Toughie No 3559 by Django
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ***/****
It’s always a treat to see Django’s byline. And I was delighted to see a flash of his old wordiness crop up in 8d. My clue of the day and yet more proof that – as long as the surface merits it – length is not our enemy! All yours.
Across
1a Simple sound heard by rugby player (15)
STRAIGHTFORWARD: Homophone (heard) of “sound” (of water) + “rugby player”. Other sports are available!
9a Went through part of song in jazz style (9)
TRAVERSED: Part of song/poem in(side) the usual “jazz style”.
10a Call by parrot – less noisy bird (3,2)
POP IN: Parrot, minus a literally noisy bird (crow family).
11a Tell composer Fellini’s sorry about cutting bits (7)
ROSSINI: Lurker, reversed in the third and fourth words.
12a On reflection always assuming priest provides comfort (7)
RELIEVE: Contraction of “ever” containing/assuming (biblical) priest, reversed/on reflection.
13a/24a Holiday home let out before tea dance (3-3)
CHA-CHA: “Holiday home” (skiing, etc), minus “let” + the usual “tea”.
14a Gradually build up – for beginners climbing Cuillin Ridge is bracing (7)
ACCRETE: C[limbing] C[uillin], inside/braced by (sharp) ridge.
17a Step to keep emergency room germ-free (7)
STERILE: (Countryside) step keeping/containing the abbreviated “emergency room”.
19a Sounds of mice and rats (7)
SQUEAKS: Double definition, though it could be read as a quick, because rats sometimes do this too – they certainly do when I catch one rummaging in the bins!
22a Son, Charles, 6 stops avoiding work (7)
SKIVING: The usual “son” + what “Charles” is (an example of) containing/stopped by the Roman “6”.
24a See 13a
25a Perhaps Best Actress Award – to Screen Guild – occasionally related to kissing (7)
OSCULAR: The most famous example of such an award screening/containing [g]U[i]L[d].
26a Definitely working out with Bond (2,5)
NO DOUBT: OUTBOND, working.
28a Watching as, finally, The Big Yin enters (5)
EYING: “YIN” enters [th]E [bi]G.
29a Broad primarily attacks wicket, always keeping eye on the ball (4,5)
WIDE AWAKE: “Broad” + first letters.
30a Picture of chicken sandwich (6,9)
YELLOW SUBMARINE: The usual “chicken” + (long) sandwich.
Down
1d Hugely value firm before August news article about debt banks ignored (3,5,5,2)
SET GREAT STORE BY: Firm/established, plus august/majestic + article/piece, containing/about [d]EB[t].
2d Class of Oxford scholars announced courses (5)
ROADS: Homophone (announced) of “class of Oxford (university) scholars” (Bill Clinton, etc).
3d EMI cutting its electronic record (7)
ITEMISE: “EMI” cutting/inside “ITS”, plus the abbreviated “electronic”.
4d Selfie wearing stockings in nursing home (7)
HOSPICE: An example of a “selfie” inside/wearing “stockings”.
5d They might be worn out playing 2 iron at the outset (7)
FEDORAS: The symbol for “iron” (at the outset) + an anagram of 2d (playing).
6d Theatre student interrupting benefit in disgust (7)
REPULSE: The three-letter “theatre” + the usual “student” inside/interrupting benefit/advantage.
7d Fancy a tipple – name one cocktail (9)
APPLETINI: ATIPPLE, fancy, plus the usual “name” and “one”.
8d Awful Everton on edge defending headers from Tottenham Hotspur – that’s a touchy subject! (4,4,2,5)
DON’T EVEN GO THERE: EVERTONONEDGE, awful, defending/containing T[ottenham] H[otspur].
15d PM once in hotel guarded by dog, unfriendly (9)
CHURCHILL: The usual “hotel” inside/guarded by (worthless) dog, plus unfriendly/cold.
16d/18d Articulated food truck, oddly, a three-wheeler (3,3)
TUK TUK: Homophone (articulated) of “food” + T[r]U[c]K.
18d See 16d
20d Old Austin‘s somewhat abysmal legroom (7)
ALLEGRO: Lurker, hidden in the last two words.
21d Ultimately fixes electric power tools, getting messy hands (7)
SCRAWLS: [fixe]S [electri]C [powe]R + (boring) tools.
22d Sailor holding up both ends of smoked fish (4,3)
SAND DAB: The usual two-letter “sailor” holding up/after the ends of “smoked”, expressed as (1,3,1).
23d State, say, Ross King’s content to start (7)
INDIANA: “Ross” (say/for example) after [k]IN[g].
27d Greek character taken aback by foreign china showing taste (5)
UMAMI: Greek character/letter, reversed/taken aback + foreign (French) china/pal.
Four anagrams, two lurkers and a fair bit of generosity (28a, 3d, etc) made for a pretty brisk and entertaining solve. I especially enjoyed 1d’s Lego, 21d’s definition and 22d’s “both ends” device, but 8d’s surface won out for me. What did you make of it?
1a provides an appropriate description. I liked both 3-3 clues. Thanks to Django & ALP.
On the whole fairly straightforward, but I did make life difficult for myself by entering squeals at 19a.
I did not know the class of Oxford, but the obvious 5d led me to the correct answer.
Many thanks to Django for the entertainment, and to ALP for the write-up.
On the cusp between a Friday backpager and a Tuesday Toughie but very enjoyable as we have come to expect from Django. Shame the lengthy clues took the last Down clue onto a second page but I was ready for such an eventuality today
Hard to pick just one favourite so I won’t. Thanks to Django and ALP
Good afternon. This was fairly straightforward! And it was completed in one sitting, straight after the Back Pager in a swifter time! 13a, 24a, 16d and 18d gave the grid some shape. 7d, 22d and 2d are my podium for the day, with the simplicity of 2d taking the honours. 7d is a new cocktail for me but it was easy to get. Many thanks to the setter and ALP for the review.
Today was one of those days when it took quite a while to get onto the setter’s wavelength. Then slowly but surely the lights started to come on.
I’ve chosen 13/24A and 8D as my picks.
Thanks to ALP the blog and parsing some of my answers and to Django for the challenge.
I found this rather slow to get in to, even though 1a leapt out at me.
No real hold-ups, just a case of re-reading clues until I got on the correct lateral thought wavelength.
My COTD is 29a for its smart cricketing connotation.
Thanks to Django and ALP.
A cracking puzzle with neat symmetry in the centre of the grid – thanks to Django and ALP.
Like Jezza I started with ‘squeals’ for 19a until 16d put paid to that idea.
My podium selections are 10a, 11a and 29a.
First time ever for a hat trick of toughies, so pleased with that. It’ll all come to a sticky end tomorrow, no doubt! This was a very enjoyable solve, I liked the little ones in the middle and the Tell composer.
Many thanks to Django and ALP.
Yes fairly 1a though I did need the hints to parse 10a and 14a also has to check 7d. Enjoyable as always. Favourite was 1d. Thanks to Django and ALP.
Had R(idge) as one of the beginners so didn’t parse 14a properly though to honest not sure if I’d have got the term for the mountain ridge anyway – my feet prefer dry land & not too high up either. Twigged the 10a wordplay easily enough but needed My G to tell me what Polly had to do with it. Otherwise largely 1a albeit much harder than a 1* difficulty for me & a far longer solve time than Hudson yesterday.
As ever with this setter a throughly entertaining puzzle (****/*****enjoyment). 29a my fav with ticks aplenty elsewhere.
Thanks to D&A – nice tunes but thought Dave Alvin a banker this time at 23d🙁
Thanks ALP and thanks all.
Ta lots for popping in. Another belter.
Cracking if 1a puzzle, with a few where I didn’t really have time to bother fully parsing the answers. I too had squeals at 19 until 16 dawned.
Because the Telegraph can’t sort out basic print layouts (they should go to The Times for lessons) 27d ended up on a separate sheet of paper and in a different room to where I am now, so I biffed an answer based on the checkers and was delighted to see it was right!
Many thanks to Django for the fun and ALP for the blog.
This was a very entertaining puzzle which I had fun solving.
It is a trifle difficult to pick out which clue to nominate for favourite. Instead, here are some from my list: 11a, 19a (like Jezza, Gazza and Mustafa G, I also had ‘squeals’ to begin with), 13/24a, 29a and 30a; 2d, 8d, 16/18d, 21d and 27d.
Many thanks to Django for the excellent puzzle which provided much enjoyment.
Many thanks to ALP for the review. I very much like your introductory comment: ‘I was delighted to see a flash of his old wordiness crop up in 8d. My clue of the day and yet more proof that – as long as the surface merits it – length is not our enemy!’. I fully agree with this. It’s the quality that is important, not the length.
Great fun, apart from the slightly imprecise 19a, but that was easily fixed. Django has mastered the overly wordy clue. I enjoy the narrative with his clues, as opposed to the loose connections of many other word salad clues we meet. Thanks Django and ALP
Thanks, Django: I enjoyed doing this on Thursday, though ran out of time to comment then. My top few were 30a (“chicken sandwich”), 3d (“EMI”), and 30a (“chicken sandwich”).
And thank you to ALP for the music and explaining the wordplay and vocabulary that was beyond me. I”ve learnt the 10a parrot — a word I previously only knew from newsreader John ‘Boggy’ Marsh regularly being labelled that by Terry Wogan and his correspondents. I almost certainly haven’t learnt the 14 ridge.
2*/4* …
liked 29A ” Broad primarily attacks wicket, always keeping eye on the ball (4,5) “
another completed toughie. Thanks ALP and setter