Toughie 3574 – Big Dave's Crossword Blog
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Toughie 3574

by crypticsue  

Toughie  No 3574 by Hudson

Hints and Tips by crypticsue

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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty * – Enjoyment *****

Another fine crossword from Hudson.   Not the toughest of Toughies but perfect for a blogger with an extremely busy morning.  Even the things you might not know were very fairly clued

Please let us know what you thought

Across

6a           Keep off the beach? (8,5)
MARTELLO TOWER  A defensive fort built around the coasts of south and east England to defend against possible invasion by the French under the Emperor Napoleon – so the clue could read as an instruction to the French!

8a           Tables regularly cleared, great service here in France (6)
ALSACE The even (regularly cleared) of tAbLeS and a great (tennis) service

9a           Daughter and son downing vintage grog in low spirits (8)
DOLDRUMS The abbreviations for Daughter and Son between which is inserted (downing) a synonym for vintage and a particular alcoholic drink (grog)

10a         Unlimited biting insects in field (3)
LEA The inside letters (unlimited) of some biting insects

11a         Belmont heiress left on board, returning first-class (6)
PORTIA I didn’t know that this Shakespearean heroine came from Belmont, but her name is made up of the left side of a ship and a reversed ‘first-class’

12a         Perceives senior detective’s cold weirdness periodically (8)
DISCERNS Belonging to an abbreviated senior detective, the abbreviation for Cold and the even (periodically) letters of wEiRdNeSs

14a         European finance grads discharged study mission (7)
EMBASSY The abbreviation for European, some abbreviated graduates of business finance and the outside (discharged) letters of StudY

16a         Underhand former pupil reported release of privileged info (7)
OBLIQUE An abbreviated former pupil and a homophone (reported) of a leak of privileged information

20a         Cossie Wenders puts on back to front? (8)
SWIMWEAR The forename of Wenders the German filmmaker and photographer and part of a verb meaning to put on where the letter at the back is moved to the front

23a         Songs The Boss recorded (6)
LIEDER These German songs sound like (recorded) a homophone of a boss

24a         Scrooge periodically sacked a lowly employee (3)
COG The even (periodically sacked) letters of sCrOoGe

25a         Credulous former PM almost lachrymose ignoring Listener (8)
TRUSTFUL Almost all of a short-lived former PM and a synonym for lachrymose without the organ that listens

26a         One stops Joey taking covers off from Bob’s farm (3,3)
ROO BAR Remove the outside letters (covers) of fROm bOBs fARm

27a         Ugly sound sumo wrestling? It’s to do with stress and strain (6,7)
YOUNGS MODULUS Apparently this is the ratio of tensile strength to tensile strain, which my man who knows about such things says is ‘A level physics’.   Fortunately for someone who didn’t do A level physics, once you have the checking letters it is fairly easy to find a home for the remaining letters in an anagram (wrestling) of UGLY SOUND SUMO

Down

1d           Entertaining Monsieur, make a British speciality (5,3)
CREAM TEA A verb meaning to make and A (from the clue) ‘entertaining’ the abbreviation for Monsieur

2d           Usual enemies turned up to besiege Spartan leader (8)
MENELAUS Hidden in reverse in the first two words of the clue

3d           The greatest old man, first to engineer surveying equipment (7)
ALIDADE The boxer known as the greatest, an informal name for a father (old man) and the first letter of Engineer

4d           Silences shots (6)
STILLS Double definition, the first a verb meaning to silence and the second some photographs

5d           Turn aside second wife, ever misbehaving (6)
SWERVE The abbreviations for Second and Wife and an anagram (misbehaving) of EVER

6d           Town memorably turning out its pork pies (6,7)
MELTON MOWBRAY An anagram (turning out) of TOWN MEMORABLY

7d           Playing Mon: rum Arsenal XI? (5,8)
ROMAN NUMERALS An anagram (playing) of MON RUM ARSENAL

13d         Senior officer‘s high-level pass (3)
COL An abbreviated senior officer or a mountain (high-level) pass

15d         Maxim used to be upwardly mobile (3)
SAW A reversal (upwardly mobile) of a simple way of saying used to be

17d         Elgar drunk in bed after rollicking in the capital (8)
BELGRADE An anagram (drunk) of ELGAR inserted into another (rollicking) of BED

18d         Fab for one having diamonds on top of cash! (3,5)
ICE LOLLY Slang names for diamonds and cash

19d         A portion of regular clam pasta that’s light (3-4)
ARC-LAMP  Hidden in a portion of regulAR CLAM Pasta

21d         Mother’s bored by American English study centre (6)
MUSEUM An informal name for a mother ‘bored’ by an abbreviation meaning American and another for English

22d         Swear US soldier upset Yankee guy? (6)
EFFIGY A euphemism for a swear word, a reversed US soldier and the letter represented by Yankee in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

 

 

 

19 comments on “Toughie 3574”

  1. A very enjoyable toughie. Some of this was very straightforward, and there were a couple I had to check.
    I did not know the first word of 6a, nor the German at 20a, and the physics at 27a was new to me. Fortunately all were possible to solve with the wordplay and checking letters.
    I particularly liked 9a, 6d (clever anagram), 18d (brings back childhood memories) and 22d.

    Many thanks to Hudson and to CS.

  2. What a brilliant crossword and can’t disagree with Sue’s 5* for enjoyment but maybe a tad harder than 1* for me. Full of good clues but I especially liked the left, right and top long ones (the bottom one I’d never heard of). The fab one raised a smile too….long time since I had one of those.
    Many thanks to Hudson and Cryptic Sue

  3. A great training aid for my son, who is relatively new to cryptic crosswords. We found it as easy (and as enjoyable) as the back pager.

  4. I really enjoyed this with the single exception of 6a. I’ve never heard of it, and I think it is very unfair to frame a cryptic definition leading to an utterly obscure answer which the solver can’t begin to guess at, even with all the checking letters in place and despite being very sure that the second word must be “tower”. Grumble over …

    23a was my favourite.

    Thanks to Hudson and to CS.

  5. Great fun and some really nifty clueing. 6a is the best cryptic def for ages and 20a, 7d and 22d [nicely topical] were also first-rate. There were plenty of other good uns too; sterling stuff.
    Thanks to Hudson and to CS for the blog.

  6. Very enjoyable and not too tricky (apart from 27a which I’ve never heard of) – many thanks to Hudson and CS.
    For my podium I selected 6a, 20a and 26a.

  7. Certainly more than a 1* for me but a very enjoyable solve. Five items/people that I needed to check, fortunately I’m unlikely to need to remember them! Rosettes handed out to 6&25a plus 1&22d.

    Thanks to Hudson for the stress and strain, thanks also to CS for the review.

  8. A Nina alert sounded when I saw the grid, though it appears to have been a false alarm.
    Reasonably lightweight for a toughie, though
    I may have struggled with 27a had it not been an anagram, as it is new to me too.
    Very familiar with 6as however, as they are a familiar sight on the coast dahn sarf.
    I liked the reversible cossie at 20a, the watery eyed ex-pm at 25a and the foul language suggested in 22d.
    Thanks to Hudson and CS.

  9. Agree with Rabbit Dave re 6a . This was the last in and it’s inclusion certainly made it harder for me to finish the top half . Still a good workout with some great clues .I knew 27a from A level Physics and was one of my favourites along with 3d and 22d . Thanks to all.

  10. I also had to look up 6a. The rest were more fairly clued although I hadn’t heard of Mr Wenders either.

    6d is a cracking clue.

    Thanks to Hudson and CD.

  11. This one had the definite edge on the back pager in my book. I’m firmly in the loved 6a camp though it took me a while to remember what it was called. Either never heard of or more likely forgotten the surveying bit of kit & 27a certainly unfamiliar but both easily gettable. Last in was 2d & just as well it was hidden as I wouldn’t have got who Helen’s hubby was in a pub quiz. ✅s aplenty – 6,9,16,20&26a + 7,18,21&22d particular likes.
    Thanks to Hudson & to Sue.

  12. A few new words and a frozen confection that was unknown to us were what supplied the difficulty in this one. Enjoyed working it all out and then checking with our reference sources.
    Thanks Hudson and CS.

  13. What a delightful crossie, laughs all round as I completed it. Even knew the keep in 6A but spelt it wrong the first time. My sister in-law lives where 6D delights are made so that was an immediate write in. 27A took me back to A level physics. Really getting to enjoy these toughies!

  14. Super puzzle, if very gentle, and as Sue said even the obscurities were fairly clued. 6a wonderful and was a write-in while reading it; had forgotten the relevance of Belmont, but it didn’t matter, while my complete ignorance of the Wenders chap and 27a were similarly irrelevant. 3d entirely new to me but ‘could only be’. All in all a rapid and very satisfying completion.

    Many thanks to Hudson and Sue

    1. Paris, Texas & Wings of Desire are two really tremendous films of his that are well worth catching

  15. This was a bit of a struggle for me, definitely some left-field and obscure stuff. Fairly clued once you knew the answer, though. Fortunately, The Present Lady W is a fan of the frozen confection, so that deviousness didn’t trip me up. Never heard of the Spartan, and spent too much time trying to put an S into something else unfathomable. I had heard of the keep, but it was deeply buried. Didn’t know the stress factor, so more knowledge checking required, and the survey kit was another “I wonder if this is a real thing – oh, it is, well I never” item. I’m in the 6a and 20a fan club.
    Thanks to Hudson and to CS.

  16. Nicely avoided the cream/jam first debate by showing them prior to assembly👍
    Thanks to Hudson and CS.

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