Toughie No 3546 by Silvanus
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
An enjoyable, just right for a Wednesday, Toughie
Please let us know what you thought
Across
1a Awfully shy Swede candid about student, one full of woe? (10,5)
WEDNESDAYS CHILD An anagram (awfully) of SHY SWEDE CANDID into which is inserted (about) L (learner, student)
9a Nice area of Italy banker advanced to acquire (7)
RIVIERA The geographical feature a crossword setter would call a ‘banker’ and the abbreviation for Advanced, between which is inserted (to acquire) the IVR Code for Italy
10a Committee is firm, prior to having change of heart (7)
COUNCIL An abbreviated company (firm) and a preposition meaning prior to with a change of middle letter
11a Husband conceded school grub is starchy stuff (9)
ARROWROOT A public school without (conceded) the abbreviation for Husband and dig up out of the ground (grub)
12a Judge shape of ball in game (4)
LUDO A form of lord used to address a judge facetiously and a ball-shaped letter
13a Stimulus in retirement required by top mathematician (6)
EUCLID A reversal (in retirement) of a stimulus and a top
15a Rude and mostly naive cracks becoming repetitive (8)
UNVARIED An anagram (cracks) of RUDE and most of NAIVe
18a Material spy from the East steals, not caught (8)
MOLESKIN A spy and a reversal (from the East in an Across clue) of an informal word meaning steals without the cricket abbreviation for Caught
19a Articulate army officer, in essence (6)
KERNEL A homophone (articulate) of an army officer
22a Way to slim down parliament? (4)
DIET A slimming method or a parliament
23a Unyielding client is condemned across America (9)
INELASTIC An anagram (condemned) of CLIENT IS goes ‘across’ the abbreviation for America
26a Army accepts hard soldiers dismissing number as chicken (7)
LEGHORN An army ‘accepts’ the abbreviations for Hard and Ordinary Ranks of soldiers, the number 10 being ‘dismissed’ from the army
27a State of humanitarian aid Nigeria is holding back (7)
INDIANA Hidden in reverse (holding back) in humanitariAN AID NIgeria
28a How to prepare Perry possibly for media interview (5,10)
PRESS CONFERENCE What you have to do to prepare a type of pear to get juice to make perry
Down
1d Conflict with quayside look, it’s said (7)
WARFARE Homophones (it’s said) of a quayside and a look or appearance
2d Briefly amuse individual wearing suit? (5)
DIVER A synonym for amuse without its final letter (briefly)
3d Close to waste ground sees wild flower (9)
EDELWEISS The ‘close’ to wastE and an anagram (ground) of SEES WILD
4d Continue tediously to make paper kite (6)
DRAGON A two-word phrase meaning to continue tediously made into one word
5d Sport cagy about welcoming money propping up Hearts (8)
YACHTING An anagram (about) of CAGY ‘welcoming’ a slang word for money which goes after (propping up) the abbreviation for the card suit of Hearts
6d Union strike (4)
CLUB Double definition, the second one a verb
7d Carelessness during sale raising first sign of concern (9)
INCAUTION A preposition meaning during and a type of sale where the first letter of Caution is moved further up the word
8d Topless Wally was first up to display muscle (7)
DELTOID A reversal (up) of a stupid person (wally being slang for this) without the first letter and part of a verb meaning was first
14d Class behind pass that finds winger (9)
COLLEAGUE A class or group goes behind a mountain pass
16d Military genius with assistant, virtually subordinate minus uniform (9)
ALEXANDER A virtual assistant and a synonym for subordinate without the letter represented by Uniform in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet
17d I look inside pot when cooking sweet pepper (8)
PIMIENTO I (from the clue) and a look or manner inserted into an anagram (when cooking) of POT
18d Spooner’s plan for wet weather vehicle accessory (7)
MUDFLAP Mangle (as the Reverend would) a plan and the possible result of a lot of wet weather
20d Salt from Wales essentially Bill previously consumed (7)
LACTATE The ‘essential’ letter of waLes, a legislative enactment (bill) and a synonym for consumed
21d Misrepresent female, leading to conviction (6)
BELIEF Misrepresent or falsify and the abbreviation for Female
24d Barely stretches for exercise (5)
TRAIN The inside (barely) letters of a synonym for stretches
25d Long jumpers possibly discontinue cycling (4)
TOPS Cycle the first letter of a synonym for discontinue to the end of the word
Good afternoon Crypticsue. I enjoyed this from start to finish. 1a was a gentle opener. 11a, 21a, 23a, and 21d are contenders for COTD, but I can’t decide which one to put on the podium. I don’t have the skill to guess as to who the setter is, but 5 stars for enjoyment and a quick fill. Thank you for the review and to the setter. If you’ read this, please reveal yourself!
This was a perfect midweek Toughie, rewardingly challenging and great fun with smooth surfaces throughout. There were a number of intricate parsings to be unravelled but it all came together nicely.
I didn’t know the military slang meaning of “winger” in 14a, but I wasn’t surprised to find it in the BRB. Presumably it is a version of the better-known (to me!) “wingman”.
I had a plethora of ticks, but I think 28a takes top prize.
Many thanks to Silvanus and to CS.
We don’t usually get a Silvanus Toughie on a Wednesday so I assume that the apposite 1a was instrumental in getting this one scheduled today. I enjoyed the puzzle a lot – thanks to Silvanus and CS.
I think that a higher number than one needs to be dismissed from the 26a army.
Ticks from me for 10a, 11a, 28a, 16d and 18d.
I got in a muddle with the Os in 26a. I have corrected it now
Many thanks to Silvanus for the usual high quality puzzle. A couple I struggled with, but other than those it was very approachable.
Favourite clue 28a, and I also liked 8d.
Thanks also to CS for the write-up.
Just right! The bottom half seemed a tad tougher than the top but that might be the soporific effect of lunch. Favourite clues were 13a and 28a.
Thanks Silvanus and CS.
I haven’t had a lot of time recently to comment, but for one of my favourite setters I felt I had to make time. His clues are always so well and fairly constructed and give so much pleasure unravelling. As usual for him, I have ticks aplenty with my favourite 28A.
Many thanks to CS for the blog and Silvanus for the enjoyment.
This one took a fair amount of time to get going, but I sped up once a few checkers were in place. Looking back, I wonder why I started so slowly.
The toughened up army in 26a, the wally with his shirt off in 8d and the assistant, virtually in 16d were my podium.
Thanks to Silvanus and CS.
Many thanks to CS and to all those solving and commenting.
I think it would be remiss of me not to augment Sue’s excellent Hints and Tips with the following tune for 1a. The genius of John Barry combined with the genius of Matt Monro. Apologies for any resultant earworms!
The JB/MM score was the best thing about the film.
Really enjoyed that puzzle this lunchtime, finding about 1/3 in the W rather more challenging than the rest – not helped by wanting 1d to be warpath (vaguely parses). Wasn’t entirely sure about “behind”, usually a lateral positional indicator, in a vertical clue, but it was a straightforward answer either way.
Honours to 26a, 28a (great red herring) and 1a (good spot, that). Many thanks for the top quality entertainment Silvanus, and to Sue for the review.
Any day of the week is fine for me when it comes to getting either a Toughie or a back-pager from one of my favourite setters. I’m glad I was born on a Thursday even though the furthest I seem to go these days is to yet another hospital appointment! Not to worry, I’ve had some memorable trips to far-flung places in the past.
The required winger was certainly not my first thought for 14d but my biggest headache was the firm committee in 10a where I was well off track, looking for a 7-letter word for ‘firm’ that I could ‘change the heart of’ to arrive at a type of committee – there proved not to be one!
Ticks here went to 15,26&28a plus 16d with top spot going to the laugh-out-loud 28a.
Many thanks to Silvanus and to CS for the review. Earworm well and truly lodged!
Yet another cracker rolls off the Smooth production line. Didn’t find it as straightforward as others appear to have done (though a good bit easier than yesterday) with a good few of the whys forced to wait on a later bus. Tough to pick a fav – it’d be a close call between the rev & Katy/Matthew/Grayson.
Thanks to Silvanus & to CS
A real pleasure to solve with the tone set by 1a and the smiles continued for all the rest.
Thanks Silvanus and CS.
I had a real battle with this one for reasons I can’t fathom. I didn’t know the “winger” sense, other than from the RAF version, and spent too long trying to squeeze in Eagle. 28a takes my prize.
Thanks to Silvanus for the challenge and to CS for tidying up some loose ends.