Toughie No 3597 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment *****
Well, what a treat Dada has handed us today to brighten a damp, grey, uninspiring UK morning! It is pretty mwah on the Wirral anyway, although thankfully we’ve been spared any excessive winds – so far. Apart from my initial horror at seeing all those unchecked initial letters when first looking at the grid, this was a pleasure from start to finish. The wordplay is wonderful, the clues concise and full of subtle mis-directions, although nothing too drastic; and a difficulty level just enough to get the brain cells working, but not over-heating. I’ve added an extra star for difficulty given the length of time it took me to sort out 6d, before leafing through the options in Dr Roget’s magnum opus made me see the light.
I have smiley faces all over my paper this morning – this was definitely a crossword that pressed all the right buttons for me. I love the wordplay in 6a, 18a, 5d, 17d and 22d; the surfaces in 2d and 23d; and the clever connection between 10a and 11a. However, I’ve decided to give today’s gold star to 18d.
Thank you, Dada, for an absolute delight!
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
Across Clues
7 Nuisance on the street having broken key law, in shock (9)
JAYWALKER An anagram (broken) of “key law” is inserted into (having… …in) synonym of shock (or a receptacle for conserves)
8 Keep shaking cart (5)
WAGON Split (3,2) the solution could be an instruction to continue shaking (or oscillating). Think dog’s tails or scold’s fingers
10 US city where gold’s found after month … (6)
JUNEAU A city in Alaska is formed from a summer month followed by (after) the chemical symbol for gold. Double makes for cleverness given the association of that city with the precious metal.
11 … why that month’s reached quickly for ephemerae? (8)
MAYFLIES How you might say you reach the month needed for 10a because the preceding month had done what time is often said to do. Probably a coupling of clues where answering the second gives the answer to the first, rather than the other way round. Very neat anyway
12 Music genre with groovy dance (3-3)
HIP-HOP A charade of a synonym for “groovy” and a slightly dated alternative name for a “dance”
14 Lower, new number (6)
NETHER The usual letter indicating “new” is followed by the other type of “number” that has nothing to do with counting, but more to do with medical activities
16 Horse has gone beyond second hurdle (4)
SNAG A derisory term for a horse follows (has gone beyond) the letter indicating “second”
17 Terribly chirpy (5)
JOLLY A double-definition, “Terribly” here being in the sense of “a lot” or “very”
18 Country coffee shop request? (4)
TOGO Split (2,2) this country is how you might order takeaway coffee
19 Nightingale, perhaps, or American rat? (6)
SINGER A double definition, with the rodent here being clearly flagged as the US sense of “informant”
21 Vegetable in pot found in rubbish heap (6)
TURNIP A three-letter “pot” often used to hold ashes is inserted into (found in) another term for a “rubbish heap”
24 Clock, item ticked off! (8)
SEETHING A charade of a word meaning “Clock” in the visual sense, and a synonym of “item”
26 Hammer with everything confiscated by police (6)
MALLET Insert a word meaning “everything” into (confiscated by) the abbreviated name of London’s police force
27 Five cuddled by a couple of players, warmer (5)
DUVET The Roman numeral “five” is inserted into (cuddled by) a name for a performance by two musicians, “warmer” here being a noun
28 Journo isn’t upset with locum (9)
COLUMNIST An anagram (upset) of “isn’t” and “locum”
Down Clues
1 Capital appropriated by punk, a bully (5)
KABUL The solution is lurking in (appropriated by) “punk a bully”
2 Brushing off blanket (8)
SWEEPING A double definition, “blanket” here having the sense of “generic”
3 Extraordinary hustle, a cracker? (6)
SLEUTH An anagram (Extraordinary) of “hustle”
4 Skim what might be skimmed off in a number of sheets (4)
REAM Take the product that is most commonly “skimmed off” (removed from) the source dairy product, and remove the first letter (ie “skim” it)
5 Perhaps little actor in village (6)
HAMLET A three-letter suffix indicating “small” (or baby) is appended to a term for a bad actor
6 Money outstanding (9)
SOVEREIGN A double definition, the first being a type of coin, the second a slightly unusual, but perfectly fair, synonym of “outstanding” in the sense of “excellent”
9 Antipodean city slowly evacuated, border raised before end of day (6)
SYDNEY Remove the internal letters (evacuated) from “Sydney”, follow that by a synonym of “border” (or edge) and then add that final letter (end of) “day”
13 One tucked into bed – ace? (5)
PILOT Insert the letter that resembles the number “one” into a synonym of “bed” (in eg the “gardening sense) to get the activity of “aces” such as Mannock or Bader
15 Substance injected, it’s manure, unfortunately! (9)
ANTISERUM An anagram (unfortunately) of “it’s manure”
17 Buffoon wearing jacket (6)
JERKIN A charade of a four-letter “buffoon” and a synonym of “wearing”
18 Petty three-in-a-bed affair? (8)
TRIFLING The solution is how you could (split 3-5 ) perhaps describe and affair involving three parties. This put a big smile on my face
20 Distraught, as “dt”, or heartbroken as “hn”? (6)
GUTTED An all-in-one (of two halves, Brian…) The solution is what you would be said to have done to the word “distraught” to turn it into “dt” and likewise “heartbroken” into “hn”
22 Row behind American (6)
RUMPUS A charade of a synonym for “behind” and a two-letter term for “American” gets a synonym of “row in the sense of “disagreement”
23 Kid with letters to read out? (5)
TEASE “Kid” here is in the sense of “wind up” and the solution sounds like the plural of a letter (or a support used in golf)
25 Just gloop on top of dresser (4)
GOOD A synonym of “gloop” precedes (“on” in a down clue) the first letter (top of) “dresser”
A terrific puzzle from Dada and as friendly as his Sunday contributions. I needed help with a couple but, on the whole, it was an enjoyable solve. Once again, I have ticks all over the paper – the DT HN at 20d, the ticked off clock at 24a and the coffee shop request at 18a, which is my COTT.
Thank you, Dada for the fun. Thank you, Whybird for the hints.
Many thanks to Dada for the entertainment, and to Whybird for the write-up.
15d made me laugh, and I also ticked 12a, 19a, and 18d.
Great fun – many thanks to Dada and Whybird.
My ticks went to 8a, the 10/11a combination, 24a, 17d and, my favourite, the laugh-inducing 18d.
I hit a northern block after ca. 60% and was about to throw in the towel. However, whilst waiting for about an hour for the hints and tips to be published, 7a and 6d suddenly came to me and the rest fell into place, so Whybird was not necessary, but thanks for explaining 20d.
A fair, but thought provoking offering from Dada.
4*/4*
What a brilliant, and doable, guzzle. You setters are SO clever. It is odd having absolutely nothing else to do except the Xword. Focuses the mind ! 14a gave me the most trouble. Many thanks to Dada and Whybird.
You swapped your “r” for a “t” which sent you into Moderation. Per your Comment on the backpager, I hope everything is OK for you and George. It comes to something when solving a Toughie is easier than buying a coffee…!
Not particularly difficult, though as our blogger says, certainly not assisted by one of those grid layouts where many of the starting letters of answers were not at intersections again.
I think the definition and solution in 24a probably works better for Americans than Brits.
Ticks go to the law breaker in 7a, the coffee shop request in 18a, the troilism romp in 18d and my favourite synonym for distraught in 20d.
Thanks to Dada and Whybird.
Time has been tight recently so the Toughie has been ignored. Having read the comments on the back pager, that today’s toughie was approachable, I thought I would give it a go. Started in the south and moved up. CoTD is 11a as wetting a fly is one of my passions, and any reference to Ephemeroptera always brings a smile to my face. Thanks to Whybird and Setter
Good fun, I smiled a lot, even tho’ the ? clues were a bit samey and the pudding is a bit over-egged at 20d. Top clue for me was 11a – a really nice example of a linked clue. Runner up, and best of the ?/perhaps clues, was 5d.
The two 18s, across and down, were my favourites from this entertaining and enjoyable puzzle.
Many thanks to Dada and Whybird.
Very accessible and enjoyable.
Thank you Dada and Whybird.
I liked 8a and 18d. 20d was very quirky, but fun to unravel.
Stand well back when RD returns from his squash club Christmas Lunch and sees the unindicated Americanism at 7a!
This is my week 2 of tackling the Toughie as well as the Cryptic and this puzzle has been a great help to get in the groove with a harder challenge.
Really enjoyed the clever and concise clueing, there were too many Oohs and Aahs to pick any real favourite. I did find 11a a tad on the perverse side though!
Thanks to Dada and Whybird for a good vehicle to start improving my skills.
Great to hear you’re enjoying Toughieland! 11a is unusual, at least in my experience (more experienced solvers than I may disagree!). The ellipsis-type clues usually just provide for improved grammar/presentation, so to have them providing a substantive link is a bit different, but clearly flagged here, I think. It’s also quite normal in Toughies to have clues that directly reference the solutions to other clues (eg 10’s month), often multiple times in a clue with a theme. And the difficulty can go off the scale if you can’t solve the referenced clue!
Another case of more haste less speed but still a brisk solve. Working down the grid I biffed in donkey at 17d then triangle (worry about the why later) at 18d with the 1st two checkers in. Errors soon spotted however. Thought this one top notch & just right for the Tuesday slot though it wouldn’t have been out of place as a Sunday PP. Ticks aplenty with 8, 10/11combo&18a plus 18&20d my picks from a great bunch. My gold ⭐ also goes to the triangle that wasn’t.
Thanks to Dada & to Whybird – reading your hint at 8a I was reminded of Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke, a role he should have received an Oscar for in my view
Thoughts of Movie Greats passed me by (I didn’t even think of Lee Marvin…). I was more exercised with trying, and failing, to equate my avatar with 17a – more my sort of cultural reference!
Nicely pitched starter to the toughie week with a few head scratchers. NE last in. Hard to pick a favourite but I’ll go with 22d. Thanks to Dada and Whybird.
I started this just after lunch on Whybird’s recommendation. I was then distracted with jobs to do for Mrs P. Whist not an unaided finish it was good fun and very enjoyable. I’ll give my cotd to Baldrick’s favourite vegetable in 21a. Thanks to Dada and Whybird.
Lovely stuff from Dada. Like you Whybird I struggled with 6d and finally, grudgingly accepted the solution! Lots to enjoy with so many witty clues. I did like the clever linking of 10 and 11a and the fun 20d but top spot goes to 28d. Thanks to Dada and Whybird.
Sorry 18d!
Only dared tackle the Toughie after Whybird’s encouraging post in the Cryptic blog, but very glad I did. The pair at 10 and 11A were great, and 18D hilarious. VMT Dada and Whybird.
I’m glad the advertising campaign was effective – and deemed legal, truthful and honest!
What a lovely guzzle, smiles all around and solved in much shorter time than most of the back pagers.
3 down – anagram of hustle (no a).
Thanks – typo corrected!
9d Remove the internal letters (evacuated) from “Slowly”, follow that by a synonym of “border” (or edge) and then add that final letter (end of) “day” is what you meant to say.
… add THE final letter of “day” but that correction can wait.
2*/5* ….
liked 20D “Distraught, as “dt”, or heartbroken as “hn”? (6)”