Toughie No 3563 by Kcit
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
A surprisingly gentle Thursday Toughie from Kcit, though 16d’s GK certainly had me Googling. Always grand to learn summat new. All yours.
Across
1a Again impeded by twisted muscle, or another muscle (6)
BICEPS: An adverb that means “twice” or, literally, “again” (in music), contains/is impeded by (chest) muscle, reversed/twisted.
4a All Fools’ Day squabble mostly about stimulant drink (8)
APERITIF: The (contracted) date of All Fools’ Day (3,1) + squabble/spat minus its last letter (mostly), containing/about the usual drug/stimulant.
9a Not partial to lose time regarding nerves (6)
NEURAL: Not partial/unbiased, minus the usual “time”.
10a Settled hill by a lake shore (8)
LITTORAL: Settled/landed + hill/peak + ‘A’ + the usual “lake”.
12a Embroidery accessory a bit too much on being placed in basket (6,4)
COTTON REEL: (a bit) too much/excessive + ‘ON’ placed in(side) basket (lobsters, etc).
13a Black, fetid, covering stone (4)
INKY: Fetid/smelly, minus (covering) the abbreviation for “stone”.
14a Place to stay some eleven nights when upset (3)
INN: Lurker, reversed (upset, unusually, in an across) in the fifth and sixth words.
15a Disorderly police raid probing unusual signs of debt (11)
RUMBUSTIOUS: “Police raid” probing/inside unusual/strange and the usual signs of debt, AKA promises to pay.
18a American hoping Albion fails, after dropping in? That’s dislike of England (11)
ANGLOPHOBIA: A[merican] + HOP[IN]GALBION, failing.
20a Male emerging from Italian lake – wow! (3)
COO: The first Italian lake you’ll (probably) think of, minus the usual “male”.
21a Klingons primarily annoy … me? (4)
KIRK: K[lingons] + “annoy”.
22a A good move forward, not favouring provocation (10)
AGGRESSION: ‘A’ + the usual “good” + move forward/advance, minus (not) favouring/supporting.
24a A non-professional group receiving credit for promptness (8)
ALACTRITY: ‘A’ + “non-professional group” (clergy, etc), receiving/containing the abbreviation for “credit”.
25a Attendant at funeral is increasingly low? (6)
KEENER: Double definition – noun plus adjective. Low as in competitive (price, etc).
26a I’d money for translating new Keats poem (8)
ENDYMION: IDMONEY, translated, plus the usual “new”.
27a Whiskey concealed in a cash box for whenever one chooses (2,4)
AT WILL: The usual “whiskey” inside ‘A’ + “cash box” (in shop, say).
Down
1d Good French friend collecting English porcelain (4,5)
BONE CHINA: The French for “good” + friend/pal, collecting/containing the usual “English”.
2d Assume working peer to take precedence? (5,2)
COUNT ON: Peer/aristocrat (taking precedence, i.e. going first) + the usual “working”.
3d Chamber group: not pair playing, I start to observe (5,4)
PIANO TRIO: NOTPAIR, playing, + ‘I’ + O[bserve].
5d Several factors not involved with these formal concerns of nutritionists? (5,7)
PRIME NUMBERS: Formal/proper + food additives (1,7) listed on packets that nutritionists might scan or check, etc.
6d Cobblers appearing on a list (4)
ROTA: Cobblers/nonsense + ‘A’.
7d Canadian city also suppressing nonsense about name (7)
TORONTO: “Also” suppressing cobblers/nonsense (6d will help!) containing/about the usual “name”.
8d Knowing about a lot of historic indiscretion (5)
FOLLY: “Knowing” (or “hip” in the US) about/containing historic/former, minus its last letter.
11d Forget them playing game since things began (4,3,3-2)
FROM THE GET-GO: FORGETTHEM, playing, + (board) game.
16d Short-term answer having international hosted by Council venue (9)
TRANSIENT: Abbreviations for “answer” (3) and “international (1) hosted/contained by the venue of the 19thcouncil of the Roman Catholic Church between 1545 and 1563. Well, of course it was!
17d Reliable relative throttling Charlie, a rascal (9)
SCOUNDREL: Reliable (as a pound, say) + the abbreviation for “relative”, throttling/containing NATO’s “Charlie”.
19d Newspaper upset secure American actress (7)
GARLAND: Newspaper/tabloid, upset/reversed, + secure/win.
20d Church against restricting current Italian region (7)
CHIANTI: An abbreviation for “church” + against (not pro), restricting/containing (electric) “current”.
21d Simple to discard one after King or Jack (5)
KNAVE: Simple/artless, minus the usual “one”, after the abbreviation for “king”.
23d Depressing energy expressed by grunge (4)
GRIM: Grunge/dirt, minus E[nergy] (i.e., expressed).
Four anagrams, a lurker, an all-in-one and a fair few gimmes (five ‘A’s, etc) made for a brisk solve. I enjoyed 1a, 21a tickled me and I learned summat new in 16d. How did you get on?
This would have made a nice Friday backpager, albeit one where you don’t know what random things you know until they turn up in a clue like 16d
Thanks to Kcit and ALP
I didn’t know the Keats poem, but the anagram fodder led me to the answer.
15a is a word I’ve never heard, or used before; one I might try and bring up in a conversation one day!
Thanks to Kcit and to APP.
Good afternoon all. This was gentle but still took some effort. 9a, 15a, 1d, 6d and 20d are my top picks. 26d is new to me and a google search was needed to confirm such a word existed. Many thanks for review and to the setter.
Not too hard today but still not sure about 25 a . Didn’t know the poem and used e help for one or two, not AI ? Thanks for the explanation for 4a , could only work out part of it . Thanks to all
Pleasant and pretty straightforward – thanks to Kcit and ALP.
I have ticks against 4a, 5d and 8d.
Not as easy for me as others have found it – answers went in OK but some of the parsing took a bit of effort. Bet I can’t remember the Council if it turns up again and very little chance where the Keats poem is concerned either! Personal choices were 13&27a plus 6d.
Thanks to Kcit and to ALP for the review.
Needed the hints to parse a few and didn’t know the poem or the council venue. I stiffness find this as straightforward as some but nothing new there then. Favourite was 15a,splendid word. Thanks to Kcit and ALP
I do enjoy the toughie and have been visiting this site for some time (without joining the discussion, as I seldom complete the grid on the day)…however, recent retirement has given me a bit more time… and I am curious about the * rating… I found this one much harder to solve than yesterday’s, but it is given 1* to yesterday’s 3 (or was it 4?)… i struggled to satisfactorily parse some of the clues though the answers were obvious from the checkers, 8d for example.
Still, it was a diverting and enjoyable puzzle, so thank you KCIT and cryptic Sue for the explanations!
Welcome aboard, Rory. The ratings are all subjective and, as such, purely a (very) rough guide.
Mostly straightforward and fair but I had “leaner” as the answer to 25a defined as a person attending a funeral who is not an immediate family member but nonetheless feels a strong sense of loss and grief.
This was a real struggle for me. Didn’t know the funeral attendant, and the obtuse second definition didn’t help; and didn’t (and still don’t) recognise “covered” as a deletion indicator. However, I did recall the poem from the last time I had to look up Keats’ works.
Thanks to Kcit and ALP for opening my eyes!