Toughie No 3605 by Donnybrook
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Welcome to the Toughie Week, one and all. Summer is on its way! Let’s just hope it isn’t travelling by train…
One of the benefits of the dark mornings is that the local tawny owls are heading home to roost at a relatively civilised hour, which fits with my normal walk with Lord Alfie. I’ve managed to see them twice at close quarters in the past week, and been alarmed by nearby, loud hooting.
I must confess I was expecting something rather more festive on the crossword front this morning. What we have is the complete opposite, and whilst I did not enjoy the gloomy (not to say apocalyptic) theme early in the day, this has grown on me as I’ve dug around a bit more. Not being very clued up on Saints’ Days, it was only when I started ferreting, that I discovered that 27th Dec is the feast day for St John the Divine. The theme is therefore suitably seasonal, in a cryptic sense entirely suited to the medium! The puzzle is very clever, and there are a couple of clues I thought were great. There are a few “gimmes” to get the ball rolling, and a few obscurities to significantly raise the difficulty level. 10a and 27a get honourable mentions, 14a sneakily gets into second, but my prize today goes to 26d by a fair distance.
Thanks to Donnybrook for the challenge and the learning opportunities.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
Across Clues
8 Issue close to the mother country (9)
EMANATION Take the final letter of (close to) “the”, add a two-letter informal term for “mother” and then a synonym of “country”
9 In which situation sir drunkenly abandons wherries? (5)
WHERE Remove the letters (drunkenly – ie the letters are not in the right order – abandons) of “sir” from “wherries” to reveal the solution
10 Having swallowed punch, people in general like milk (5)
WHITE Insert a synonym of “punch” into a two-letter pronoun that “people in general” could use to refer to themselves
11 Where one eats top grub as ordered (9)
GASTROPUB An anagram (ordered) of “top grub as”
12 Extract from free lecture put in again (2-5)
RE-ELECT The solution is lurking in (extract from) the letters of “free lecture”
14 Laid back guards reportedly get paid daily (7)
DIURNAL Invert (back) “laid” and insert a three letter word that sounds like (reportedly) what you are said to do if you get paid. “Daily” here has the cryptic sense of “during the daytime”
16 Daughter upset husband whose 26 Across is 3 (5)
DEATH A charade of the usual letter for “daughter”, a three letter term meaning “upset” (or consume) and the letter indicating “husband”
18 Parody secret language English eschewed (3)
COD Remove (eschewed) the letter indicating “English” from an example of a secret language
19 British want coffee perhaps served thus (5)
BLACK The letter indicating “British” followed by a synonym of “want”
21 Defence establishment managed PC language? (7)
FORTRAN A charade of a type of defensive structure and a three-letter common synonym of “managed”
22 This writer in Somerset town delighted (7)
CHARMED Insert a term that our setter may use to refer to himself into a Somerset town (think salad leaves)
24 Plague from substance one used in Paris (9)
IMPORTUNE A charade of a synonym of “substance” (in the sense of significance) and how the French may say “one” (used in Paris)
26 Smack the Pony (5)
HORSE A double definition, the first being a drug-related synonym, the sense relating to the solution being new to me. Thanks to Gazza for the information on this aspect!
27 Firm‘s great deal with rag trade worker (5)
TONED A charade of a three-letter synonym of a “great deal” (think weights) and an abbreviation for someone who works in what could be cryptically be described as the “rag trade”
28 Chiefly sombre in nature possibly? (9)
SATURNINE The “?” is a strong hint there is something funny going on here, and in this case, it is an all-in-one clue that needs you to solve an anagram (possibly) of the initial letter (chiefly) of “sombre” and “in nature”
Down Clues
1 Neologism going around Liberal America (3,5)
NEW WORLD Take the item that is a “Neologism” and insert the letter indicating “Liberal”
2 Nice to embrace a maiden whose 26 Across is 19 (6)
FAMINE Take a synonym of “Nice” (in the sense of OK) and insert (to embrace) “a” from the clue, and the cricketing abbreviation for “maiden”
3 Upright post devoid of colour (4)
PALE A double definition
4 Betray impatience? Fine, I would understand (6)
FIDGET A charade of the letter indicting “Fine” and a a (2,3) way someone might say “I would understand”
5 Partial description of Möbius strip (3-5)
ONE-SIDED A double definition, the first being an indication of bias, the second being one of the notable properties of a Möbius strip. This would also work equally well as an “all-in-one” given that the solution is only one property of the eponymous strip
6 Forest denizen on doorstep’s outside with adult (3,5)
RED PANDA Take a two-letter term meaning “on”, follow that with the external letters (outside) of “doorstep”, then another word for “with”, then the usual letter for “adult”
7 Pet rabbit periodically covered in salon product (6)
GERBIL Take a product used in (hair) salons and insert alternating letters (periodically) of “rabbit”
9 Sent north, Callow, whose 26 Across is 25 (3)
WAR Invert a synonym of “callow” (ignore the capital letter, this has nothing to do with the actor)
13 Headless ram? Heavens! (5)
ETHER A synonym of “heavens” (in the sense of a non-physical region) is formed by removing the initial letter (headless) of a name for a castrated ram, which was new to me
15 Uninvited guest‘s offence – e.g. turning up, getting kicked out (5)
UMBRA Start with a synonym of “offence”, then remove the inverted letters of “eg” (turning up – this is a down clue – getting kicked out. The solution is an archaic term meaning an uninvited guest, usually apparently an unwanted “plus one”, a sense which was new to me
17 American protein shakes: that’s poison (8)
ATROPINE An anagram (shakes) of the usual letter for “American” and “protein”
18 Conservative running hunt whose 26 Across is 10 (8)
CONQUEST A charade of the letter indicating “Conservative”, a two-letter synonym of “running” (or working) and a synonym of “hunt” (or mission). A perhaps less-well known member of today’s theme
20 RFK here regularly travels over border for dish (8)
KEDGEREE An anagram (travels) of the alternating letters (regularly) of ““RFK here” surrounds (over) a synonym of “border”
21 Spirited duke imprisoning European: end of story (6)
FEISTY A synonym of “duke” in the sense of a body-part into which is inserted (imprisoning) the letter indicating “European” followed by the final letter (end) of “story”
22 Energy-saving old car found (6)
CREATE A term for an old car surrounds the usual abbreviation for energy (Energy-saving)
23 Gloomy note written about world and its end? (6)
MORBID Take a note from the tonic solfa, insert (written about) a three-letter synonym for “world” (or sphere) then add the final letter of “world”, too (and it’s end?) The question mark is a hint that there is a bit of double-duty going on here
25 Socialist article from German revolutionary (3)
RED Invert (revolutionary) one of the articles in German
26 Centre for an audience does attract one (4)
HART A homophone (for the audience) of a word meaning “centre” is an animal that might be attracted by “does”. This is very cleverly hidden, and there was a loud “clunk” when this finally revealed itself.
A very clever crossword indeed, although I did wonder whether Donnybrook was being paid by the word!
Happy Christmas and thank you to him and Whybird
This was pretty tough by any standard and the theme escaped me for most of the solve. The obscurities were bung-ins rather than worked out, which I found frustrating, but the quality of the rest of the grid saved the day. My favourite, like our blogger, was the clever misdirection in 26d.
Many thanks to Donny and Whybird.
No problem in the north. Not being able to solve 26a until last held me up and even then it was a bung in. 15d and 17d were new to me, 18d was another bung in and I needed the hint to parse 26d. All in all pretty difficult for a Tuesday. Favourite was 22a. Thanks to Donnybrook and Whybird.
I only worked out the theme after I had finished the puzzle, so that slowed me up a bit.
Quite tricky in parts, particularly the SW corner, but I really enjoyed the challenge.
I thought 21a dated back quite a while, but was surprised to see that it was born way back in 1954!
Enjoyable despite the somewhat gloomy theme! Thank you Donnybrook.
Very jealous of your tawny owl sightings, Whybird. We hear them regularly in the oak trees at the back of your garden, but it is always after dark and we rarely see them. Wonderful birds. Thanks for the blog.
What an absolutely superb puzzle, one of the most enjoyable I’ve encountered for ages.
Not particularly difficult, but full of humour and misdirections.
I unmasked the theme fairly early on which helped solve the linked clues and being familiar with the street slang referred to in 26a certainly helped too.
The duke in 21a made me laugh aloud.
Take a bow, Donnybrook that was a work of art, my thanks also to Whybird for the blog.
I really enjoyed this one though I found it a tad tricky in places. I was embarrassingly slow to realise the rag trade had nowt to do textiles & had to verify the computer programming language post completion (I don’t do low level never mind advanced) & likewise the castrated ram, though that at least rang a vague bell once I’d worked through the alphabet for which letter to discard. The theme was obvious even to me & has prompted me to search out & rewatch Eastwood’s very underrated allegorical western (magnificent opening sequence) that’s a loose remake of/ homage to Shane. 26d my clear fav too.
Thanks to Donny for this & all of his excellent puzzles throughout the year & for always popping in. Thanks also to Whybird, whose hints I’ll now read to check I’ve parsed ‘em all ok. Happy Christmas both.
This was a bit different, and very enjoyable indeed. Fortunately I twigged the theme quite quickly, which is something I am reasonably clued up on.
There were a few stings in the tail to complete the puzzle, but it was well worth the effort.
Many thanks to Donny and to Whybird.
Very clever and entertaining if somewhat 23d for Christmas week – many thanks to Donnybrook and Whybird.
I ticked 8a, 10a, 14a, 4d, 22d and 26d.
Just the job. A bit more of a challenge than the usual Tues Toughie and very cleverly done. I found most of the top half relatively straightforward, except for 2d but then 9d gave a steer towards the theme. Just as well because the lower half was much more taxing. Top clues were the thematics; of the rest 21d [the spirited duke] gets my vote.
Thanks to DBrook and Whybird.
My goodness what an absolute treat! Thank you so much NY for a marvellously entertaining and clever puzzle. Thank you also to Whybird for the one or two elusive explanations (15 and 24d).
For someone like me that is fairly new to the Toughie, this puzzle proved almost unsolvable without the hints from Whybird, so thank you very much!
I still dont understand what the theme is in spite of the few comments made, I thought at first it might have been linked to the Apocalypse but realised later I was on the wrong track.
For me this was not an enjoyable puzzle but it did provide some unique and difficult challenges that hopefully will benefit my ongoing induction into the vagaries of Toughie Land.
Thanks Donnybrook, how on earth you think up some of these clues is just amazing!
Hi Roberto. I’m pleased the hints were useful! Your theme is correct, or at least as I read it. The linked clues (and a couple of the others) are linked to riders referenced in Revelations, although 18d wasn’t one I remembered. It’s been a while since I read it.
I agree with you about the ingenuity of our setters. There must be something in the way their brains are wired up!
Your satnav wasn’t wrong – the last of the 4 horsemen rides a 3/26 in the Book of Revelations (hence the Pale Rider film clip) the others have 10,19&25 nags. No 4 is the personification of 2,9&18d + 9a.
He’s a clever fella that Doorknob
I should have known all this, last year we visited Angers in the Loire Valley and went to see the Apocalypse Tapestry in the Castle there. One of the biggest and most beautiful tapestries in the world and has a large room all to itself https://www.destination-angers.com/en/tourism/best-things-to-see-do/wander-around-castles/visit-chateau-angers/the-apocalypse-tapestry/. Highly recommend a visit if you are ever in the area!
Crikey that is impressive
Enjoyable and straightforward – other than the unfamiliar to me horseman at 18d – and ironically 26a was one of my last ones in. A shame the page had to be reversed and the last 2 down clues printed upside down below the across clues. Yet again entirely the fault of the utterly inept DT IT department rather than the setter.
Many thanks to Donny and Whybird.
That was much tougher than we were expecting on a Tuesday. Ended up with a wrong answer for 26d where we settled for a smaller animal that is almost a homophone of a word meaning ‘this place’ (or possibly ‘centre’). Should have thought a bit longer on that one. Struggled with the geography for 22a too. But that’s not surprising.
Thanks Donnybrook and Whybird.
Definitely not the most straightforward of Somerset Towns even for a Brit!
Tricky for me today! It’s Christmas time, and alcohol and puzzle solving don’t go well together…
Many thanks to Donnybrook and to Whybird; Merry Christmas to you both.
I think the 20d hint needs a minor tweak as the F isn’t needed.
Thanks Jezza. I had twigged that when I solved the clue, but got carried away when typing it up. And I can’t blame excess for that. So obviously it must be due to a deficit…
Finished the daily cryptic early, so gave this a go ! Completed in a reasonable 2.5* time, certainly not straightforward and needy some parsings explained, also learnt some new words.
Thanks to Donnybrook and the Whybird
Thanks all, esp Whybird.
I suppose Revelation being NT is vaguely Christ-massy, and it does have that promise of a new Heaven and a new Earth, even if getting to them might be a slightly fraught process. Religion, eh. Anyway, which horse is YOUR favourite?
Tommy Cooper had a bet on a horse once, 20-1. Came in twenty past four.
VHC & HNY from me.
NYDK
Badum-tish!
Thanks for dropping in, Donnybrook. Since I read the book, I’ve always preferred Gaiman & Pratchett’s Good Omens version of events.
Thanks for all the challenges and fun this year. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you!