Sunday Toughie No 199
by Zandio
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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Not too tricky today from Zandio. A good meal to start, and more to eat and sup as we go.
I am going to favour the topical 7d from a long list of contenders. Which ones did you like?
I hope you find the checkers to cross the line (11a). 14 across and 14d clues today and I have hinted half. I may be able to give a bonus nudge if asked.
Here We Go…
As it is a Prize puzzle I can only hint at a few and hope that will give you the checkers and inspiration to go further. I’ll be back just after the closing date with the full blog. Don’t forget to follow BD’s instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!
I hope I don’t have to redact any comments but I am not so new at this and don’t want to rock the boat. If in doubt, I’ll rub it out! I think that sentence is a bit redundant. You have all been so helpful in sorting out prior parsing failures, and I am sure I will need similar help again.
Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also” Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious. Don’t forget the Mine of useful information that Big Dave and his son Richard so meticulously prepared for us.
A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions. Some hints follow: Remember the site rules and play nicely
Across
9a Most natural energy displayed by 2 endlessly cycling (7)
Best come back to this after you have an answer to 2d. Start with Einstein’s abbreviation of energy, remove the last letter of 2d then “cycle” what’s left by moving the last letter from back to front.
14a Advocate magnificent shipping harbour (9)
A synonym of magnificent contains (shipping) any harbour in a storm.
16a One teaching lacrosse for pupils nets on the counter (9)
A lurker (nets) that is reversed (on the counter).
19a Kind of purple scrawl girl used regularly for reflection (5)
Alternate letters (used regularly) but reverse them (for reflection).
21a Difficulty of clue about season in Maine? (7)
Three reversals on the trot. A synonym of clue is reversed (about) and how someone from Maine refers to one of the seasons.
25a Propose a meeting with universal representation (7)
To propose an item for a meeting, A from the clue and a universal film classification. A dramatic representation of a ‘frozen’ scene.
26a Little being revealed in eerie town near Gatwick when we take off east (6-6)
A synonym of eerie and a town near Gatwick without its E for east.
Down
1d Following Grand Prix racing, girls at the finish certain to show cleavage (7)
The alphanumeric name of Grand Prix racing, the last letter of girls and a synonym of certain.
2d After getting up, one’s seat’s designed for rests (7)
A Roman one (and its plural ‘s) and SEATS are anagrammed (designed) for rests that occur after one has got out of bed. Originally from the Latin for naps taken in the sixth hour of ones day.
5d Push ecstasy hidden in drink, maybe bit of a laugh? (5-2)
To take a drink around the abbreviated drug and a bit of an early appearance for part of Santa’s laugh. He should be given the 5d until December IMO.
6d Anticipate publicity with flipping Boris, e.g. wearing golf gear (3-4)
An item of golf equipment, around the letters that we use for people such as Boris Johnson in his role as First Lord of the Treasury, are reversed after two letters that we use to abbreviate publicity.
7d News outlet, European, that stands for transfer of power (9,4)
This news outlet and an Eastern European. Quite topical. I am sure that the news outlet that publishes this crossword would rather tell us the news than be the news, as another bid for control of this “organ” fails.
8d Issue, to cross border, a railway pass in blue? (7,6)
To “issue” a drink into a glass contains (to cross) a border, a from the clue, an abbreviated railway. Blue? Is a definition by example.
15d Sellers possibly accepting a pound limit (9)
The forename of the actor who was Inspector Clouseau accepts a from the clue and to pound or beat hard.
17d
A musical interlude;
Compiler
Zandio
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Today’s blogging music has been this – pre-ordered on the first hearing.
That’s All Folks…
I found this to be great fun.
Whilst not particularly difficult, it was full of deceptive definitions, great wordplay and loads of humour.
Plenty of ticks, including the little being in 26a and the goon in 15d.
1d is my pick of the bunch, clever and funny. A wisecrack. Geddit?
Nice one Zandio, and thanks to John for the blog.
Nice wisecrack, care should be taken when looking up Icelandic cleavage. I got some NSFW images of bathers in the Blue Lagoon before I found that one
I can imagine.
I’m just glad you didn’t go down the builder’s cleavage line.
I reckon there’d be some deeply troubling pictures on view there, though I’m not prepared to confirm that assumption myself
(_!_)
For me, this was one of those delightful puzzles that looked tricky (except for 1a!) but gradually revealed itself with plenty of smiles along the way. I especially liked the Republican hot line and the little being.
I recently rediscovered Mike Harding’s album, Bomber’s Moon…he sings the Band Played Waltzing Matilda, it brings a lump to the throat.
Thanks to Zandio for the puzzle and John for the blog.
I’ll look up the Harding version, sounds interesting.
I could have played anything from Rum Sodomy and the Lash as it was there for the vivid representation of Gericault’s Raft of the Medusa on the cover.
Certainly not too tough but genuinely good fun to solve. I found plenty to enjoy, with 7d my pick of several good clues.
My thanks to Zandio and SJB.
There’s some bonkers surfaces here which, for me, diminished the pleasure of the solve. 8d and 26a are good examples.
Each to his own, but I quite liked the image of the blue passport that 8d brought to mind. And as the runway at Gatport Airwick runs east west, I thought that worked quite well.
Not as tricky as Zandio can be but very entertaining – thanks to him and thanks to SJB for the hints (and the very moving Pogues version of the anti-war classic).
My ticks went to 10a, 13a, 8d and 19d.
Hello, compiler here. Thanks very much for taking the trouble to solve, hint and discuss. Always appreciated. I’ll enjoy the musical selections later. All the best.
I managed to solve this in a quicker time than the Dada puzzle this morning.
My only pause for thought was with 15d, where I initially tried to fit (and unsuccessfully parse) an incorrect answer that fitted with all the checking letters.
10a was my favourite, and I also liked 2d (I just had one).
Thanks to Zandio for the entertainment, and to SJB for the hints
I liked 10a too. An image of a very unprofessional French preacher putting a carpet down in the vestry perhaps. I suspect I had the same wrong letters in 15d until I realised I could use them as the border in the previous clue.
The only real problem I had was with the parsing of 13a – took me ages to see the flipping obvious! Nice to see Mr Sellers getting a mention – his film ‘The Party’ had me in fits of laughter when I first watched it.
Rosettes handed out to 10,12&26a plus 1d.
Thanks to Zandio and to SJB for the hints.