Toughie No 3585 by Dada
Hints and tips by Shabbo
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
Good morning, fellow puzzlers.
Dada is being fairly gentle with us this morning, in an enjoyable and reasonably accessible Tuesday Toughie. My ticks were for the confused directors at 7a, the winter coat at 26a, the discarded drink at 3d and the primate at 5d.
In the blog below, the definition element of each clue has been underlined, anagrams are CAPITALISED and the crossword technique “indicator words” are in brackets. The answers are concealed under the “Click Here” buttons. Please leave a comment telling us how you got on and what you thought of the puzzle.
Many thanks to Dada and to the DT Crossword Team.
Across
7a Leading directors right out at sea? (9)
STARBOARD: synonym of leading + synonym of a group of directors.
8a Builder‘s single-parent family? (5)
MASON: abbreviation for mother + male offspring.
10a Soft shrivelled thing is breaking fall (6)
RAISIN: insert IS inside a synonym of fall (think weather). I shan’t reveal what my first thought was on reading the definition part of the clue.
11a European city to leave behind, did you say? (8)
TOULOUSE: homophones of “to” (did you say) and “leave behind”.
12a Flower you picked up fed to reptiles (6)
CROCUS: homophone (picked up) of “you” inside (fed to) abbreviation for large reptilian predators.
14a Husband boards dark boat (6)
DINGHY: abbreviation for husband inside (boards) synonym of dark.
16a Melancholic ocean (4)
BLUE: double definition.
17a People waiting in order to have letter read out? (5)
QUEUE: homophone (read out) of a letter of the alphabet.
18a Swimmer in channel ostensibly doing the backstroke? (4)
SOLE: hidden word backwards (in…doing the backstroke). Our solution is a fish and is lurking backwards within words 3 & 4.
19a Piece in the wee hours broadcast? (6)
KNIGHT: homophone (broadcast) of “the wee hours” reveals a chess piece.
21a Dog with setters’ work (6)
LABOUR: abbreviation for a breed of dog + synonym of “setters’”.
24a Claret? (5-3)
BLOOD-RED: this is the reverse of a double definition. Here, a single definition makes a double solution, if that makes any sense at all! The first part of the solution is slang.
26a Take off coat of course, winter garment (6)
FLEECE: synonym of “take off” (think get away) + the first and last letters (coat) of course.
27a Cake I found alongside some croissants, for starters (5)
SCONE: synonym of I after the first letters (for starters) of some + croissants.
28a Dirty money almost entirely foreign currency (9)
MODERNITY: anagram (foreign) of DIRTY MONE(y). “Almost entirely” invites us to remove the final letter of money from the anagram “fodder”.
Down
1d Belt, regions to the North? (5)
STRAP: synonym of regions upside down (to the north).
2d Look after piano book (8)
PRESERVE: abbreviation for piano + synonym of book (a verb).
3d Drink may be thrown away, coffee’s first up (6)
COGNAC: reverse (up) a two-word synonym of “may be thrown away” + the first letter of coffee.
4d Pace is right, in short (4)
TROT: abbreviation for right inside a synonym of short or dram.
5d Primate sheltering marsupial in desert (6)
MAROON: a type of primate outside (sheltering) the abbreviation for a large marsupial.
6d Small dwelling, home soul constructed here ultimately (5,4)
MOUSE HOLE: anagram (constructed) of HOME SOUL + (her)E.
9d Sweet, day of rest for many, they say? (6)
SUNDAE: homophone (they say) of a day of the week.
13d Shilling, fine increase (5)
SWELL: abbreviation for shilling + synonym of fine.
15d Old gun in crowd of followers charged with fluffy material (9)
FLINTLOCK: synonym of “crowd of followers” (think bible) outside (charged with) a type of fluffy material.
17d Asian country after revolution embracing word of gratitude (6)
QATARI: Middle Eastern country backwards (after revolution) outside (embracing) a two-letter informal word meaning thank you.
18d White, as tureen for cooking (8)
SAUTERNE: anagram (for cooking) of AS TUREEN. I would normally expect to see an S at the end of the solution, but I see that either spelling is acceptable.
20d Good eighteen holes in soil (6)
GROUND: abbreviation for good + the term for eighteen holes of golf.
22d Old bloke, polisher? (6)
BUFFER: double definition.
23d A delightful accent (5)
ACUTE: A + synonym of delightful.
25d Undoing thread, calico no problem, last of all (4)
DOOM: the final letters of words 2-5.
All reasonably straightforward, with a couple of pauses, namely to parse 3d, and to remember the old gun at 15d.
My vote goes to 8a “single-parent family”.
Many thanks to Dada and to Shabbo.
I agree with our blogger, fairly gentle fare, although I spent ages trying to parse baboon for 5d.
My other ticks are the soft shrivelled thing in 10a, the dirty money in 28a and the drink that I’d certainly never throw away in 3d.
Thanks to Dada and Shabbo.
A fun puzzle with some of Dada’s quirkiness on show – thanks to him and Shabbo.
I expect that my first thoughts of a soft shrivelled retainer at 10a mirrored those of our blogger.
For my podium I’ve selected 8a, 24a and 3d.
Most enjoyable, I think I solved it faster than Sunday’s cryptic. Lots of amusing clues but I liked the leading directors and the old bloke (I think I probably qualify as the latter!).
Thanks to Dada and Shabbo
Probably more than a little to do with not being half asleep when solving it but found this one the easier of today’s crosswords & completed it in the sort of time I’d expect to (but certainly didn’t) polish off the AP puzzle. I quite fancy a large glass of claret with a bit of 11a sausage followed by some nice 18a. I’ll pass on the 9d but could manage some 18d with a nice salty blue cheese, preferably Roquefort & since we’re on it a nice 3d with a coffee would round things off nicely. Tonight’s planned fishcakes with green beans & bottle of London Pride seems nowhere near as exciting.Pick of the clues for me at 11,24&28a + 15&17d.
Thanks to D & the other S
Solved (nearly) this in bed this morning as rain across all of Southern Italy has brought olive harvesting to a standstill.
All went well until 28ac. Couldn’t make head nor tail of it but I suppose foreign is an anagram indicator! Moment I saw Shabbo’s hint I got it.
Thanks Shabbo and Dada for an entertaining puzzle. Now for the cryptic …
Some good stuff here. I particularly liked “right out at sea”, the single parent family, “I found” at 27a and the cleverly disguised definition at 28a. I guess the much-sought single-word clue [24a] should get an hon mensh too. Like our blogger and Gazza I first thought of Sir Henry Rawlinson’s “wrinkled retainer” at 10a!
Thanks to Dada and Shabbo.
Held up in the NW due to having the wrong for letter word at the start of 7a and being convinced that 10a began with ‘P’, so they needed a rethink. Apart from that fairly straightforward. I hope this means we’re in for an easier ride this week. Thanks to Dada and Shabbo.
All good fun. 24a and 3d get my vote. Thanks to Dada and Shabbo.
What a delightful crossie, really getting to enjoy these toughies. Chuckles on the way with the leading directors, the asian residents and the red wine. All solved without needing the hints in *** time.
We’re a day later than usual doing this as yesterday we waited in vain for many hours to be able to access the puzzles. They very rarely are published at the scheduled time since the last ‘improvements’ were made on the site. It is probably not obvious to most UK solvers but very frustrating for people like us who live in different time zones. Anyway, grouch over, now to the puzzle.
Great fun as ever from this setter, with the biggest delay right at the end with 28a.
Thanks Dada and Shabbo.