Toughie No 3540 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***/**** – Enjoyment ***
Thanks to Sparks for an enjoyable puzzle which isn’t too tough (for a Friday). I’ve given it an extra half-star for difficulty because I needed to verify the 1a accidents, the 9a dietary problem and the 5d mythical beast none of which I’d heard of. I can’t find any Nina today – can you?
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
Across Clues
1a Accidents interrupting raucous, lacking in focus, emotional composition (8)
RHAPSODY: an archaic word for accidents or chances goes inside an adjective meaning raucous without its central letter.
9a Aberrant variable dietary problem seen in nautili periodically (8)
ATYPICAL: a mathematical variable and a medical term for a craving for unsuitable food are inserted in the even letters of nautili.
10a Bush not ready for broadcast (4)
SLOE: homophone of an adjective meaning ‘not ready’.
11a Prehistoric earthwork’s timescale worked out with DNA (6,6)
MAIDEN CASTLE: this Iron Age fort near Dorchester is an anagram (worked out) of TIMESCALE DNA.
13a Vague US smear from the Right quashed by common sense (8)
NEBULOUS: reverse an informal US verb to smear or grease inside an informal word for common sense.
15a Tidy canteen yet to start shifts (6)
NEATEN: an anagram (shifts) of [c]ANTEEN without its starting letter.
16a Check new loan limits (4)
SNUB: an informal loan contains the abbreviation for new.
17a Husband delayed in toilet, a jinx on board (5)
JONAH: start with an informal US word for a toilet and A then delay the abbreviation for husband as long as possible.
18a Game’s slight, lacking in weight (1-3)
I-SPY: an adjective meaning slight or flimsy without the abbreviation for weight.
20a Setter returned carrying £25 Hoover, for one (6)
EPONYM: reverse the objective pronoun the setter would use for himself and insert the slang term for £25.
21a Appearing suddenly, chap tails retreating engineers (8)
EMERGENT: a posh chap follows the reversal of army engineers.
23a Ready to proceed, helper checks about closure of borders prior to leave (3,7,2)
ALL SYSTEMS GO: a helper or accomplice and a verb meaning checks or staunches contain the closing letter of borders. Add a verb to leave.
26a Perhaps deal to seek the support of Democrat (4)
WOOD: a verb to seek the support of and the abbreviation for Democrat.
27a Complaint – French let Starmer back inside Number Ten? (8)
IMPETIGO: a French let or place to rent and Starmer’s position are reversed inside what the number ten looks like.
28a Blow away safe containing truncated crystal (8)
SURPRISE: an adjective meaning safe or sound contains a crystal without its final letter.
Down Clues
2d Lower neoliths for refurbishment (8)
HOLSTEIN: an anagram (for refurbishment) of NEOLITHS produces a ‘lower’ (better known as a Friesian round where I live).
3d Ombudsmen rip off government scheme (7,5)
PREMIUM BONDS: an anagram (off) of OMBUDSMEN RIP.
4d Shakespearean character, alternatively Chinese (6)
ORSINO: a conjunction meaning alternatively and a prefix meaning Chinese give the name of a character from Twelfth Night (which I had to study for O-level and which put me off Shakespearean ‘comedies’ for life).
5d Unknown Gael essentially captures large mythical beast (4)
YALE: a mathematical unknown and the central letters of Gael containing the abbreviation for large give us a mythical beast whose horns can swivel in any direction.
6d Cynthia, unexpectedly hot occupant of bed? (8)
HYACINTH: an anagram (unexpectedly) of CYNTHIA followed by the tap abbreviation for hot.
7d Authentic part of Liechtenstein (4)
ECHT: hidden.
8d Island tree Asian’s ready to tip over (8)
ALDERNEY: a tree of the birch family followed by the reversal of an Asian currency.
12d Operating container of whisky supply under stern of HMS Endurance (7,5)
STAYING POWER: an anagram (supply) of OPERATING W[hisk]Y follows the back letter of HMS.
14d Past offence – case of cybercrime (5)
SINCE: a moral offence and the outer letters of cybercrime.
16d Air pilot regularly following short track’s outline (8)
SCENARIO: regular letters from ‘Air pilot’ follow a synonym of track or spoor without its last letter.
17d Desert ambush requires craft (4,4)
JUMP SHIP: a verb to ambush and a seagoing craft.
19d Floats quietly, in contact with intermittently picked up sensor (8)
PONTOONS: assemble the musical ‘quietly’, a preposition meaning ‘in contact with’ and the reversal of intermittent letters from ‘sensor’.
22d European flower festival (6)
EASTER: an abbreviation for European and a daisy-like flower.
24d Record old lines before scene’s opening cuts away (4)
LOPS: the abbreviation for old lines (i.e. goes inside) a musical record prior to the opening letter of scene.
25d Circus attraction causing pain is withdrawn (4)
EROS: reverse an adjective meaning ‘causing pain’ to get an attraction at a specific London Circus.
The clues which appealed most to me were 17a, 27a and 25d. Which ones appear on your list?
Surprisingly gentle for a Friday (I found Tuesday’s (?) Prime much tougher) and a very enjoyable near romp. I couldn’t see a Nina either, but that’s par for the course! Yale had to be, but was new to me. Honours to 13a, 27a, and 6d for its surface – Cynthia is also a name shared by several plants, which makes the clue doubly enjoyable.
Many thanks to Sparks – do please pop in to say if there is a Nina! – and of course to Gazza.
My first thought after staring at this blankly for a few minutes, was that this was going to be impenetrable. After a lot of internet checking, I finally completed it.
There were a few bits I did not know at the time; the dietary problem at 9a, the cattle at 2d, and the Shakespeare character at 4d (my last in). Also, I can’t say the London location at 25d was my first thought for “Circus attraction”.
27a was my favourite.
Thanks to Sparks and to Gazza.
As friendly as a Friday Toughie is likely to get, though nonetheless enjoyable.
One or two new words to confirm but all fairly clued.
The unusual accidents in 1a, the reversed French accommodation in 27a and the tipped Asian dosh in 8d are my picks.
Thanks to Sparks and Gazza.
Friendly for a Friday and I’m sure the solution to 25d was clued in a very similar way in another crossword earlier this week, but don’t ask me when or where
Thanks very much to Sparks and Gazza
Does a less tough Friday balance an extra tough Tuesday? Or is it more to do with the reps of the setters regardless of the puzzle?
Whatever – this was fun and eminently doable tho’ 1a took a bit of pondering. Another vote for 27a and also 17a which was, shamefully, my last in.
Thanks to Sparks and Gazza [I wondered what the mythical beast might look like].
Nice to be introduced to the new beast in 5d in what was an enjoyable Friday Toughie for us.
Thanks Sparks and Gazza.
Well I’m with Jezza & I didn’t do as well as him. Needed 2 letter reveals to finish & a couple of checks with Mr G – the mythical beast, the earthwork & the dietary problem were new, the cattle breed sort of rang a bell & while I knew the Shakespearean duke I couldn’t remember from which play. Very slow to twig the Piccadilly context of circus & disappointed I couldn’t fully parse 27a as it along with 17a my top 2.
Thanks to Sparks & to Gazza
Definitely on the mild side for a Friday. Thankfully the “new stuff” and “buried so deep as to be almost new” (4d, 5d, 11a) were clearly clued. My main problem was parsing. “Not ready” in 10a is a “hmm” for me, and I don’t like “supply” in 12d – the grammar/surface doesn’t seem to flow. But I have no excuses for not unravelling 23a. 25d and 27a were my favourites, with 6d, 17a and 17d not far behind.
Thanks to Sparks for the challenge, and Gaza for the enlightenment.
I was similarly not enamoured with ‘not ready’ in 10a but it is in the BRB as the 6th meaning of ‘slow’.
Tricky but do-able, I thought the sloe was only the fruit of the blackthorn and not an alternative name for the whole bush. Very satisfying to complete in a single sitting and favourites were 8d and 27a.
Thanks to Sparks and Gaza
More research for my toughie archive has revealed ROOM ONE O ONE on the \ diagonal. Apt as this was Sparks 101st Toughie.