Toughie No 3609 by Chalicea
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
Hello, good whenever and welcome from a grey, but calm, Wirral today.
Chalicea has turned up the difficulty dial a little in places for this puzzle; this is certainly not a Floughie, but was finished in just about in one-star time for me. Amongst a few “gimmes” are some slightly more unusual senses and at least one pitfall for the unwary solver, although nothing that requires knowledge of what I would class as obscurities. All very fairly and clearly clued, too. My podium places today go to 25a, 14d and 18d. Thank you, Chalicea, for an enjoyable solve.
As this is my final blog of 2025, I will take this opportunity to wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year.
Please let us know how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle
Across Clues
1 Corrected golf map’s means of making route clearer (3,4)
FOG LAMP An anagram (Corrected) of “golf map” gives a motoring aid
5 Digs resting place for open truck (7)
FLATBED A charade of a four-letter synonym of “Digs” in the accommodation sense, and a place where you may take your rest.
9 Self-absorbed individual, for example, exaggerated about income support (7)
EGOTIST The abbreviation meaning “for example” is followed by a three-letter term meaning “exaggerated”, with the latter surrounding (about) the abbreviation for “income support”
10 Involving leader of criminals, deviously casual charge (7)
ACCUSAL An anagram (deviously) of “casual” into which is inserted the initial letter (Involving leader) of “criminals”
11 Relinquish pouch if surrounded by swamp grass (9)
SACRIFICE A charade of a three-letter type of “pouch” followed by the insertion (surrounded by) of “if” from the clue into a type of grass that provides a staple foodstuff
12 Old separate style of abstractionism (2,3)
OPART The letter indicating “old” followed by a synonym of “separate” as a verb
13 Nimble and supple section of cruciate ligament overturned (5)
AGILE The solution is lurking, in reverse (section… …overturned) within “cruciate ligament”
15 Cricket side restrictions prohibited (3,6)
OFF LIMITS A charade of one of the cricketing sides and a synonym of “limits”
17 I’m pained and tense in class showing what secretaries do (5-4)
TOUCH-TYPE Insert a four-letter exclamation you might used to indicate “I’m pained” and the letter indicating “tense” into a synonym of class (or sort)
19 Strip of wood I put together for Indian weapon (5)
LATHI Combine a name for a wooden trip (often encountered with plaster) and “I” from the clue
22 British predominate and flourish (5)
BLOOM Take the letter indicating “British” followed by word meaning “predominate”
23 Publicity risk, an exciting experience (9)
ADVENTURE A two-letter term for a type of “publicity” followed by a synonym of “risk”
25 Running around little character from abroad (7)
OMICRON Take a two-letter word meaning “running” and insert (around) a prefix meaning “little”
26 Travelling rep penning wrong date in paperwork (3,4)
RED TAPE An anagram of “rep” (travelling) surrounds (penning) an anagram (wrong) of “date”
27 Enticingly shows Democrat ways of looking at things (7)
DANGLES The abbreviation for “Democrat” is followed by a word meaning “ways of looking at things”
28 Making money, student abandons education (7)
EARNING Remove the usual letter indicating “student” (abandons) from a synonym of “education”
Down Clues
1 Disentangles first-class climbing plant (7)
FREESIA A synonym of “Disentangles” followed by an inversion (climbing) of a two-letter term that resembles a letter and number combo that can mean “first-class”
2 Lacking ability at first, coaching differently, making mini dumplings (7)
GNOCCHI An anagram (differently) of the letters of “coaching” from which the initial letter of “ability” has been removed (lacking ability at first)
3 Flustered doc with this excuse might become diabolic (5)
ALIBI A gentle compound anagram, where the solution plus “doc” from the clue are an anagram (Flustered… …might become) of “diabolic”
4 Progenitor cut bounty intermittently in inheritance (9)
PATRIMONY Take a casual term for a (male) “progenitor”, add a synonym of “cut” and then the even letters (intermittently) of “bounty”
5 Celebrity accepting Republican plan (5)
FRAME Insert the abbreviation for “Republican” into a synonym of “Celebrity”
6 A united court or one at heart really relating to writer (9)
AUCTORIAL In sequence, list the following components: “A” from the clue, the abbreviation for “United”, the abbreviation for “court”, “or” from the clue and the middle letters (at heart) of “really”. This was a new word for me, and it would have been easy to bung in a more common alternative solution which ticks all-bar-one of the boxes, and wouldn’t have worked with 10a either
7 Mother going after bears oddly with husks of Thai rice (7)
BASMATI Take a casual term for “Mother” preceded by (going after) letters 1, 3 and 5 (oddly) of “bears” and then append the external letters (husks) of “Thai”
8 Weakens essentially reediest instruments (7)
DILUTES Take the central two letters (essentially) of “reediest” and add the plural of a stringed musical instrument
14 Sadly hamper eel that’s very short-lived (9)
EPHEMERAL An anagram (sadly) of “hamper eel”, and a lovely word to boot.
16 Seer with fever composed poetry (4,5)
FREE VERSE An anagram (composed) of “seer” and “fever”
17 Banned old volunteer force showed disapproval (7)
TABOOED The old (but still commonly employed) abbreviation for a British military volunteer organisation followed by a something you may have done to show disapproval. I don’t think I’ve seen this used as a verb before
18 University, best one and almost perfect (7)
UTOPIAN A charade of the letter indicating “University”, a synonym of “best”, the letter that resembles the number “one”, plus the first two letters (almost) of “and”
20 Cataclysmic wave emptily tosses a friend in Guadeloupe (7)
TSUNAMI Remove the internal letters (emptily) from “tosses” and then append a (2,3) phrase meaning “a friend” in the official language of Guadeloupe
21 Salad plant’s large frozen mass (7)
ICEBERG Although this could be a double definition, I think it works better as a reference to part of the name of a common salad plant (indicated by the possessive) being synonymous with the solution. Perhaps an outbreak of Blogger Over-thinking!
23 Excursions with no joy initially for relatives (5)
AUNTS Take a synonym of “Excursions” and the remove from that the first letter of “joy” (no joy initially)
24 Worst moment of some in a directorate (5)
NADIR The solution is lurking (of some) within the letters of “in a directorate”
On the whole, fairly gentle, and at the same time very entertaining.
The couple that slowed me down were 11a and 4d.
Many thanks to Chalicea and to Whybird.
Best wishes for 2026 to you both.
What a delight – quite Floughie in the East, a little less so in the West – 1.5*/4.5*
Candidates for favourite – 5a, 27a, 1d, 3d, and 18d – and the winner is 27a.
Thanks to Chalicea and Whybird.
A light delight with only 19a & 6d new to me and needing BRB confirmation of their existence.
Many thanks to Chalicea and to Whybird.
After a long drawn out house move and being involved in a fatal car accident, I’m so pleased to be able to print off a crossword again. Who better to bring me gently back to normality than Chalicea. I thought she’d upped her game today but all fairly clued.
25 and 27A were my picks.
Thanks to Whybird for the blog and Chalicea for the pleasure.
Hope you all had an enjoyable Christmas.
Only 6d was a new word for me which isn’t bad for a toughie. About right for a Tuesday, though some of the clues made me scratch my head a bit. Lots to like. Thanks to Chalicea and Whybird.
I have,’t heard of either 19a or 6d but the clues gave all the information needed to get the answers. I did, however, check my answers with the inter web. I liked the resting place at 5a and I loved 1d because, although I had the answer, I didn’t enter it because it’s not a climbing plant! Read the clue, Cowling! My COTT is the enticing Democrat at 27a.
Thank you, Chalicea and Whybird.
I went through the same loop with 1d, and did a similar thing with the “almost perfect” elements of 18d, until the coinage went “plunk”
Thank you Whybird and happy solvers. As you know I am always happy when that term ‘enjoyable’ appears. Wishing you all the best for 2026.
Thanks for dropping in, Chalicea. I hope you have a happy New Year, and thanks for all the entertainment and amusement in 2025.
Same unknowns for me as RD found and I thought ‘loom’ was a bit of a stretch for the pertinent part of 22a but doubtless our setter has justified its use.
No other problems to report and my list of potential favourites mirrors Senf’s choices with 27a taking the top step.
Thanks to a decidedly non-floughie Chalicea and to Whybird for the review – love the way you invariably manage to slot in a few birdies for us!
All good wishes to both of you for the New Year.
Thanks Jane. Chalicea didn’t make the bird images easy this time round!
For 22a, I’m happy there’s a decent connection between looming over and dominance, so no worries on that score.
Have a great New Year!
Looming over is perhaps fair enough but just ‘loom’ on its own doesn’t feel quite right.
Another very enjoyable puzzle from Chalicea. I too fell foul of 6d as my initial answer wouldn’t fully parse until the penny finally dropped and it unlocked the final two in the NE. My podium comprises 7d, 20d and 27a in top spot. Thanks to Chalicea and Whybird.
A typical, fun Chalicea puzzle to ease us back into a toughie week. The only challenging bit, for me, was the SW corner, where the best clues were – 25a, 27a and 18d, all of which took a lot longer to solve than they should have.
Thanks to Chalicea and Whybird.
A lovely puzzle which I finished marginally more quickly than the back pager, although it provided more enjoyment. A few new (to me) words dotted about but all gettable even if, like others, I did initially go for a better known word at 6d. My favourite was 27a although 5a was also very good and reminded me of one of my favourite Eagles songs. Thanks very much to Chalicea and to Whybird.
As with other 6d&19a both required post solve confirmation – never come across the former & though I knew the Indian weapon from seeing footage of brutal treatment dished out by police over there I wasn’t familiar with the strip of wood. Unlike Senf I found what floughiness there was in the west with the east a good bit chewier. Anyway a cracking puzzle with excellent wordplay. Ticks all over the shop but if forced to pick a fav reckon 17a narrowly pips 4&20d.
Thanks to Chalicea & Whybird. Happy New Year both
1.5* / 4* This is one of my occasional toe dips into Toughieland and I found it very enjoyable.
Favourites include last one in 8d, the unusual banned at 17d and the anagram at 14d (nice word)
Thanks to Whybird and Chalicea
Ps also learnt a couple of new words
What a treat, the last Tuesday Toughie of the year and it’s from Chalicea. It wasn’t altogether straightforward but it was an enjoyable and educational solve with a couple of new words for me. I’m with Senf on finding the west slightly tougher than the east.
Many thanks to Chalicea and Whybird and a Happy New Year to you.
As I picked one up in Nepal I was sure 19a must be Kukri, and I was sure the first four letters must be some sort of wood new to me.
Good to see JJ at 22a, be honest, how many of you have actually read all of Ulysses?
6 and 17d were new to me, but came if you followed the instructions in either the clue or occasionally the hint. Thanks to Chalicea for rattling a few brain cells and thanks to Whybird for helping those brain cells come to a conclusion.
Happy New Year to both and everyone else here.
I have to confess to having read it all, a long time ago. It was a tribute act for my late father (who loved the book, but I suspect liked Dublin’s pubs even more). It put me off high falutin’ literature for life.
Well done you – I’m afraid it’s one of few books that I gave up on.
I lasted about 50 pages.
I had to teach part of it as an obligatory part of the International Baccalaureat curriculum but have to confess that I never read the entire work. It was hard labour!
I’ve been meaning to ask if Donnybrook took his name from the Dublin suburb.
I have taken a dip by the Martello Tower and eaten a gorgonzola sandwich in Davy Byrne’s but like your dad I know more Dublin Pubs than the rest of the book.
For me an enjoyable Toughie with only 6d being a new word needing post fill confirmation and hints required for 11a and 25a, both of which in retrospect I should have taken a bit more time over and filled unaided.
I had heard of 19a, but didn’t know what exactly it was, but did know the strip of wood so parsed it easily.
If I’m to pick a favourite it would be 17a
Thanks to Chalicea and Whybird
1*/3* …
liked 23D “Excursions with no joy initially for relatives (5)”