Toughie No 3469 by Dada
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty */** – Enjoyment ***
Dada’s back again with a largely straightforward puzzle – just a couple of scratchy synonyms (17a) and one leap of faith (20a) kept me on my toes. Possibly a couple of pockets that were marginally trickier than Sunday, but not by very much. There’s a rather wintry flavour at one point, which did seem slightly odd, albeit jolly. We’ve only just stubbed out Easter for goodness sake! All yours.
Across
1a Believe dog to be delicate creature (11)
SWALLOWTAIL: Verbs for believe and dog.
9a Critical accident in cinema upset crime writer (6,8)
MICKEY SPILLANE: Critical/vital + (minor) accident inside CINEMA, upset.
11a Old PM back in the office (4)
EDEN: [th]E + office/study.
12a Element reverend originally introduced to blessing (5)
BORON: No, not that Reverend but just R[everend] inside blessing/gift.
13a Novel does for poetry (4)
ODES: DOES, novel.
16a Bond: he is back, a gentleman outwardly? (8)
ADHESION: ‘HE’ from the clue plus ‘IS’, reversed, inside ‘A’ + gentleman/fellow (outwardly).
17a Groove – or tap? (6)
RUNNER: Definition (summat through which anything slides – I guess!) plus a definition by example, ie what a (working) tap can be. The second “definition” is clearer, to me, than the first. “Groove” has been used once before like this (in the FT) but I remain slightly flummoxed and spent longer than I would wish with my nose stuck in my Chambers. The answer can also, apparently, be a slice/groove across a piece of Scottish beef or a channel/groove into which metal is poured into a mould. Take your pick! I still don’t think my desk drawers slide on grooves, but a carpenter might say otherwise! Makes for a fun dance surface, anyroad.
19a Joint finally loosened up worked (6)
TOILED: [join]T + loosened up/lubricated.
20a Sense of cake’s lightness, might one say, around a home? (8)
BUNGALOW: How one might (just about) describe a (sticky?) cake’s light(ness), as (3,4), round ‘A’ from the clue.
22a Stuff body of sea bird (4)
KITE: Stuff/gear + [s]E[a].
23a Second jack questionable (5)
JIFFY: J[ack] + questionable/dubious.
24a Fleece wrapped around right ear (4)
CORN: Fleece/trick contains the usual “right”.
27a Victor sang, Gaels played flute (9,5)
CHAMPAGNE GLASS: Victor/winner + SANGGAELS, played.
28a Experimenting with a cold pet, try old reptile (11)
PTERODACTYL: ACOLDPETTRY, experimented with.
Down
2d Old dreamer’s single winter blanket? (5,9)
WHITE CHRISTMAS: Double definition, the first referring to the old crooner who dreamed of such.
3d Large pond, bit of snow skimmed off? (4)
LAKE: A piece of (falling) snow, minus its first letter.
4d Absurd disagreement beginning in Yorkshire, increasingly interminable in English county (8)
OXYMORON: Y[orkshire] + increasingly/further, minus the last letter (interminable), all inside a (shortened) English county.
5d Father with prize lifted up, big daddy! (3,3)
TOP DOG: Father (in the sky) + prize (lottery, etc), reversed/lifted up.
6d Regularly find clue is not doing a lot (4)
IDLE: [f]I[n]D[c]L[u]E.
7d Royal advisor in red, certainly blue backfiring (8,6)
CARDINAL WOLSEY: Red/scarlet, plus certainly/sure and blue/depressed, reversed/backfiring.
8d Drunk resisted new drink (7,4)
DESSERT WINE: RESISTEDNEW, drunk.
10d Fine, give up attempt on goal (7,4)
PENALTY KICK: Fine/punishment + (to) give up/quit.
14d Property equally prepared (5)
ASSET: equally/just + prepared/ready, split (2,3).
15d Cart full of insects? (5)
BUGGY: Double definition.
18d Game tied, foul in baseball area (8)
OUTFIELD: game/play TIEDFOUL.
21d Treble, say – scorcher? (6)
SINGER: What a treble is an example of + summat that scorches, perhaps.
25d Scrap material covering shoe, once (4)
SPAT: Double definition.
26d Coalition basically liberal or conservative, first of all (4)
BLOC: Acrostic.
Five anagrams, one acrostic and a smattering of double definitions made for a fairly fun and brisk solve. I especially enjoyed 9a, 27a and 10d. How did you get on?
I enjoyed this. There were a couple that required some thinking outside the box – it reminded me somewhat of Gnomethang/Petitjean and the “slightly mad hat”….
Many thanks to Dada and to ALP.
A bit quirky but very enjoyable – thanks to Dada and ALP.
My last answer was 17a and I couldn’t justify the ‘groove’ bit but I see that ALP has come up with a couple of possibilities.
The clues I liked best were 1a, 2d, 7d and 15d.
I agree with ALP about 20a being a bit iffy but I’m OK with the runner in 17a.
Always happy to see Dada’s name on a toughie and this one did not disappoint.
Very enjoyable, I thought the best three clues were 9a, 7d and today’s winner 4d.
Thanks Dada and ALP.
Very enjoyable. Twitchy eyebrow at 17a & 20a, but otherwise such good fun. Did like in particular 1a, 28a, 4d & 7d.
Many thanks to Dada and ALP
Challenging but good fun and very pleased to have solved it.
I liked the long clues best.
Thank you Dada and ALP.
The same doubts as others but managed to stumble over the line. It took a while even by my own tardy standards. Favourite was 2a. Thanks to Dada and ALP.
A bit of a grind but all fair clues. I likes the longer ones today best. I think the groove is fair enough for wheels or a lath to run along.
Thanks to all
Very enjoyable, and kept me entertained all day! Favourite was 15D.
A late pre lights out solve & after probably a few to many scoops but managed it nevertheless. Good fun & very enjoyable too. Liked all of the long ‘uns but Bing was my fav.
Thanks to D&A