Toughie No 3513 by Stick Insect
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment **
What has happened to Tuesdays? This was another well-above Tuesday level entry by my estimation and wouldn’t have been out of place much later in the week. After 1d and 10a went in straight away, I thought I was in for a gentle day, but it was not to be. Maybe I’m struggling after shredding my nerves watching the coverage of the Test yesterday, or maybe it’s a wavelength thing, but I’ve not really got into harmony with this puzzle. A few blips of the repetition radar (too many secret agents in one puzzle for my liking) set me off on the wrong foot, and disentangling the top half took this well into 4* time. Even the anagrams weren’t straightforward, which is no bad thing unless you’re trying to prepare a Blog against a deadline! My rosettes this week go, in second, to 15a, and to the eventual winner, 24a, for a lovely surface and all-round cleverness. Thanks to Stick Insect for the challenge, even if I did sometimes feel like a club player taking on the number one seed on Centre Court.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
Across Clues
1 Make up with firm friend stealing pounds (10)
COMPENSATE The usual two-letter “firm” or business followed by an informal friend, into which is inserted a synonym for “pounds”. Not weight or money, think enclosures. I’m not sure of the “with” is intended to be part of the definition, but I think it works either way
6 Match house (4)
SEMI An informal term for a match (the penultimate round of a cup competition) and a house-style
9 Hugely enthusiastic record contained in short weekday tourism lecture (10)
TRAVELOGUE The short form of a weekday (today!) surrounds a four letter verb meaning “(be) hugely enthusiastic” and a three-letter “record” (in the sense of documentation) gives a type of programme focusing on journeys. Possibly “hugely enthusiastic record” is meant to be a direct reference to how you may describe such a term
10 Composer, a great experimentalist primarily? (4)
CAGE The initial letters of “Composer a great experimentalist” gives an American composer, best known for a composition comprising no notes
12 Spy something falling off the roof? (12)
EAVESDROPPER The question mark is a strong hint that there is something a bit left-field about the clue. A spy who listens in on conversations is also what you might (perhaps rather obscurely) call something that fell from the part of the house where such spies traditionally lurked
15 Classy girl becomes flashy or gloomy (6)
CLOUDY Replace the part of “Classy” that could mean “girl” with a synonym of “flashy” (or noisy) to get a synonym of “gloomy”
16 Spies seizing author, abandoning western rules (8)
CRITERIA Remove the “w” from another term for “author” and insert the remainder into the abbreviation for the US intelligence service to get a set of rules
18 Cost following fabric rip (8)
LACERATE A synonym for “cost” follows a type of fabric associated with Nottingham to get a verb meaning “rip”
19 Rubbish story, no answer to gossip (6)
TATTLE A charade of a three-letter word for “rubbish” and a word for story lacking the letter indicating “answer” gives a verb meaning to gossip
21 Like some sound that’s unsettled Chinese troop (12)
STEREOPHONIC An anagram (unsettled) of “Chinese Troop” gives an adjective describing a common type of reproduced sound
24 Dry drinking establishment: try banning all bishops (4)
ARID To get an adjective meaning “dry” take a three-letter drinking establishment and a synonym of “try” (think auctions, perhaps) and remove the letter indication “bishop” from both
25 Just insane excited exuberance (10)
JAUNTINESS An anagram (excited) of “just insane” gives a word meaning “exuberance”
26 Eagle picked up vase (4)
ERNE The usual Crosswordland eagle is a phononym (picked up) of a three-letter type of vase
27 A shame about Roman law intricacy (10)
PERPLEXITY A three-letter prefix meaning “a” (or each) precedes a four-letter synonym of “shame” into which is inserted the three-letter Latin for “law” to get a slightly unusual (in my view) synonym of “intricacy” (or confusion)
Down Clues
1 Quote Lincoln perhaps, changing end for English (4)
CITE The type of urban area of which Lincoln is an example, with its final letter swapped for the single letter abbreviation for English yields a synonym of “quote”
2 Denote low average (4)
MEAN A triple definition
3 Oz city, flourishing in shade (7,5)
EMERALD GREEN I spent too long trying to do something clever with the Antipodes, instead of the direct approach. Take the adjectival part of the Wizard’s home city and add a colour that indicates that pants are flourishing, to get a shade of that colour. I’m not really sure this works all that well overall, but I might be missing something
4 Tool beginning to sink around very bad hole (6)
SHOVEL A type of tool (used for snow, leaves etc) is formed from the first letter of (beginning to) “sink” and and anagram (bad) of “hole” around the letter indicating “very”
5 Your old subordinate enters making loud noise (8)
THUNDERY A preposition meaning “subordinate” is inserted into the archaic/poetic second person possessive to get a weather-related adjective
7 Greatly irritate former partner according to returning Greek character (10)
EXASPERATE A charade of the usual two-letter former partner, a (2,3) term meaning “according to” and an inverted Greek letter gives a synonym of “greatly irritate”
8 Boaty McBoatface, by majority vote, a way to get people talking (10)
ICEBREAKER A double definition. The type of ship of which RRS Sir David Attenborough (chosen despite Boaty McBoatface being the popular choice in the poll seeking the new vessel’s name) is an example, and also a way to initiate communication
11 Aircrews into rolling the other way round (12)
CONTRARIWISE An anagram (rolling) of “aircrews into” gives a word meaning “the other way round”
13 Half a book about essential short pastry (6,4)
ECCLES CAKE Half of an Old Testament book (or a Goon Show character) precedes the usual two-letter term meaning “about” and a three-letter synonym of “essential” lacking (short) its last letter, all to get a type of pastry named after a Northern town
14 Two politicians welcoming new rite in Mass (10)
CONCRETION Take two abbreviated (UK) “blue” politicians, and insert an anagram (new) of “rite” into the second to get a term meaning “mass” in the sense of material or solids. The capital letter is a misdirection
17 Work quietly in theatre strike (8)
STOPPAGE Insert a two letter synonym for “work” as a noun and the musical abbreviation for “quietly” into a synonym of “theatre” in the sense of plays/musicals to get a “strike” in the industrial action sense
20 Volunteer shared time off at university (4,2)
JOIN UP “Volunteer” here is enlisting for military service, formed from a synonym of “shared” lacking the letter indicating time and a two-letter term meaning “at University”
22 Clydeside library’s housing unusual food shop (4)
DELI A type of speciality food shop is lurking in (housing) “Clydeside library”
23 Unexpectedly discover internet sleuth? (4)
ESPY How you might describe a sleuth or secret agent working on-line gives a noun meaning “unexpectedly discover”, often also used as just “see” eg at a distance
Just to be contrary, I thought this was about right for a Tuesday. I liked 15a which took me the longest to work out what was going on
Thanks to Stick Insect and Whybird
I didn’t find this at all easy, and was surprised to see this on a Tuesday.
I had no idea what 8d was about, but bunged my answer in on the basis of “a way to get people talking”.
Thanks to Stick Insect and to Whybird- the hint to 15a needs a tweak on one word (classy)
Thanks Jezza. 15a now corrected.
Another super-tough Tuesday Toughie from my point of view. I did enjoy the tussle apart from two hmms.
Even with the question mark, 12a seems a very poor clue to me, and the pedant in me thinks that 24a should say “both” not “all”.
15a & 2d were my top two.
Many thanks to Stick Insect and to Whybird.
Must be having a good day. Having badly understated the difficulty rating for the back-pager I thought this about right for a Tuesday – reckon there’s been tougher of late (Dharma springs to mind). I completed it quicker than Toughies usually take me (not very quick) without an excess of crumpet scratching & all parsed ok 👌. Like CS the why at 15a caused the most 27a & as it was the last post bung in penny to drop I’ll pick it as my fav. ✅s also for 12,16,19&27a along with 7,8,13&14d.
Thanks to Sticky & to Whybird whose review I’ll now read.
Funny how it rolls. This took me a lot longer than the last Dharma, and I “saw through “ 15a reasonably quickly. I’m worried about the back-pager now. I was hoping it would provide some light relief!
Enjoyable and tricky in places – thanks to Sticky and Whybird.
I remembered the palaver about Boaty McBoatface but I didn’t remember the type of ship that it was all about so I needed the checkers to get the answer.
Top clues for me were 9a, 15a and 20d.
Some pretty obscure clues i thought. Needed the hint to parse 1a, never heard of the latin law, the less said about 8d the better and 13d for that matter. Too difficult to be enjoyable. Just glad to finish. Thanks to Stick Insect for the mental beating and Whybird.
Started slowly but cracked on once a few checkers were in place.
I like the setter’s style of adding or subtracting letters or words to arrive at a solution and became alert to the frequent use of this technique as I progressed. Not that Stick Insect is alone in doing this of course.
I should start making notes on the characteristics of different compilers, as by the time they reappear a fortnight or so later, I have to re-familiarise myself with them.
My top three are the classy girl in 15a, the alcohol-free pub in 24a and the abridged cook book in 13d.
My thanks to Whybird and Stick Insect.
Definitely tougher than one might expect for a Tuesday offering. I did need your hints Whybird to parse my last two bung-ins 13d an 15a and needed Google to confirm 14d, a word l don’t remember coming across before. Spent too long trying to workout how complexity worked for 27a which seemed a much better fit for the solution than the actual answer! Not convinced that 6a really works but since happily Chelsea just won theirs and the final to boot I’m in much to good a mood to grumble! Favourite clue was 3d – great misdirection.
Thanks Stick Insect for the tussle and Whybird for the help.
Well I’m mighty relieved to read that other folks found that tough. I thought I’d give it a go (I’m not a regular toughie solver) as it’s grim up north today. I was stuck in the southeast but rather curiously realised I was eating the answer to 13d and that helped to unlock that corner!
Thanks to Stick Insect for a good challenge on a rainy afternoon and Whybird for help with some parsings.
Yep, pretty tough for a Tuesday and, I thought, somewhat uninspiring. Only 15a and 24a raised a smile.
Thanks to SI and Whybird.
none of the ‘click here’ links work for me .[*** REDACTED ***]
I really enjoyed this. 12a’s fun and 15a’s smart. Best thanks to Stick Insect and Whybird.
We had an interesting time with 8d. After much cogitation decided that Boaty McBoatface had become another word for drunk (which seemed plausible) and the last part of the clue referred to alcohol as a social lubricant so confidently wrote in a word that fitted the checkers. INEBRIATED. Think we deserve a special prize for that.
Thanks Stick Insect and Whybird.
Thanks. 8d isn’t a clue that works well internationally, and your alternative is definitely worth pouring yourselves a measure or several, at any time of day!
A sound Thursday Toughie, albeit on a Tuesday. I preferred the south to the north but felt that overall there was a degree of repetition that surprised me, and some odd clueing/definitions/surfaces. Found myself nodding to many of Whybird’s observations.
Honours to 15a, 27a, & 7d
Many thanks to Stick Insect and Whybird
I printed this off but, after a couple of brief looks, thought it would be too difficult. Nonetheless, I decided to give it a try. I’m really pleased that I did. It was tough and slow going but most enjoyable.
I liked many of the clues, especially the following: 1a, 10a (quite often encountered on Radio 3), 12a, 15a, 16a (one of my last in), 24a, 13d and 14d.
I spent too much time thinking of Aus in 3d!
I had to look up 8d. I remember seeing this on TV but couldn’t recall the details.
6a was my last in. I needed the checking letters.
I enjoyed going through your review, Whybird. It was encouraging to find that my parsing was correct. How fortunate we are to have these reviews! Many appreciative thanks.
Big thanks to Stick Insect for much enjoyment and for making me think outside the box.