Sunday Toughie No 182
by Zandio
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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A veritable herd of Wildebeest today and I really enjoyed it. When we were heading across the plain with nyala and gnu’s, I was sure we were heading to the Serengeti.
Some quite tricky constructions have hit the cutting room floor, I will try and give a nudge if you are struggling. Zandio brought us some devious manipulation of Roman numerals in his Friday backpager, and a similar (unhinted) construction appears again.
5d and 18a share the second step on my podium, just below 15a – which did you like?
Lurkers and anagrams are largely unhinted, and I have hinted 6 across and 8 down of an even 28 clues today. I hope you find enough checkers to find the rest.
Here We Go…
As it is a Prize puzzle I can only hint at a few and hope that will give you the checkers and inspiration to go further. I’ll be back just after the closing date with the full blog. Don’t forget to follow BD’s instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!
I hope I don’t have to redact any comments but I am not so new at this and don’t want to rock the boat. If in doubt, I’ll rub it out! I think that sentence is a bit redundant. You have all been so helpful in sorting out prior parsing failures, and I am sure I will need similar help again.
Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also” Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious. Don’t forget the Mine of useful information that Big Dave and his son Richard so meticulously prepared for us.
A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions. Some hints follow: Remember the site rules and play nicely
Across
1a Some Christians stoned going to Charlotte? (4,6)
A synonym of stoned on intoxicating substances and a well-known singer called Charlotte.
15a Spotting what flies try, circling river bank, to conceal hatch, heading off (12)
To try to buy at auction perhaps, around a river abbreviation, a synonym of bank, around hatch from the clue but take the heading off first.
18a Indiscreet book put in shopping bag – it’s a safeguard by the way (5,7)
An indiscreet synonym and a book abbreviation are put in a shopping bag.
21a Breathe in oxygen repeatedly – one litre, healthy stuff! (5,3)
Without the ability to breathe you would be dead, if you are able to breathe, goes between repeated chemical symbols of oxygen, followed by a Roman one and an abbreviated litre. I hope Stone Waller has time during the harvest to enjoy this clue.
25a Rubbish catches all round – Botham maybe getting thunderous (10)
A synonym of rubbish and catches fish, perhaps, both reversed (all round) and finish with Mr Botham’s forename.
27a Random way to encounter gnu? (7-3)
An anagram of the wildebeest with the anagram indicator going into the grid, giving us a random way to frighten birds away.
Down
1d Game where every player gets stick (6)
An all-in-one – &lit. A game where every player has a stick.
Not this game – but related
3d Perceptive about Bard’s King Edward hiding sad expression (5-7)
Lego™ time. One of our usual abouts, a Shakespearean King, an expression made when sad, and an informal Edward.
5d May in Paris: from the feminine attire, things brightening up (10)
A synonym of may, the French (in Paris) for from the, and a feminine item of attire may be found brightening up many of Liberace’s pianos.
8d Come Together using fiddle? Extreme! (8)
A fiddle or deception and the extreme sides of a road, perhaps, come together.
Under a spoiler for 20d too
11d Decorate with sugar paste before cake topped – it looks tasty! (3-5,4)
To decorate with sugar, a synonym of paste – to thrash or defeat soundly, and what remains of a small cake without its topmost letter.
16d Roughly scour gnu’s midsection and head with bottom of coarse sponge (8)
An anagram (roughly) of scour, the middle and head of the wildebeest and the bottom letter of coarse.
20d Christmas with breaking news about singer (6)
The Christmas period is broken by two items of news, then reversed (about), for a singer of 8d.
23d Wildebeest with no tail, aged one taking little bites (4)
The final wildebeest loses his tail, I can’t find a definitive source in Chambers (BRB or Thesaurus) for aged equalling the last two letters but I think the saying “Show me the boy ** seven, and I will show you the man” is the best I can do.
Compiler
Zandio
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Today’s blogging music is inspired by my failure to secure tickets for Bob Dylan in Leeds, I hope he stays Forever Young, and I can catch him at a later date on his never-ending tour.
That’s All Folks…
One of the best Sunday Toughies for a long time, the number of ticks I’ve got against exceptional clues is in double figures.
With so much cleverly constructed wordplay, I find it impossible to narrow them down to a podium.
I also wondered if the setter has just returned from the Masai Mara, as there are no fewer than four references to its migrating wildlife.
Super stuff, take a bow, Zandio, and thanks to SJB.
I agree with your assessment of this top-notch puzzle, but I counted five wildebeest one nyala and a plain for them to run across.
Ah yes, 4d has done some heavy lifting there.
Most enjoyable and did not have too much trouble for once.
Hoped SJB might explain the last two letters in 23d but no.
As soon as I saw 25a I thought of Brian Blessed too ( Think he is in the stands at Portrush today shouting “Get in the hole”).
Thanks to Zandio and SJB.
I am not able to find ** = aged in the BRB or Thesaurus, but “Show me the boy ** seven and I’ll show you the man” seems relevant.
I will have to settle for that unless Zandio visits to explain.
BTW more Danword misdirection with 9a. Hope they continue this until I eventually get a Mythical.
I don’t use DodgyDan but Wordplays.com appears to have the same wrong answer. I am coming to the conclusion that Setters are setting traps so Dan etc. are caught out
Hello SJB, I’ll say thank you properly later, so just a quickie for now. I haven’t got the physical BRB to hand, but Chambers online defines the two-letter word as “having reached the age of”. As in “I joined the army ** eighteen”. See you later.
Thanks, my Chambers app doesn’t, but WordWeb has;
Indicating time of occurrence, especially an instant of time, or a period of time relatively short in context or from the speaker’s perspective.
Perhaps Danword has changed its answer? When I just looked it has the same as me. I have to confess that I am not yet able to parse the clue but what I have is all that seems to fit what I think is the definition and the checkers.
I have just checked Danword and wordplays, Dan has changed but wordplays still has it wrong. I wouldn’t trust either of them, they are just pushing advertising. If you are really struggling I would recommend The Answer Bank. Real people who know how crosswords work are going to give much better help. 9a is an anagram of most of a word in the clue and your answer to 20d
Thanks SJB. I look at Danword to get an idea of whether I have the right answer, but I look here for hints. So thanks for the effort you put in. If I’m desperate for a hint that isn’t here I’ll try the answer bank as you suggest. I think I might be a bit slow today, as I recall now that a number below 32, I think, is a reference to a clue. If it isn’t, that’s indicated. All makes sense now.
Good puzzle, reasonably gentle for a Toughie, could not satisfactorily parse 23d. Usually when there are that many wildebeest in one place we are treated to the sight of a croc pulling one under, but not today!
Honours to 15a, 22a, 25a & 20f
Many thanks to Zandio and SJB
Zandio has confirmed my hunch above, here is a Wildebeest just for you
Re 27a, you might in an emergency try to take on a gnu with this, but you’d be wiser with another more accurate version. Farmers of peas and beans use what’s in the picture, but they’re not called 27a! Hope not to have encroached too near the naughty step!
Re 5d, the answer is plural….
Mea Culpa, I was trying a bit too hard to link 27a with 15a, but if you are 15a the last thing you would want would be to scare them away.
5d amended thanks
Another cracker from Zandio on fine form: 18a, 25a and 19d, etc. ** for “aged” is typically sharp and very him, I’d say. Best thanks to Z~ and Sloop.
Re 19d, I am going to call the transposition of Roman numerals a Zandio™
Yes indeed. It’s a lovely little trick. For similar-ish reasons, I can no longer see the letters EY (the outrageous “consultancy”!) without thinking of Prime.
19d remains my loi. From comments above, I may have wrong approach or even wrong answer.
What I have so far (I hope this is vague enough to avoid naughty step) is, a 4 letter form of income, an initial letter and a unparsed final letter (which I don’t think has any Roman value) all trying to form synonym of first word.
Stared at this so long now I’m becoming incapable of seeing a different approach. A quick Google has me thinking perhaps some sort of chord thing, but probably way off the mark!
Any guidance much appreciated.
Many thanks to Z and SJB.
I maybe shouldn’t have let this go unhinted; Plummeting is the definition.
Here a synonym of income becomes a synonym of plummeting by swapping the Roman Fifty for the Roman five-hundred. Both words fit in to the checkers you should have, and the Roman numerals you swap go at the beginning.
Many thanks, clear as a bell now!
Had right answer and definition but was fixated on using “income from shares” as first 4 letters and couldn’t get past that!
Not an easy solve for me and I’m still unconvinced by a couple of my parsing attempts in the SE but the bulk of the solve is completed and favoured clues selected. I’m handing out medals to 1&27a plus 3&5d.
Thanks to Zandio and to SJB for the hints.
I hope the discussion above has cleared up some of the SE corner.
Hello, compiler here. Thanks very much for taking the time to solve, hint and discuss. Always appreciated. Have a good week.
I hope to see more Roman maths soon
While I enjoyed his Friday back-pager I thought this one comfortably the more entertaining of the two puzzles. A number of the whys travelled on a later bus (but that’s not unusual for me with Toughies) but all parsed satisfactorily I think & on the whole not as tricky as some recent Sunday Toughies. ✅s all over the shop – particularly liked the 9a/20d pair plus 3&11d but I’ll plump for 27a just ahead of the plummeting income (twigged quicker that Friday’s dressed shellfish) as my fav.
Thanks to Zandio & to John.
Whilst I filled the grid relatively quickly last night, I too needed a caffeine injection this morning, to see all the whys and wherefores, particularly 16d where I had too many u’s until common sense prevailed. 23d was a bit of a guess too until Zandio confirmed the last two letters.
I correctly figured the last 2 letters of 23d but without much confidence
A cracking puzzle with lots of ‘news’ – thanks to Zandio and SJB.
Among many ticks on my printout are 18a, 25a and 27a,
I was close to sending a message about 23d but Zandio came and sorted out my worries
Damn. I thought I had commented earlier but must have forgotten to press send. Too late now, many thanks to Zandio and SJB. Hope Mama Bee is coping with this weather!
Weather here is either hot and sticky or raining stairrods. I’m glad you enjoyed the puzzle as much as everyone else.
I thought this was a super puzzle. It was entertaining from start to finish.
I have a completed grid and my printout is covered in ticks. How to choose a fave? That is the million dollar question! 9a and 15a vie for top spot, but the following clues all find a place in my podium: 10a, 18a, 21a and 25a; 3d, 5d and 8d.
Many appreciative thanks to Zandio for an excellent Toughie.
Many appreciative thanks too to Sloop John Bee for the review. I didn’t need it but I have enjoyed reading it.
I am delighted that Zandio and I have intrigued and entertained.
Zandio on great form with a charming puzzle set in a safari park. Lots of things to admire, but my podium places are awarded to some lovely definitions camouflaged by their surface readings: ‘…tube fare’, ‘Spotting what flies…’ and ‘…things brightening up’, aka 9a, 15a & 5d. The Roman arithmetic always brings a smile, too.
Many thanks to Zandio, and also to SJB.
I was hoping one of our regulars who go 15a recognised the picture.
Lots to excite the taste buds too, with the herb in 17d, 21a and 9a it had quite an Italian flavour. Gelato to follow in 11d
Indeed, plenty of such goodies – but I fear your illustration to accompany 11d is hugely contentious and has probably alienated half of your commenters…
Ha ha, I should have looked for a pic that showed both ways. I am reliably informed that ER went the Cornish way Jam first – cream on top, but I don’t think she has had a Fat Rascal in Bettys.
The clue takes the topping off anyway, so Zandio is obviously a just cream or just jam man