Toughie No 3562 by Silvanus
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ***
I thought this crossword was both very tough for a Wednesday and for a crossword by Silvanus
Please let us know what you thought
Across
1a Type of humour setter introduces that’s different (6)
SUNDRY Something in the sky that sets ‘introduces’ a type of humour
4a Losing one’s nerve pinching out such a plant (8)
BOTTLING Remove (pinching) the OUT from a slang phrase meaning losing one’s nerve
10a Drama group with leader cast as ancient deity (5)
HORUS A drama group without the first letter (leader cast) gives us the Egyptian sun-god
11a `Due to land after flying, covered in lumps (9)
NODULATED An anagram (flying) of DUE TO LAND
12a Chuck, excellent on reflection during party game (7)
DIABOLO A reversal (on reflection) of chuck or throw and an adjective meaning excellent inserted into a party
13a Blessed possibly going back, touring round island capital (7)
NAIROBI A reversal of the forename of the shouty actor Mr Blessed into which is inserted (touring) the round letter, the abbreviation for Island being added at the end
14a See the relics spread across Irish county (14)
LEICESTERSHIRE An anagram (spread) of SEE THE RELICS goes ‘across’ the abbreviation for Irish
17a Endless paw prints near tent’s opening, I fancy? Lynx, perhaps (14)
ANTIPERSPIRANT An anagram (fancy) of PAw PRINTS NEAR, the ‘opening’ of Tent and I (from the clue)
21a Flash, the seafood in Whitby? (7)
TWINKLE A clue to make the solver smile. How someone from Yorkshire might say the and a type of seafood
23a Assistant worried about army officer beginning to yell (7)
ACOLYTE Part of a verb meaning worried goes about an abbreviated army officer and the beginning to Yell
24a Beloved cat a Roman imperialist would keep around (9)
INAMORATA Hidden in reverse (would keep around) in cAT A ROMAN Imperialist
25a Margin of Derby victory maybe in the future (5)
AHEAD One of the margins by which a horse race such as the Derby might be won (1,4)
26a Gloom seeing irregular energy supplies depleted (8)
GREYNESS An anagram (irregular) of ENERGY and the outside letters (depleted) of SupplieS
27a Nick requires space ultimately for old wine collection (6)
CELLAR Replace the abbreviation for Old in a slang word meaning to arrest (nick) with the letter at the end (ultimately) of spacE
Down
1d Reportedly drop Christmas programme (8)
SCHEDULE Homophones (reportedly) of a verb meaning to drop and another name for Christmas
2d Set up managed share account (9)
NARRATION A reversal (set up) of a synonym for managed followed by a share
3d Make good overtures to reward nurses (7)
RESTORE Hidden in (nursed by) overtuRES TO REward
5d Jack, unexceptional England goalkeeper (8,6)
ORDINARY SEAMAN A synonym for unexceptional and the surname of an England and Arsenal goalkeeper from 1981 to 2004
6d Barman with hotel of fairly great stature (7)
TALLISH An English Renaissance composer (barman) with the letter represented by Hotel in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet
7d Start of musical piece, anthem lacking appeal (5)
INTRO The anthem sung at the beginning of Mess without the two letters meaning sexual attraction (lacking appeal)
8d Daughter visits match mostly to see winger (6)
GODWIT The abbreviation for Daughter ‘visits’ most of a phrase which can either mean match or agree with or see romantically
9d At some point it’s a choice between Robin and Doris? (3,2,5,4)
ONE OF THESE DAYS This could mean that you have to choose between one of two people with the surname shared by Robin and Doris
15d Pre-cooked food made early, chopped up (5,4)
READY MEAL An anagram (chopped up) of MADE EARLY
16d One waiting on offer goes after vacant apartment (8)
ATTENDER An offer goes after the outside letters (vacant) of ApartmenT
18d Pedantic people cycling, prickly when discovered (7)
INKHORN An adjective meaning pedantic or bookish – cycle the first letter of some people belonging to the same family and follow with the inside letters (when discovered) of a synonym for prickly
19d Maroon woven ties oilman regularly wears (7)
ISOLATE An anagram (woven) of TIES ‘wearing’ the regular letters of OiLmAn
20d Number taking industrial action heartlessly (6)
STRING Taking industrial action without the middle two letters (heartlessly)
22d Stuck on base, one sailor that’s flipping furious (5)
IRATE The Roman numeral for one and a reversed (that’s flipping) of a sailor ‘stuck’ on the symbol for the base of the natural system of logarithms
Good afternoon. The Northern half fell first with 12a needing time to parse. The South took more time and 24a is a new word for me and LOI. 11a, 13a, 1d and 5d deserve mention but cannot decide on a COTD. Many thanks for the clues and to the setter.
This was genuinely tough, but oh so enjoyable. It took several sittings to complete, with PDMs aplenty along the way.
Despite being a pedant, I’ve never heard of 18d. What a fascinating word!
From a page littered wit ticks, 1d was probably my favourite, and good that it requires the correct pronunciation for the homophone to work!
Many thanks to Silvanus and to CS.
My reward for a post-lunch walk around the village was to come home to find this terrific puzzle waiting for me. What an absolute delight, tough but fair, with lots to enjoy and the sound of coins regularly hitting the floor. Hard as always to select a favourite, but I think it’s a toss-up between 21a and 1d.
Many thanks to both Silvanus and Sue.
Yes, slightly trickier than usual from Silvanus. Great fun, mind. 1a tickled me, 17a reads brilliantly and 8d’s smart. I did think 18d was perhaps rather meanly clued for a far-from-everyday word but it was v clever. As RD says, 1d’s pronunciation is to be applauded. No flies on Silvanus! Best thanks to him and CS.
I loved it. A superb puzzle which was a joy to solve.
My favourites are 1a, 14a and 17a, but I could have listed a whole load more.
Brilliant stuff, Silvanus. Take a bow.
Thank you CS.
Another excellent puzzle from Silvanus – many thanks to him, and to CS for the write-up.
Lots of ticks; 1a was a good start, so I will opt for that.
I should have learnt by now that if an answer looks very unlikely refer to the BRB before discarding it. I really thought I knew the ‘one and only’ definition of 18d but apparently not! I checked and re-checked all my answers to the intersecting clues and finally resorted to using the ‘phone-a-friend’ facility which referred me back to the red tome. I did also have to check on both the anthem and the barman but those were far easier to locate.
Elsewhere, I found this a stiff but enjoyable challenge and was pleased to see the difficulty rating awarded by CS although I would have scored it more highly for enjoyment.
Top scorers for me were 21&23a plus 1,5,8&9d.
Many thanks to Silvanus and to CS for the review – must remember what to call RD when we next communicate!
Thanks to Silvanus for a proper Toughie (and congratulations on ‘doing the double’ today). Thanks also to CS for the review.
My last answer was 18d and I was surprised when I looked up in the BRB what it had to be from the checkers to find that it can be an adjective meaning pedantic. Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable explains that the inkhorn was the receptacle of horn, wood or metal, which pedants and pedagogues carried with them.
My ticks went to 1a, 13a, 21a, 1d and 8d.
Blimey that was hard. Needed the hint to parse 21a, I still don’t really see 7d or 20d and were both bung ins and never heard of 18d in my life. Favourite was 9d when the penny dropped. Thanks to Silvanus for the mental beating and CS.
Many thanks to CS and to all solvers and commenters. Much appreciated.
Quite tricky and a lot of fun. Our favourite is 8d, the wonderful birds that fly such a long way to spend summers with us.
Thanks Silvanus and CS.
Your comment reminded me of just how much I miss your regular reports from morning walks and the birds and other wildlife you’ve encountered along the way. I do hope that you’re keeping those up and that all is well in your corner of NZ.
Solved on a plane to Sicily, 2 short which might have been possible had google been available.
Wasn’t helped along when the steward exploded a bottle of champagne all over my paper.
Thanks to Silvanus and CS.
Having tuned into the right wavelength for the backpacker pretty swiftly I thought this might be of similar ilk. Duh! This was quite a struggle and a dnf as I had no idea about 18d and needed the hints to explain my bung-ins for 7d, 29d and 13d. So a struggle but a very enjoyable one. Ticks all over my page but podium places go to 25a and 9d when the penny dropped and top place, not surprisingly, to 1d.
Many thanks to Sue for the help and Silvanus for the double helping of fun!
Definitely a tough Toughie. I failed to properly parse 18d (one of the last ones in and I’m very late, so didn’t try too hard, is my excuse…) and struggled with 4d, mainly because the “out” isn’t needed as part of the loss of nerve term, (although it’s not wrong or redundant either). 6d’s composer was pretty obscure, and had to be looked up). I’m giving my prize to 8d, though. And it’s a good excuse to trumpet another of the UK’s waders!
Thanks to Silvanus for the challenge and to CS for the enlightenment.