~ I~.
17d Such warmth! Irish singer embraces husband Mike after leaving Kelvin (8)
BONHOMIE: (The most?) famous Irish (band) singer embraces/contains the usual “husband” + ‘MIKE’, minus the symbol for “kelvin”.
18d Courage Ale kept here? (6)
BOTTLE: Definition + definition by example.
20d Gypsies from the south very supportive of Joe Brown (7)
GITANOS: A synonym of “very” reversed (from the south) supporting/after what “Joe” can represent in the US (not coffee!) and a word for “brown”.
22d Right to ignore deliberately sarcastic columns like this? (5)
IONIC: The usual “right” ignores/leaves a word that can mean (deliberately) sarcastic.
24d Turner might use this hotel when visiting after hours (5)
LATHE: The usual “hotel” visits/is inserted into after hours/tardy.
25d Girl, English, rising 16 (4)
ENID: The usual “English” + a synonym of 16d, reversed.
We’ve got four anagrams, a brace of homophones and two lurkers, plus a couple of unusual all-in-ones. And there’s an easy-to-spot theme to boot. 1a was a fun gimme to kick off, 17d tickled me and I can only admire 16d & 20d, but 6d’s surface won the day for me. How did you get on?
I rarely complete a toughie without considerable help but this one was right up my street. I had to resort to electronic help for 16d as I didn’t know the debt resolution phrase. I did manage to retrieve 20d from the depths of my memory. No overall favourite, but plaudits for the lego clues at 19a and 28a. Thanks to Hudson and ALP.
This was great fun and had some terrific clues scattered throughout the grid, with 27a and 16d my two favourites this afternoon. Top entertainment all round.
My thanks to Hudson for a fine challenge and to ALP.
Apart from the two clues you mention (which I was able to solve with a bit of electronic help, although I couldn’t parse the latter) this was one of the few Toughies I have completed without resorting to the blog. Hence I class it as enjoyable! (I think your explanation of 16D actually has an incorrect expansion of the 3 letter abbreviation – Google will soon give you the right one.)
You’re spot on, of course. Fat fingers my end. An “involuntary” voluntary agreement would indeed be odd! Duly amended. Ta lots.
What a treat to get a Hudson on a Tuesday (with a theme as well). Thanks to him and ALP.
The only clue which held me up was 12a – I knew the answer only as a sword, not a mine.
My ticks included 12a, 15a, 27a and 20d.
And a scotch to boot! Yes indeed – a rare treat to see Hudson on a Tuesday.
A lovely friendly crossword with lots to enjoy as one expects from this setter. My ticks matched those of Gazza
Only one cause for disappointment – I was rather hoping Hudson would appear tomorrow
I always love a Hudson Toughie and this was a particularly good one.
I failed to parse the 5th, 6th & 7th letters of 16d. Having seen ALP’s explanation, I wonder why I didn’t think to check Google for that acronym.
15a was my favourite of many ticked clues.
Many thanks to Hudson and ALP.
We’ve come to expect an enjoyable challenge from Hudson and this was no exception. I hadn’t heard of 16D but the wordplay helped me. When the grid is full of so many good clues, it’s difficult to pick a favourite, but I liked 17 and 18D..
Many thanks to ALP for the blog and to Hudson for the enjoyment.
A remarkably boozy afternoon with our setter, mostly enjoyable tipples although I’ll pass on the scotch, thank you!
Couple of unknowns which I needed to investigate but that’s fair enough when it comes to a Toughie. Top clues for me were 1&21a plus 7d – the tipsy wife making it into pole position.
Thanks to Hudson and to ALP for the review – good of you to fit a bit of Gershwin in there.
Loved it. Didn’t know 5d was a Catholic mission nor 12a an anti-personnel mine so both of them required post entry investigation as obviously did the same two that caused our reviewer a head scratch. As someone who with Toughies tends to work backwards from the definition identification it was nice to solve ‘em from the wordplay. Too many goodies to pick a fav.
Thanks to Hudson for another corker & to ALP for clips & music choices – even after everything I still can’t help but love Manhattan & am a huge fan of Otis Taylor – love his album Hey Joe Opus Red Meat
The same problem areas as others apart from those pretty straightforward and enjoyable. Hard to pick a favourite but I’ll go with 17d. Thanks to Hudson and ALP.
Sorry to be miserable but I don’t think this was among his best. Breezed thro it until the SE corner then struggled to parse 16d and even to solve 19a [spent far too long trying to justify “rag mag”]. Didn’t like “serving” as an anag indicator but on reflection I suppose you chuck it in the air and hit it. Awards to 19a for being tricky and 20d for the Joe Brown.
Thanks Hudson and ALP. The Goodman track reminds us just how great Gene Krupa was.
The SE got me too. I did work out 16d, but 19a and 20d turned an otherwise pleasantly straightforward solve into a DNF nightmare! I liked 8a and 11a.
Thanks ALP for the explanations, and Hudson for beating me!