Toughie No 3580 by Karla
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
In a comment on his last Toughie blog Karla promised to stiffen things up in his next Toughie offering – he’s been as good as his word though this puzzle is still pretty accessible as well as being very enjoyable. Thanks to him.
I remembered to look for a Nina this time but I can’t find one – can you?
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
Across Clues
1a One quiet chat rebuffed a noisy neighbour? (8)
BAGPIPER: the Roman one, the abbreviation for quiet and an informal verb to chat all reversed followed by a preposition meaning ‘a’. This reminds me of my favourite definition of a gentleman: Someone who can play the bagpipes but doesn’t.
5a Take lager when female replaces tin (6)
PILFER: a type of lager with the abbreviation for female replacing the chemical symbol for tin.
9a Knot I covered by a carpenter’s aid (9)
SANDPAPER: what a knot (of the feathered sort) is with the I replaced by A.
11a Quickly passes records when line advances (5)
FLIES: records or dossiers with the abbreviation for line moved towards the front.
12a Club king or queen? One in a black suit (6)
BATMAN: a wooden club and what king or queen are examples of on a chessboard.
13a Dance music group pursues it, covering artist (8)
SARABAND: a music group follows an abbreviation for ‘it’ with our usual abbreviated artist inside.
15a Inclination to give high bonuses, note, inspires the Telegraph (13)
BOUNTEOUSNESS: our sole anagram today. An anagram (high) of BONUSES NOTE containing how the Telegraph may be identified by those working for it.
18a Agreements saving half of rent encourage professional (6,7)
DENTAL SURGEON: agreements of the type that Trump is very keen on contain half of the word rent. Append a phrasal verb (4,2) to encourage.
22a Sapper perhaps in location following another fighter (8)
PARASITE: a synonym of location follows an airborne fighter. I needed the assistance of Google to discover that Sapper is the name of a female supervillain with powers relevant to the answer in a role-playing game. [Or the definition could be much simpler – see what Mustafa and Frankie wrote at comment #3]
23a Writer supped periodically with Turner? (6)
UPDIKE: regular letters from supped and Mr Turner who didn’t seem to contribute much to a singing duo in the sixties.
26a Runner staffing in retirement home near Spain (5)
RHINE: assemble the reversal of the staffing department, an adverb meaning home and the IVR code of Spain.
27a A dash through China’s capital permitted in vehicle (9)
CABRIOLET: insert A and a synonym of dash or vivacity between the capital letter of China and a verb meaning permitted.
28a Lille’s outskirts entrance ambassador (6)
LEGATE: the outer letters of Lille and an entrance (or exit).
29a The Boss introducing band before city service (8)
CEREMONY: the abbreviation for a company boss contains a US rock band. Finish with the abbreviation for a US city.
Down Clues
1d President atop horse welcoming British primate (8)
BUSHBABY: a US president (you have the choice of two) followed by a brownish horse containing an abbreviation for British.
2d Cat-like animal inherited with last couple departing (5)
GENET: an adjective meaning inherited or hereditary without its last two letters.
3d What may get put into bust factory after time ignoring banks (7)
IMPLANT: a synonym of factory follows ‘time’ without its outer letters.
4d Old school expels daughter, which is fair (4)
EXPO: a prefix meaning old or former and a fishy school without the genealogical abbreviation for daughter.
6d Put air into popular key above D, delaying the intro (7)
INFLATE: an adjective meaning popular or trendy and a musical note above D (1,4) with the first letter relegated to the back.
7d Dope hidden in grains filling iron dish (9)
FRICASSÉE: a Russian doll clue. A dope or twerp goes inside grains of food and that’s all inside the chemical symbol for iron.
8d Live wires identifiable to some extent (6)
RESIDE: hidden in the clue.
10d Judge once more dealing with Jenny? (8)
REASSESS: a preposition meaning dealing with and how the creature known as a jenny might be described cryptically.
14d Solitary drink after day with Charlie (8)
MONASTIC: a sparkling drink follows an abbreviated day of the week with the letter that Charlie represents in the Nato Phonetic Alphabet bringing up the rear.
16d Stress ultimately relieved by good subordinate (9)
UNDERLING: a verb to stress or emphasize with its last letter replaced by the abbreviation for good.
17d Experts keeping north attempt descent (8)
ANCESTRY: synonyms for experts and attempt with the first containing the abbreviation for north.
19d Smell under centre of canals beginning to develop (7)
NASCENT: a synonym of smell follows the central letters of canals.
20d One’s maybe scaled theatre at start of Top Hat? (7)
REPTILE: a type of theatre precedes a dated slang term for a hat (the BRB says it is also a word for a top hat in Scotland).
21d Wind tears around interior of hall (6)
SPIRAL: reverse a verb meaning tears and append the interior letters of hall.
24d Soldier up above deluge uncovered shelter (5)
IGLOO: reverse the abbreviation for a US soldier and add a synonym of deluge without its covering letters.
25d It’s blown short South African over first (4)
OBOE: a South African with Dutch roots loses his last letter and is preceded by the abbreviation for an over in cricket.
For my podium I’ve selected 9a, 3d and 10d. Which one(s) took your fancy?
1a required the checkers and a bit of head scratching as to the parsing. I liked 5a and 6d.
Thanks to Gazza and Karla.
An excellent and very approachable puzzle!
At 12a, my first thought was hitman, but luckily I did not write it in.
Ticks on almost every one, however I will limit my choice to 9a, 12a, 29a, 10d, 14d, and 20d.
Many thanks to Karla, and to Gazza.
5* for enjoyment.
Really enjoyed that surprisingly approachable Friday Toughie. Brimming over with humour and plenty of clever clueing. Top three 9a, 3d and 18a.
Gazza – I took 22a as being a straightforward synonym for something that saps the energy of its host. The connection with an arcane fantasy fiction RPG is surely coincidental?
Anyway, many thanks indeed to Karla for the fun and to Gazza for the blogging & excellent cartoons!
I agree regarding 22a, Mus.
If there was meant to be a reference to a female supervillain, you can count me as one of her unwitting victims!
It seems as if I could have saved myself all that Googling. The supervillain does seem to fit though.
She fits perfectly, Gazza, and I’m very impressed that you found her! It’s just that I’d be surprised were she Karla’s intended basis for the answer. Such an esoteric RPG would be a rather unusual source for answers in a DT/TT cryptic.
RPGs. Different world, mate…
Just recalled the “traditional” military RPG – a bit more outdoors-y and not quite so immersive as the modern version!
I always look forward to a Friday Toughie and this certainly did not disappoint.
Best puzzle of the week for me with so many excellent clues. My tick list is in double figures, so I won’t attempt to pick a COTD or even podium.
The only word I wasn’t familiar with was the animal in 2d but it was well clued and very gettable.
Super entertainment by a setter at the top of his game.
Thanks to Karla and Gazza, great cartoons as usual.
Regarding a Nina, Gaz, I thought this grid not to be an obvious pattern in which to conceal one. How come you thought to look for one?
… because Karla often includes a Nina relevant to his pseudonym and I forgot to look on his last Toughie (3556) when there was one.
Thanks for that, I’ll remember to keep an eye out next time too.
Superb entertainment and a fairly friendly Toughie to end the week. I found it almost impossible to choose a winner from such a great selection of clues, but went for 20d.
Thanks to Karla and Gazza.
What a relief after the largely impenetrable back-pager. This was certainly challenging but very doable and a lot of fun.
From a plethora of ticks, I have chosen 9a, 29a, 14d & 20d as my top picks.
Many thanks to Karla and to Gazza.
Enjoyed the tussle with this crossword and pleased to have finished. Some of the parsing eluded me, so thanks to Gazza for the hints and tips. Lots of good clues but as we were watching a flight of knots on a sunny Morecambe Bay this lunchtime, I’ll pick that one!
Thanks to Karla for the puzzle.
Well it certainly wasn’t any more difficult than Zandio but I still found it pretty chewy in places & it was by no means a quick solve. Pleased to remember the knot but had to check on the 2d critter. Extremely enjoyable though with ticks all over the shop too numerous to list but reckon 29a was my fav.
Thanks to K&G