Toughie No 3492 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ****/***** – Enjoyment ***
I found this puzzle pretty tricky and my copy of the BRB had to work overtime. I did enjoy the struggle – thanks to Sparks. I can’t find any Nina in the grid – can you?Thanks to Odrum who has found the Nina – see Comment #3.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
Across Clues
1a Most agree to differ about beginning to scrap large tanks (10)
GASOMETERS: an anagram (to differ) of MOST AGREE containing the first letter of scrap.
6a Walk to/from back (4)
FOOT: reverse ‘to’ and a synonym of from.
9a Base impeded AAC officer (4-2-4)
AIDE-DE-CAMP: an anagram (base, presumably in the sense of corrupt) of IMPEDED AAC.
10a Cycling permitted in Cuban tobacco field (4)
VEGA: cycle the letters of a common verb which can mean permitted (it is in the BRB) to get a Cuban tobacco field (or more commonly the Spanish word for meadow).
12a Spot anonymous test-driver by dam? (6)
STIGMA: join together the identity of the anonymous test-driver in Top Gear and an affectionate term for a dam in the equine world.
13a Meddler, coach starts to bring on decline in two years (8)
BUSYBODY: start with a synonym of coach then insert the starting letters of ‘bring on decline’ between occurrences of the abbreviation for year.
15a These thrust to and fro in big ships when holding inlet control off and on (6,6)
LINEAR MOTORS: big passenger ships contain a term for an inlet or cove and the even letters of ‘control’.
18a Furnishings on coach drive clergy close to nuts (12)
HAMMERCLOTHS: assemble a verb to drive or instil, a generic term for clergy and the closing letter of nuts. Apparently these are what used to cover the drivers’ seats in a coach or carriage.
21a This would keep Oxford perhaps on 6 (8)
SHOELACE: cryptic definition with the falsely-capitalised oxford being a type of footwear.
22a Maybe Nigella’s deleting university’s historical records (6)
ANNALS: nigella here is not the TV cook but the name of a plant which is an example of something that flowers once a year plus the ‘S. Delete the single-letter abbreviation for university.
24a Warms up unopened food (4)
EATS: a verb meaning warms up without its first letter.
25a On reflection, one may watch a trailer in this (4,6)
WING MIRROR: cryptic definition where the trailer could be a caravan say. I originally had the wrong first word for this but the crossing answers sorted that out.
26a Nimble agent checks resistance (4)
SPRY: a secret agent contains the abbreviation for electrical resistance.
27 Choir in Utrecht performing astride cross and font (6,4)
CHURCH TEXT: insert the abbreviation for choir into an anagram (performing) of UTRECHT which contains the cross-resembling letter.
Down Clues
1d Sea-marker buoys in Greek port (6)
GDANSK: insert a word (new to me) meaning marker-buoys into the abbreviation for Greek.
2d Fuss about most of extraordinary bottles of carbonated drink? (6)
SODAIC: the reversal of a word for fuss gets bottled inside a truncated informal adjective that can mean excellent according to the BRB.
3d French teacher promoted German wine around Italy (12)
MADEMOISELLE: a verb meaning promoted and a German wine containing the IVR code for Italy.
4d Fold stuff (4)
TUCK: double definition, the second a verb which the BRB defines as ‘to make a onslaught upon food’.
5d Fell over after a couple of drinks, second one up in US recreation area (6,4)
RUMPUS ROOM: reverse a fell or area of high land after two drinks, the first alcoholic and the second a verb reversed.
7d Schiller’s work, note, raised in every other piece of old melody (3,2,3)
ODE TO JOY: reverse a verb to note or write quickly inside the odd letters of ‘old melody’.
8d Crawling cat bites poor Daisy … (8)
TOADYISM: a male cat contains an anagram (poor) of DAISY.
11d … displaying which, Cynthia shops around (12)
SYCOPHANTISH: an anagram (around) of CYNTHIA SHOPS.
14d Ostentatious point, mostly nonsense, is ultimately rubbish (10)
PEACOCKISH: a mountain point without its last letter is followed by a slang word for nonsense, IS and the ultimate letter of rubbish.
16d We rapidly brush moustache (8)
WHISKERS: double definition, the first people who sweep rapidly.
17d Fake setter’s set on job, filling in form (8)
IMPOSTOR: string together the contracted ‘I am’, a job or appointment and the inside letters of form.
19d Dramatist‘s brief obstacle (6)
BARRIE: a truncated obstacle or fence.
20d Imp, back to front, shows wit (6)
ESPRIT: move the last letter of a type of imp to the front.
23d Medium for culture absorbed by first cosmonaut? (4)
AGAR: hidden inside the surname of the first cosmonaut.
I particularly liked three consecutive clues – 5d, 7d and 8d. Which one(s) made it to your podium?
Pretty tough as befits a Friday. This was not as brain-mangling as some I have encountered, but it kept me going for a good while until I cracked it. I had the usual couple of unparsed bungs-in, but otherwise I was happy with the grid. For favourites, I couldn’t improve on our blogger’s podium choices.
Many thanks to Sparks for a terrific challenge, and to Gazza.
A properly fiendish Toughie. I started off well but 15a and 18a held me up a bit before I sorted out the other across clues without too much trouble. The downs were a mix of friendly and tricky
Lots to enjoy but I bet the usual suspects won’t like 24a
Many thanks to Sparks and Gazza
I was glad of 24a – it was my first one in!
Yes, some new words to me, so not straightforward, but my guesses from the clueing and checkers, were confirmed by the online checker.
There is a Nina. It comprises a two words definition which is technically accurate (if I remember my maths correctly), in that by definition you shouldn’t find any others in the grid (although I did find our favourite fable write also, but I think that’s a red herring). Start at the beginning of the second row.
Thanks to Sparks and Gazza for your efforts, I always enjoy the Friday challenge.
Thanks for pointing out the Nina, Odrum. It’s not a term I knew.
I still haven’t found or understood the Nina? Help!
Start at the first character of row 2 and proceed in a SE direction to find a 8,6 phrase.
Many thanks, Gazza (and Odrum). How on earth did you find that?
I had forgotten that back in 2010 Big Dave told me that if he couldn’t find a Nina in the rows or columns, he used to use a ruler to check the diagonals
Not familiar with the solutions to 18a and 5d but they were fairly clued.
A slow plod as befits a Friday Toughie, with a couple of answers partially unparsed, so thanks to Gazza for the enlightenment.
1d, 8d and 23d stood out for me.
My thanks also to Sparks.
What is meant by BRB ? I thought it meant “be right back”
It’s the Big Red Book (i.e. Chambers Dictionary) – see FAQ #12
Every day’s a school day! Did not know the buoys or the term in 2d (thank you for the parsing, Gazza) but the answers “could only be”. Some day I will remember the choir abbreviation before I get the answer … Thank heavens for the BRB, to which I oft made reference – was delighted to see two of my answers in there, 18a & 10a.
Many thanks indeed to Sparks for a great and challenging puzzle, and to Gazza for the so helpful blog, cartoons & OTJ flashmob!
This didn’t feel particularly tough but it took a long time to finish so ||I suppose it must have been. There were a couple of obscurities for me [18a, 27a] and one I couldn’t parse [2d, that use of extraordinary escaped me]. Top clue were the lovely cryptic definition at 25a, the related anagram pair at 8/11d and 16d which made me smile.
Thanks to Sparks and Gazza.