Sunday Toughie No 189
by Light
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
Although I had a full grid in relatively quick time, parsing some took a bit of kip to allow them to dawn on me. A couple of football references and to one who wrote about that particular football club. A couple of references to orthodontics too. 25a was probably my favourite but much sniggering was had when revising the poet in 12a.
Now, which ones do I hint, “Ay, there’s the rub”? I have probably been a bit overgenerous in hints so I hope there are enough to give you the checkers to finish today.
Here we go, Folks…
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 return with the full review blog just after the closing date. Don’t forget to follow BD’s instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!
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 Sweep? Grand prize: young dog, domesticated (5,6)
A definition by example to start, an abbreviation, to prize or cherish, a young dog, and his status within the family when domesticated.
8a Nuisance is returning for start of the film, making one gloomy (9)
At first glance I seemed to have a surplus T that wouldn’t fit in the grid. I had a four-letter nuisance and a four-letter film along with is, but if you pay close attention the reversal of is replaces the starting letter of the in the nuisance, followed by the film or haze.
12a Poet uncovered sonnet written by daughter (5)
Uncover the sonnet and write it by the abbreviation for daughter for a poet. It is suggested that he used the typography of the time to make his erotic poetry even more obvious. The long esses in line three caused much sniggering in English lessons!
13a Among other things, Alicia disheartened with Milan team (5,4)
A Latin phrase, remove Alicia’s heart and put it with one of the football teams from Milan.
22a Ring student after school’s principal gets locked in storeroom (7)
The principal letter of school gets locked in a ring or similar performance place, followed by the usual student letter.
23a Setter unhappy about coming round for evening cocktail? (9)
That which sets every night, a synonym of unhappy and one of our usual abouts that is reversed.
25a Cabinet politician checking that man’s medical records? (4,7)
A cabinet or chest, and a blue politician around that man’s.
Not the right colour of politicians, but I include this pic as a bonus nudge for 24a
Down
1d Lose it when a grandmother’s stuck under overturned Portaloo? (2,7)
A and some plural grandmothers go under an overturned Portaloo.
3d Oath that might be taken by editor (9)
Another word for the oaths, or other offensive words, that an editor may delete.
5d
9d Money and hollow moneymen essentially controlling every area of music publishing (3,3,5)
Some informal money, a hollow, a synonym of every and the essential letters of moneymen.
14d Inside house, husband and son binding English reference book (9)
A house of the astrological calendar contains abbreviations of husband, son and English.
15d Famous, on edge and cautious, covering head (9)
A crickety on side, an edge, and a synonym of cautious without its covering head.
17d US right-wingers, once called “old cheats” (7)
Bunged in from GK, at first I couldn’t see the wordplay here, but there is plenty when you recall the male version of born, used in giving the original name of a titled man, add O for old and cheats or deceives.
19a, 22a and 20d 
21d Electronic device regularly spying on back of suspect hotel (5)
Regular letters, the back of suspect, and H for hotel.
The music subgenre in 18a is not in my wheelhouse but this is…
Compiler
Light
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Your musical example for an album which makes use of 21d was one of the first long players in my collection. I’m scared to look up how long ago this was!
Nice tricky puzzle today. Managed to parse them all apart from one. I will have to wait for the full blog at the end of the week.
Too windy for golf here today but I will content myself with watching McIlroy and Co. in the rain.
Thanks to Light and SJB.
Rained off watching the Markham Main Colliery Band down by the Ings in Wetherby too, I will watch Geraint Thomas’s final race instead. You will have to wait until a week on Wednesday for the review of Sunday Prize Puzzles.
Light by name, light by nature. I thought anyway.
Enjoyable solve.
Thanks Light and Sloop
A cracking puzzle, though like John, I had to revisit several clues after solving to satisfy myself that I’d parsed them correctly.
I find this can double the time taken but it’s always satisfying when eventually they fall.
All sorted now, honours to 8a, 19a, 15d and 17d.
My thanks to Light and SJB.
The relief when I found out what to do with the surplus T in 8a was palpable, as was remembering that Light had used “once called” before.
A very enjoyable puzzle with just two anagrams – thanks to Light and SJB.
My rosettes were pinned on 1a, 8a, 23a, 2d and 4d.
I’m waiting to see whether the 3pm Emergency Alert Test manages to reach my phone this time. The last test failed for me and most other people round where I live.
Thanks for the reminder, it scared the bejasus out of me last time.
We were in the garden and my phone was in the kitchen. We just assumed it was one of our neighbours’ alarms going off until I went in to make a cup of tea and read the message. At least this time it worked!
It caused quite a bit of excitement amongst the large crowd at The Rose Bowl in Southampton, where the England vs South Africa ODI match was in progress. Fortunately it happened between overs – fortuitous timing!
For some reason I thought this was due on Tuesday. So at 1500hrs we had it in quadruplicate, but a few split seconds adrift, which made it virtually unintelligible. At least it worked this time.
My late friend Peter Donaldson, the Radio 4 newsreader and broadcaster, recorded the, 3? minute warning for the government. This was played at his funeral, and you can probably still listen to it now
Very jolly, as always. Smiles for 1a, 8a, 1d and 4d, etc. Ta lots to Light and Sloop.
I’d often wondered whether there was an actual synonym for a brainstorming meeting, now I know and I like our setter’s interpretation!
1a got me off to a great start and earns a place on my podium along with 8a plus 6d.
Thanks to Light and to SJB for the hints.
I always thought that Sweep and his ilk were wetter than a haddocks bathing suit,
Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop were more my style
I hadn’t heard of that particular ‘Brainstorming meeting’ before (and rather wish I never had) and I wasn’t previously aware of the alternative use of 3d that I think is being referred to (as opposed to just being offensive words).
Another fine ST from one of the usual setters, with my orthogonal podium places awarded to 8, 16 & 22 (Across) and 1, 2 & 9 (Down). 7d almost made it for the clever surface in which a straightforward anagram was embedded.
The source of the ‘a’ to be removed in 4d caused some head-scratching until I decided it must be an indefinite article accompanying the second part of the wordplay. Gazza has awarded the clue a ‘rosette’, so I wonder if I have overlooked something?
Many thanks to Light and to SJB.
I think the editorial redaction was from the Watergate Tapes where all the “oaths” were replaced by “3d – deleted”
(Miles “a” hour)
The ‘a’ to be removed in 4d is our usual synonym for ‘£2 a kilo’.
Aha, so I did overlook something! I now see why the rosette is deserved.
I had the first 2 letters as a direct synonym for the first word in the wordplay, so had to make the second synonym be 2 words: ‘a —‘ , in order to fulfil the instructions. Talk about making life difficult for myself…
A very enjoyable puzzle solved whilst watching a very boring (for me) F1 in the background.
Nothing too tricky, although I did scratch my head for a while over the apparently missing T in 8a, and the missing A in 4d.
Never heard of the brainstorming meeting before, but obvious from the wordplay.
Many thanks to Light and to SJB.
I was expecting more of a battle as Light and I don’t always hit the same wavelength, but this was very accessible apart from the parsing of 4d and 8a. Thanks to Light for the puzzle.
The highlight is SJB’s Memory Lane trip for 21d. Their finest single, in my view, even if hitting 99 in the charts hardly makes it a hit. It was radical stuff for a young lad listening to Phil Ross on Radio Merseyside back in the late 70s. Thanks SJB for the rest of the blog, too!
I agree about OMD, their first and finest IMO. Really simple single fingered keyboard but a great earworm. I have used them in several pub quizzes as one half of the two bands that share the initials OMD?
Setter here. Thanks all, and special thanks to SJB for the blog.
That Wakeman album cover shot at Madame Tussauds is notorious for inadvertently including the wax figure of Richard Nixon in the background to the left. The photoshoot was rushed because Tussauds was open with members of the public wandering around, and no one picked up on Tricky Dicky until it was too late.
Did you know that when you set 3d – deleted – or did I just make a lucky choice of blogging music.
I’ve know it for a long time (and was listening to Anne of Cleves only last week because I particularly like Alan White’s drums and Dave Wintour’s bass on it), but the Nixon implication at 3d and your choice of music/album cover is pure coincidence!
I think the shot used for the cover may have been the best of a bad bunch; here’s one of the outtakes.
Known, not know ^, typing too fast. Incidentally I take issue with your earlier comment about Sweep; I think he’s one of the great anarchic characters in children’s TV. Sooty on the other hand, always whispering sneakily in Corbett’s ear…
Ha ha – If Harry (and subsequently Matthew) had learned to vent like Shari Lewis, Sooty wouldn’t have had to go in for that sneaky whispering.
True. Hope you liked my subtle ‘on the other hand’ joke. 🤡
I think I would have to resign from the cruciverbalist society if I didn’t like a good pun✌️Sooty in the buff
Just read today’s back-page comments & saw the puzzle was a Twm production & not by Hudson, as I’d thought. Remembered I’d only glanced at Sunday’s Toughie so had the bonus of double helping of excellent puzzles.
Thanks to Light & to John – played that SVR track when buying my streamer & speakers.