Toughie No 3470 by Prime
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment *****
And the award for the most words on one sheet of paper goes to … Leo Tolstoy*… sorry, I mean Prime!
Some excellent, if more than a little wordy clues, but fortunately I was warned that 28a would appear on a second piece of paper before I pressed ‘print’. My favourite clue was the clever ‘Ursa Minor’ in 14d
*A reference to long clues as being like War and Peace!
Please let us know what you thought
Across
1a Are charming setters about to interrupt setter’s mother? (7)
BEWITCH A reversal (about) of the way in which crossword setters might refer to themselves collectively inserted into (to interrupt) a mother of a setter or other breed of dog
5a Colourer seemed upset (4,3)
FELT TIP Seemed to be and a verb meaning to upset or overturn
9a Opposite of Connect 4, breaking without number to successfully connect? (5,10)
SPLIT INFINITIVE The opposite of connect and the Roman numeral for four, the latter ‘breaking’ without number, end or limit
10a Powers of two times three recalled after answer (4)
AXIS A reversal (recalled) of the result of two times three goes after the abbreviation for Answer
11a Organised workers breaching barrier, in fact (5)
DATUM An abbreviated organised group of workers inserted into (breaching) a barrier restricting water
12a Go off advanced timetable (4)
ROTA A verb meaning to go off or decay and the abbreviation for Advanced
15a Ending of Open Sesame jumbled together (2,5)
EN MASSE An anagram (jumbled) of the ‘ending’ of opeN and SESAME
16a Bad development, say, sure to follow base metal’s origin (7)
EYESORE A word of agreement (sure) and the mineral that is the origin of metal follow the letter that is the base of the natural system of logarithms
17a Man in Black getting B-side to Paperback Writer chorus (7)
REFRAIN A man on a football pitch who wears black to be able to be distinguished from the players and the B-side to the Beatles record Paperback Writer
19a Youth picked up joints, something acquired from the butcher (7)
KIDNEYS A informal name for a young person and a homophone (picked up) of some bodily joints
21a Remark when going across King Angus’s home? (4)
BYRE A remark when going is put ‘across’ the Latin abbreviation for King – the Scottish origins of this cowhouse being indicated by it being the home of an (Aberdeen) Angus (yes, I do know the cow in the picture isn’t an Aberdeen Angus!)
22a Sheepish individual covering drip the wrong way (5)
OVINE Insert a reversed (the wrong way) intravenous drip into an adjective meaning individual
23a Thick-skinned type‘s scary once regularly ignored (4)
CROC The even (regularly ignored) letters of sCaRy OnCe
26a Weaker current account returns protected by some cash managed for Mexican? (7,8)
CENTRAL AMERICAN The longest Across clue took a long time to see how it worked – a small coin (cash) and a synonym for managed ‘protect’ a synonym for weaker, the symbol for electrical current and a reversal (returns) of an abbreviated account
27a Strange parcel containing, at first, tooth picks (7)
PLECTRA An anagram (strange) of PARCEL ‘containing’ the first letter of Tooth
28a Place covered in sun, troubled with no fog (7)
NONPLUS The abbreviation for place inserted into an anagram (troubled) of SUN and NO. This doesn’t quite work for me – surely you can start with NO and then insert the abbreviation for place into a reversed SUN?
Down
1d Where you might get fine spades, unable to corrode outside (3,4)
BUS LANE The abbreviation for the card suit of Spades inserted into an anagram (to corrode) of UNABLE. There’s one in Portsmouth where, with no indication, you turn left and are immediately in the wrong place, a fine notice turning up the day after you do so!
2d Dutchman‘s magnolia flower distributed around Italy (7,2,6)
WILLIAM OF ORANGE There are a considerable number of Dutchmen, but only one whose name is an anagram (distributed) of MAGNOLIA FLOWER ‘around’ the IVR code for Italy
3d Archbishop read out full-time score in 1966 (4)
TUTU A homophone (read out) of the full-time score in the 1966 World Cup Final
4d Poisoner‘s the one headlessly surrounding US court participants (7)
HENBANE Remove (heedlessly) the first letters of fHE and oNE and insert (surrounding) the abbreviation for the American association of basketball players (court participants)
5d Group of Irish footballers with draw and defeat (7)
FAILURE The abbreviation for the Irish Football Association and a verb meaning to draw or tempt
6d Prime Minister getting rid of black hole (4)
LAIR A Labour Prime Minister ‘getting rid’ of the abbreviation for Black
7d Tailored motoring article involving tan? (15)
TRIGONOMETRICAL An anagram (tailored) of MOTORING ARTICLE, tan being an abbreviation for one of the six such functions of an angle
8d House must go with trend (7)
PEERAGE Urinate (go) with something in vogue (trend)
13d Religion is source of illumination, briefly (5)
ISLAM IS (from the clue) and a truncated source of illumination
14d Time vortex for Ursa Minor? (5)
TEDDY BEAR The abbreviation for Time and a whirling motion (vortex)
17d Almost dress up little Italian in picture? (7)
ROBOCOP A reversal up of the Italian word for little and almost all of a dress
18d Perhaps A Christmas Carol of its time engrossing leader of Vatican City (7)
NOVELLA A Christmas Carol is an example of this type of short story. The time of Christmas ‘engrossing’ the ‘leading’ of Vatican, the result finished with an abbreviated American West Coast city
19d Toy boy reining in S&M for family (7)
KINSMEN Barbie’s boyfriend (toy boy) ‘reining in’ IN and SM (from the clue)
20d More time? (7)
SECONDS More, pudding perhaps? Periods of time
24d Fan of the Reds showing pace (4)
TROT A fan of Communism the reds) or a pace between walking and running
25d Jerk killing companion’s bird (4)
WREN A jerk without (killing) the abbreviated Companion of Honour
I found this harder than the last Prime puzzle, but very enjoyable.
Ticks all over the page and it would be unfair to select a favourite.
I parsed 3d slightly differently as being a homophone of the sum of the digits of 1966.
Many thanks to Prime and to CS.
I think I see the error of my ways re 3d.
The final score was obviously 4-2, but the score after 90 minutes was 2-2 (a difference between the definition of final and full). Is that correct??
Correct, I think. The full-time score (ie after 90 mins) was 2-2 (the homophone). The score after extra time was 4-2. So, the parsing in the H&Ts above is right.
Thank you for replying Jose.
As an aside, are you from Spain? I only ask because it is a very popular name where I live in Valencia
This was pretty tricky and the toughest puzzle Prime has given us to date but it was extremely enjoyable – thanks to our setter and CS.
Luckily for me 17a was obvious without the need to know an obscure B-side from 60 years ago.
In 21a the word surrounding the king is a ‘remark when going’.
My printout (complete with the 28a clue handwritten at the bottom) is festooned with ticks including 1a, 9a, 4d and 19d. My favourite is the same as that of CS i.e. 14d.
Really enjoyed this. Some tricky clues which I enjoy revisiting. Too many smiles to single out favourites. Thanks to Prime and CS
Some clues made me smile and some were too hard, I’m getting over a very bad cold.
I particularly liked 1,5,10 and 16a.and 20d.
Thanks to Prime and CS.
A proper toughie in my book, kept me busy for most of the afternoon.
My only qualm concerns the answer to 1a directly aligning with ‘Are charming’.
Too many ticks to mention them all but the intricate lego construction of 26a, the humorous 8d and the smooth surface of 14d are among the best.
Great entertainment, thanks Prime and CS.
Re 26a, Mexico is in North America, not Central America.
Apparently it is considered as part of 26a, especially for statistical purposes
What did you think of the crossword?
Agreed. It is my firm understanding that CA comprises 7 smallish countries. Mexico (or the UMS) is in North America. It is, though, a bit of a debatable issue in some circles.
Enjoyed this a lot – some great clueing and plenty of chuckles. 26a took a bit of parsing and is a tour de force of Osmosian quality.
On the other hand 19a is the lousiest homophone for months. Top places went to a cluster of downs – 4 [inventive clueing] 5 [super surface] 8 [impenetrable, then obvious once you see it] and the pick of the crop to 14 [how sweet]. Anyone have the faintest idea what the surface of 7d is about?
Thanks to Prime and CS.
Tailored tan leather car seats?
For some reason we were slow to get started at the top so it was largely a bottom right to top left solve for us. Plenty to enjoy though when we did get moving.
Thanks Prime and CS.
Hallo two K’s.
I’ve been looking out for you to say how sorry I was not to have a decent conversation with you in January, the noise was so awful we could not make out a word you were saying!
Hope you are enjoying your‘retirement’!
Very challenging, quite enjoyable and somewhat satisfying. However it felt dated, with clues like 3d, 17a (obscure in the extreme – the Beatles split well before I was even born!) being rather unsporting. A few too many clues with strange or iffy constructions or definitions – eg 1a, 17d, 8d.
Thanks to Prime and CS