Toughie No 3583 by Beam
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Quintessential Beam today – very tight, very clean. Surprisingly clean-ish, in fact. But don’t worry, the usual wit is still there. 1d, for one! As for difficulty, it really rather depends on whether you’ve got your synonym head on, or not. The bottom half flew in but the top was perhaps slightly knottier. 9a’s “sensitive”, for example, took some thought, though the definition couldn’t have been clearer. In short, a delight, and a lovely way to mark my 100th blog. Where on earth did the time go, eh? All yours.
Across
8a Short car? Quite the opposite! (4)
LIMO: The short form of a “car” is actually a large one.
9a Sorry adult sensitive about record (10)
APOLOGETIC: Abbreviated “adult” + sensitive/lyrical about/containing record/entry.
10a Naval force backing international occasion (8)
MARITIME: Force/thrust, reversed/backing, plus abbreviated “international” + occasion/moment.
11a Trespasser genuinely trapped over way out (6)
EGRESS: Lurker, reversed (over) in the first two words.
12a Biting fish eating river insect (9)
TRENCHANT: Carp-like fish eating/containing the usual “river”, plus insect/soldier.
13a Hoard of money declared (5)
CACHE: Homophone of money/readies.
15a Sly person finished protecting Queen (7)
SERPENT: Finished/exhausted protecting/containing the usual “Queen”.
17a Interior’s covering explosive fuses (7)
COHERES: Interiors/hearts covering/containing (high) “explosive”.
20a What’s actually gained earning salary initially (5)
WAGES: Acrostic.
22a Slander when individual takes Independent (9)
ASPERSION: The usual “when” + individual/being, taking/containing abbreviated “Independent”.
25a Ships circling large swells (6)
BLOATS: Ships/vessels circling/round the usual “large”.
26 Caught by runner, vest creates shock (8)
UNNERVES: Lurker, hidden in the third and fourth words.
27a People purchasing pine stuff (10)
BELONGINGS: People/individuals purchasing/containing pine/yearn.
28a Ace police department getting sharp (4)
ACID: Abbreviated “ace” + “police department” (of detectives).
Down
1d Conflict with desperate sweetheart about droop (8)
DISAGREE: Desperate/grave and Beam’s usual “sweetheart” about/containing droop/drop. A very Beam surface if ever I’ve seen one!
2d It’s unacceptable holding current opinion (6)
NOTION: “It’s unacceptable” (3,2), holding/containing (electric) “current”.
3d Delirious embracing single mum being seductive (9)
RAVISHING: Delirious/hysterical embracing/containing single/one and mum/silence.
4d Older woman finished hiding desire (7)
DOYENNE: Finished/over hiding/containing desire/longing.
5d Vehicle was blue, possibly (5)
MOPED: Double definition. Vehicle + what one might have done if blue/sad. And yes, I know they’re not really *****s!
6d Press maybe seeing downturn (8)
DECREASE: What one is aiming to do (expressed whimsically) when pressing (clothes, etc).
7d Trash uniform before school (6)
KITSCH: Uniform/gear + abbreviated “school”.
14d Study missing one old head teacher (9)
GOVERNESS: Study/examine (2,4), missing one of its two O[ld]s, plus head(land).
16d Forego endless gold one plunders (8)
PREDATOR: Forego/go before, minus the last letter, plus the gold that’s not “Au”.
18d Secret drinker in almost scary clubs (8)
ESOTERIC: Drinker/toper in(side) scary/weirdly frightening, minus the last letter, and abbreviated “clubs”.
19d One’s perhaps going to court proceeding (7)
ISSUING: The usual “one is” + going to court/taking action.
21d United scored wasting time (6)
ALLIED: Scored/kept score, minus the usual “time” (at the beginning).
23d Current Republican in very hot water? (6)
STREAM: The usual “Republican” in(side) what very hot water turns into. Very Beam, this. Tickled me.
24d Posh English talk up acceptable speech (5)
USAGE: The usual “posh”, plus abbreviated “English” and talk/natter, reversed/up.
No anagrams from Beam, obviously. Instead, we have two lurkers, one double definition, an acrostic and a wealth of containment. I especially liked 12a, 1d, 5d and 7d but, as for a favourite, I’m torn between the clever 14d and the witty 23d. How did you get on?
Rapid solve so must of been wearing the synonym head today. Loved 14d.
Thanks to Beam & ALP.
Gentle and enjoyable – thanks to Beam and thanks to ALP for the review (and congratulations on reaching his ton).
Top clues for me were 1d (LOL), 5d and 14d.
I must be having a bad day as this was the hardest Beam Toughie I can recall. Nevertheless I enjoyed the challenge but now need to lie down in a darkened room …
Thanks to Beam. Thanks too to ALP and well batted on reaching your century.
Had a few difficulties with this one, the biting fish and the 17a interior being the major problems. Had to skip those and then return to them once I had a few checkers in place. Podium places eventually awarded to the folk in the pine shop, the miserable vehicle and the Republican in trouble.
My usual devotions to Mr T/Beam and to ALP for the review – hard to believe that you’ve reached that century already!
Great knock ALP, congratulations on your ton.
Like RD, I also found this a bit of a slog.
Loads of containment clues, I seemed to spend an age trying to make one word fit inside another. One or two slightly more obscure definitions didn’t help either.
My COTD is the brilliantly constructed headteacher in 14d.
Thanks to Beam and the blogger who is proudly raising his bat to an appreciative crowd.
I’m another who found this tough going but an interesting challenge and satisfying to complete. Thanks to Beam for the workout.
Congratulations and many thanks to ALP on your century! May there be many more.
Add me to RD, Frankie & Moonraker in finding this a very tricky Beamer. The 3 clues that caused the most crumpet scratching were 15a&16d then last in, by a margin though heaven knows why, 5d. With 16d I was embarrassingly slow to cotton on to the E & had I done so the answer would have been a foregone conclusion. Picks of the clues for me – 9,10,12&26a plus 3,14&18d. As the water maybe about to get hotter with a potential Republican rebellion vote to release all of those files 23d was very topical.
Thanks to Ray/Beam & congrats to ALP for raising his bat having never offered the fielders a sniff a chance & with some terrific music choices along the way.
A busy morning, and a covid and flu jab, meant a late afternoon start on this.
I would agree with RD that this is the hardest Beam toughie that I can recall; then again I’m not as quick as solving late in the afternoon compared to my usual morning routine.
Many thanks to Beam and to ALP
I would say, before RayT reads all our comments, that it was very nice to see one of his toughies worthy of its name.
Please, por favor, continue with this level of trickiness on your toughies.
I’m in the ‘hardest beam toughie I can recall’ camp. I thought it was going to beat me at one point but I stuck at it. Favourite was 1d thanks to Beam for making me realise my limitations and ALP.
Evening all. Many thanks to ALP for the analysis and to everybody who left a comment.
RayT
Hi Ray
Thanks for the excellent puzzle.
I wrote my comment above before I read yours. Bad timing on my part.
Hi Jezza,
Thanks. I try to please everybody but, unfortunately, that is not possible!
RayT
Good evening, Mr T. I’m firmly in the camp who want your puzzles to remain as they always have been – challenging at times but ultimately ‘doable’ by your faithful band of followers. After all, where would you be without my devotions!
Hi Jane,
I’ll bear it in mind!
RayT
Huge thanks for popping in, and for yet another bobby-dazzler.
I’m another one in the ‘toughest Beam I can recall’ camp. Great puzzle, very satisfying.
Many thanks MrT and ALP
In relation to 25a can I just query whether “ship”is synonymous with “boat”. To illustrate the point, I once heard it said that the boats are what you get into when the ship sinks. Comments invited.
You’ve changed your alias from your usual ‘Grammarian’ so this required moderation. Both will work from now on.
Many thanks Gazza – duly noted.