Toughie No 3517 by Donnybrook
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
Hello from an overcast, not-exactly-warm Wirral peninsula. I am right, it is a Tuesday again, isn’t it? I’m not sure the Toughie Gods are inclined to agree, as today’s Donnybrook was very much at the tricky end of the scale. And after 1a was immediately apparent, I thought I’d be OK. I should have known when I got to 29a for the next one in. There are some very clever, and very misleading, clues, but for me, a lot of things I didn’t know and had to look up. I’m pretty feeble when it comes to plants and The Classics, and have some major gaps with artists and poetry, which added extra difficulty for me today. My prizes go to 10a, 22a and 28a, with special mentions for 2d’s “very naughty boy” and 4d’s misdirection.
Thanks to Donnybrook for a stiff challenge, and another opportunity to expand my general knowledge.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
Across Clues
1 Drunk bloated with the set meal (5,1’4)
TABLE D’HOTE An anagram (drunk) of “bloated” and “the” gives a French-derived term for set menu
6, 12 Across and 9 Down Unrecognised threat – composer fleeced? (4,2,6,8)
WOLF IN SHEEPS CLOTHING How you might describe a (to me, pretty obscure) Austrian composer if he were to be wearing a fleece is also a canine danger historically of particular concern to shepherds
10 Poisonous gas swamping breathable ones in city (5)
CAIRO A major North African capital city is formed by placing the chemical symbol for a toxic gas formed from incomplete combustion around a the mixture of gases we routinely breathe.
11 Flyer unusually low after drop (6,3)
LITTLE OWL A crepuscular predator (introduced into the UK) is formed from and anagram (unusually) of “low” after a synonym for “drop” as an adjective meaning “not much”
12 See 6 Across
13 Some irony perhaps from tense painter (5)
TROPE The single letter for “tense” followed by another name for “painter” in the boating, not artistic, sense gives a word meaning a figure of speech. I am not entirely convinced by the “ironic” sense here, it didn’t leap out at me, but no doubt it is BRB compatible
15 Greek cop regularly foresaw retreating (7)
AEOLIAN Take a synonym for “cop” in the sense of “get/fasten down securely” follow that with the even letters of “fOrEsAw” and then reverse the lot to get a resident of a region of ancient Greece
17 Unisex one-piece, not old, needing repair (7)
EPICENE An anagram (needing repair) of “one-piece” lacking the letter indicating “old” gives a word meaning neither male nor female
19 See 24 Across
21 Plant fruit with reduced value (7)
FIGWORT A type of plant (new to me) is formed from a three-letter fruit (something you couldn’t give, perhaps?) followed by a five-letter synonym of “value” lacking its final letter
22 Single run stopped by wicket keeper (5)
OWNER Take the number indicated by “single” and the usual abbreviation for “run” and insert (stopped) the single letter abbreviation for “wicket” to get a synonym for “keeper”. A very clever clue with a lovely surface.
24 and 19 Across Wicked solvers in Kent who’d worked out something better? (3,5,3,4)
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW Take a five-letter wicked character and the second-person plural pronoun (eg how the setter may describe “solvers”) and insert those into a (3,4) anagram (worked out) of “Kent who” to get something which completes a figure of speech beginning with “Better…” …or a song by a diminutive, Australian, former soap star. ERRATA: Per Gazza’s comment below, the anagram is of “Kent who’d” and the “wicked” is an adjective not a noun, which makes for much better parsing! Thanks, Gazza.
27 Found fault with force, endlessly hurt (9)
IMPEACHED A synonym for “Found fault with” often associated with the action in respect of the misconduct of US Presidents (perish the thought…) is formed from a five letter synonym for “force” lacking its final letter (endlessly) and a common synonym for “hurt” in the past tense
28 The claret say he avoided – that gives wind (5)
TWINE Take “The” from the clue and the type of drink of which claret is an example, remove “he” (avoided) to reveal a synonym of “wind” (or a type of string). Another lovely surface
29 River ebbing in parallel intervals (4)
NILE A very long African river is found lurking in reverse (ebbing in) “parallel intervals”
30 Styptic collar a temporary splint secures (10)
ASTRINGENT An adjective meaning “to stop bleeding” is formed from taking “a” from the clue, and a surgical support often used to widen blocked arteries, into which is inserted (secures) a synonym of “collar”
Down Clues
1 Speaker’s changed course for savoir-faire (4)
TACT A phononym (Speaker’s) of what a yachtsman might have done when changing direction heading into the wind gives a synonym for savoir-faire/diplomacy
2 Very naughty boy born our absurdly High King (5,4)
BRIAN BORU Monty Python’s “very naughty boy” followed by the single letter for “born” and an anagram (absurdly) of “our” gives a former King of Ireland
3 Arden perhaps a person turning on house of God (5)
ENOCH Invert (turning) the first personal impersonal pronoun and append the abbreviation for a “house of God” to get the titular Arden from one of Tennyson’s poems
4 Fault in fastening black paint applicator? (7)
HOLBEIN A synonym for “fault” plus “in” from the clue (think leaky buckets, dear Liza) into which is inserted the usual letter for “black” to get a Tudor-era artist.
5 Child small goddess consumes in As You Like It (2,5)
TO TASTE A three letter child precedes a Greek goddess (of eg mischief, ruin etc) into which is inserted the usual “small”, resulting that could mean “how you like something” (eg cooked)
7 Decorative feature of small book with doubled ring binding (5)
OVOLO A decorative moulding is formed by inserting a three-letter abbreviation for “book” into two of the round letters
8 No real force set out at night (5,5)
FALSE TEETH I see this as a double definition, and whilst I like the second, cryptic term, I’m not so convinced by the first. The second refers to dental items you may place in a glass by your bed at night. I’m open to (expecting) alternative suggestions for this.
9 See 6 Across
14 See north captured by wee Scotsman, an ancient citizen (10)
BABYLONIAN The poetic, two-letter “see” and the usual “north” are inserted into how you could describe a named Scotsman when they were very young to get a resident of a city in Mesopotamia. I spent too long trying to fit a three letter bishopric into this once I had the fourth letter!
16 On Tyneside perhaps look after labyrinth (5,3)
INNER EAR A (2,2) description of where you would be if you were in Tyneside (at least in the sense of the part of England) followed by a synonym for “look after” (or bring up) gets a body part (associated with eg balance)
18 Make sexy ones depraved coterie receives (9)
EROTICISE A synonym for “make sexy” is formed from an anagram (depraved) of “coterie” into which is inserted (receives) “ones” with the single number converted to the letter resembling that number.
20 With desires, a threesome led by Hecate? (7)
WITCHES The usual single letter for “with” followed by a synonym for desires (or needs scratching) to get three characters from “The Scottish Play”, Hecate being the associated Goddess
21 Maybe slip up on supporting contenders (7)
FIELDER How the contenders in a spring contest could be described followed by (supported in a Down clue) an inversion (up, in a Down clue) the two-letter “about” to get a description of what a slip is an example of in cricket
23 This nation and Serbia might be inseparable (5)
NEPAL An anagram of this mountainous nation and Serbia could form (might be) the word “inseparable”
25 Pear, peeled by cardinal, devoured (5)
EATEN Remove the outer letters (peeled) of “pear” and follow that with a cardinal number to get a synonym of “devoured”
26 Once appropriate gathering prior to hunt (4)
MEET A double definition, the “once” indicating that the sense of “appropriate” is archaic
A proper Toughie with some cracking clues – I loved it. Thanks to Donnybrook and Whybird.
Both the High King and the Tennyson poem were new to me.
I think the ‘wicked’ in 24/19 has to be a 4-letter adjective rather than the 5-letter wicked character.
My rosettes went to 22a, 4d, 8d, 21d and 23d.
That’s how I parsed 24/19 too.
That makes more sense, thank you!
A most enjoyable medium-weight Toughie – my favourites were 4d and 14d although I could have listed several more clues I really liked
Thanks to Donnybrook and Whybird
Me too! Started easily with 1a then slowed right down and finished in 4* time. Google needed for 6/12/9 and 3d. Top marks go to 13a [painter] 8d [despite the rather iffy 1st half the rest is very witty] 16d and 21d.
Thanks to DB and Whybird.
Am I alone in not being able to access recent Toughies on an iPad? If I choose Crosswords->Toughie I can only see upto 11 July.
I can access today’s though by selecting Crosswords->All Crosswords.
A bug at Telegraph Towers?
Hi Stone Waller, I can get at the Toughie on my iPad, so it’s not a generic problem
Thanks, I can get at the Toughie too. But, as I pointed out if I go to Crosswords->Toughie I can only select from Toughies upto the 11th July .
Are you saying you can see them all?
Thanks for blog by the way … I have not finished so far and of course thanks to Donnybrook.
I think you may need to clear cache and cookies.
You also get a mention in Sunday Toughie 182 on the 21st July, if you can find it.
Hello SJB, if you are still tracking this I have cleared cache in Safari and Chrome but I can still only see toughies up to the 11th July. Is there another cache?
I didn’t tackle 182. I will attempt it now while watching the Test Match. What an honour to be mentioned in the blog🥂
Like Whybird, I don’t have the same problem. The next suggestion would be to delete and re-install the app, or if you access via the website log out and log in again. The Customer help team at the Telegraph have helped in the past but I don’t know of an international number.
There is a chat link in the help pages;
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/contact-us/
FYI, I resolved this by deleteing the Puzzles App and re-installing.
FYI, I resolved this by deleting the Puzzles app and re-installing.
Yes, I can. I’ve just double-checked, and all is working. I hope SJB’s suggested fix works.
Many thanks, Whybird, I couldn’t have finished this without you!
The 11a avians always make me smile, they look so positively grumpy, and I’ve certainly met a few 6,12,9s in my time…….
Clues that I enjoyed the most were 5,14,20&23d.
Thanks to Donnybrook and again to Whybird.
Thanks, Jane. I’m glad this was helpful. I like 11a, too, for the same reason (although all owls are cool). Burrowing Owls have the same “having a bad day” face, but with longer legs.
I’m of the view that the Monday backpager is generally made more challenging than what is usually a very straightforward Tuesday grid because the Tuesday Toughie is often so much more testing, even than some Thursdays. Anyway, a proper Thursday/Friday Toughie for me, albeit on a Tuesday, and not helped by the peripatetic 6etc and 24/19, making five sets of lights dependent on only two clues, a pet peeve.
Enoch A only familiar to me from Agatha Christie’s Taken At The Flood (in which this Tennyson poem is referenced) and that was not it for my general ignorance, having not heard of the Irish king (fortunately that did not much matter) or the decorative coving. Hecate so far at the back of my mind I had to send in a search party to find it.
Honours to 10a, 15a & 23d, and there were several others competing for the podium.
Many thanks to Donny & Whybird – to whom my sympathies, you really do seem to have drawn the short straw in recent weeks!
A Tuesday snorter. Big love for 22a, 24/19a, 4d (“paint applicator”, ha) and 23d. Best thanks to Donnybrook and Whybird. Tuesdays and Thursdays seem to have flipped of late!
Thanks ALP. “Paint applicator” is a handy phrase I’ll have to remember next time I stumble across a collection of modern art. I’m sure it’ll be much appreciated!
Pretty testing for a Tuesday but very accessible and highly enjoyable. A couple of bung-ins were about par for the course, with 4d my top clue.
Thanks to Donny and Whybird.
I was doing a lot of reverse engineering to get this to completion. 17a, 23a, 3d, 4d and 7d were all new to me but I did know the Irish king and the Greek goddess. As difficult as it was I still enjoyed the challenge. Favourite was the 6a, 22a, 9d combo. Thanks to Donnybrook and Whybird.
Started this prior to an appointment at the eye hospital, where I was given drops to dilate my pupils. Since arriving home, time has been divided equally by trying to see the clues and then solve them. Gradually vision is clearing and I’ve managed to complete. Could definitely have done without the additional handicap as this was hard enough.
Similar to reading a description of fashion tastes years ago where they said brown is the new black, as far as toughies are concerned, Tuesday is the new Friday.
Loved the Monty Python reference in 2d and have come across the Irish king before, unlike the 6a composer and the 3d poem, though they were fairly clued.
Being one myself, I also liked 24/19a’s wicked solvers in Kent.
I share Mustafa G’s sympathy for Whybird: what a way to start a blogging career! To solve and then type up a critique in timely fashion when they are this difficult is a top effort. Chapeau, sir!
My thanks also to Donnybrook. Hopefully next time you appear, I’ll just have your fiendish clues to contenders with…
I enjoyed this, but a slow start and some checking required along the way. 8d is my favourite. Thanks to Donnybrook and Whybird.
Solved early doors. No letter reveals but Mr G on verification speed dial with occasional use of the check facility to confirm an answer correct (2 amendments required) so certainly not unaided. Think I’m edging towards Gazza’s ‘proper’ rather than Sue’s medium weight description for this one on the difficulty front. Stocked full of unfamiliarities to me – the flyer breed, the plant, theTennyson poem & the decorative feature (though think we’ve had it before). On the plus side I knew the High King & the unisex synonym.
Too difficult for the Tuesday slot methinks but thoroughly enjoyed the battle. Big ✅s for both of the multi word clues & the Monty Python reference but my clear fav was 8d with podium places for 16&23d.
Thanks to Donny & Whybird.
Hello. Thanks Whybird and everyone.
It was Uncle Ron’s (who made it to 92) funeral yesterday, up in Banbury, followed by the Lionesses putting us through the wringer for the second game running, so with The Medicine liberally applied as required, a visit to Big D was not possible, nor advised. I mean, you equalise at 90 minutes plus six, and score the winner in extra time at 119? Per-lease.
Cheers all
Donny
Thanks for dropping in, Donny. I did my bit for King and Country by bailing out at half time (it worked against Sweden, too). I think I’ll skip the final completely, and look for due recognition in the next honours list…
Oh dear! This splendid Toughie was just too difficult for me. I gave up after I had managed to solve 17 clues because it was taking me so long. Of those I solved, I particularly liked 10a and 3d.
Many thanks, NYDK. I’m so sorry I couldn’t finish this because I really enjoy your puzzles and always look forward to them.
It is thanks to your excellent review Whybird that I am now able to appreciate the sheer brilliance of this crossword. Very clever! A very big ‘thank you’ Whybird. We are so fortunate to have these reviews. I don’t know what we would do without them.