Toughie No 3614 by Shabbo
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Congratulations to Shabbo on the publication of his first Telegraph Toughie. The crossword was a long way from being able to be described as fiendish so I would not imagine that anyone will have needed to 10a!
Please let us know what you thought
Across
1a/5a Manchester man confused with a sailor (8,6)
MERCHANT SEAMAN An anagram (confused) of MANCHESTER MAN and A (from the clue)
5a See 1 Across
10a Restart the drier, or stop trying (5,2,3,5)
THROW IN THE TOWEL One might stop and restart the drier to put in an item of washing that had originally been left out
11a Avocets flying in formations of eight (7)
OCTAVES An anagram (flying) of AVOCETS
12a About to embrace very small Greek character (7)
OMICRON A synonym for about ‘embraces’ extremely small
13a Drinker back after ten swilled port (8)
ENTREPOT A reversed (back) drunkard goes after an anagram (swilled) of TEN
15a French barman‘s irony driving out Republican (5)
SATIE Some irony without the abbreviation for Republican
18a Independent judge is hot under the collar (5)
IRATE The abbreviation for Independent and a verb meaning to judge
20a Tasering disperses helium? (5,3)
INERT GAS Helium is an example of the solution; an anagram (disperses) of TASERING
23a Preacher lost out, featuring in Mirror (7)
APOSTLE An anagram (out) of LOST inserted into (featuring in) a verb meaning to mirror or imitate
25a Liberate reef? (3,4)
SET FREE Liberate tells you what to do with REEF
26a Rogue nation cut up, notice?? (11,4)
PUNCTUATION MARK An anagram (rogue) of NATION CUT UP and a verb meaning to notice
27a First born occupies Bayfield estate (6)
ELDEST Hidden in (occupies) the last two words of the clue
28a Fools with current liquidator? (8)
ASSASSIN Two separate follows and the usual ‘current’ or fashionable
Down
1d Top Cat up for recommendation (6)
MOTION A reversal (up) of a phrase that might mean the top male cat
2d Manage to hug educated woman I begin to attract in romantic situation (9)
RURITANIA A fictional place defined as any place of adventure, romance and intrigue, I usually think of it in connection with the book in the illustration – a verb meaning to manage ‘hugs’ the name of the woman ‘educated’ in a particular film, followed by I (from the clue) and the beginning to Attract
3d You and I fly around at the same time (7)
HOWEVER A verb meaning to fly goes around you and I collectively
4d Canniness concealing cardinals (5)
NINES Hidden in the first word of the clue
6d Demands chicken rumps in Bow? (7)
ENTAILS How a person from Bow or anyone else dropping their Hs might refer to chicken rumps
7d Second wherry oddly becomes cutter (5)
MOWER An informal short period of time and the odd letters of WhErRy
8d Nero wickedly suffused with desire in the past (2,6)
NO LONGER An anagram (wickedly) of NERO ‘suffused’ with a verb meaning to desire
9d Choke or accelerator? (8)
THROTTLE Today’s old friend of the crossword solver – a double definition, the first a verb, the second a name sometimes given to a car’s accelerator
14d Basic main facilities set up (8)
PRIMEVAL A synonym for main and a reversal (set up) of an informal name for the ‘facilities’
16d Ate, perhaps, in rest periods? (3,6)
TEA BREAKS An anagram indicator follows a rearrangement of ATE
17d Major tech company in the city (3,5)
BIG APPLE Great or major and the name of a tech company
19d Assets coming from eastern countries (7)
ESTATES The abbreviation for Eastern and some countries
21d Giant about to be replaced by a queen (7)
TITANIA Replace the Latin abbreviation for about in an adjective meaning giant with A (from the clue)
22d Endlessly tugging waistcoat (6)
JERKIN Remove the final letter (endlessly) from tugging
24d Drank topless, being possessed (5)
OWNED Swallowed or drank without its first letter (topless)
25d Complements managers actions (5)
SUITS Triple definition: looks attractive on, an informal name for business managers or some legal actions
What an utterly charming debut – great stuff. 1d’s “top cat”, 2d’s “educated woman”, 6d, etc. Hats off to Shabbo and best thanks to the happily-restored CS.
Brilliant puzzle, thank you Shabbo. Really enjoyed solving this, too many good clues to pick a favourite but liked the French barman as I like his music.
Thanks too to Cryptic Sue
A very pleasant introductory Toughie for our former blogger that was a perfect illustration of a puzzle that didn’t need to be seriously hard in order to be highly enjoyable. 1a went in straight away which helped speed up the solving process. I had quite a few ticks but my winners were 2 and 8d.
Many thanks and congrats to Shabbo, and thanks as always to Sue.
A most enjoyable challenge, with as CS says no need to 10a, except for one thing that cost 0.5* on the enjoyment rating – the three letter anagram in 13a! 1.5*/4.5*
Candidates for favourite – 15a, 25a, 6d, 8d, and 21d – and the winner is 6d.
Thanks Shabbo and congratulations on your elevation and thanks to CS.
A terrific puzzle making for a very enjoyable solve. Didn’t know the word at 13a so needed Mr. G. for that but the rest went in steadily. I loved the French barman at 15a and, reportedly, he ate only white food. Lots of others to like but my COTT is 6d with its chicken tails.
Thank you, Shabbo and congratulations on a cracking debut. Thank you, CS for the hints.
13a – a very unusual word, yet coincidentally it has now appeared in Toughies twice in just 5 days, and under two different definitions: today a port, and on Friday in Osmosis’s puzzle, a storehouse/arsenal.
I knew I’d come across it very recently but couldn’t for the life of me remember where.
Still took a while to twig mind
As I would expect from my near(ish) neighbour a lovely debut puzzle. Elegantly clued throughout & though by no means difficult (perfect for a new Monday Toughie methinks) great fun to complete. A head scratch with the last 2 in at 13a&14d turned what would have been a very swift completion into merely a brisk one. Ticks aplenty – 11,12,13,15&25a + 1,6,16,21&25d my top ten.
Thanks to Shabbo & Sue
Lovely puzzle, a great debut, though not too testing. Hugely enjoyable from start to finish, which for me happened to be S to N. Ticks everywhere, broad smiles at several, including 15a & 6d, joined on the podium by 2d though there were many candidates; lots of top-notch surfaces. A very accomplished puzzle.
Many thanks to Shabbo, congratulations on the elevation to the setters’ ranks, and thank you for all your excellent puzzle blogging as part of the BD team.
Thanks also to CS whom it is wonderful to see “back in the chair” – and I hope you are comfortable in it!
1 and 5 across was a very solid start and set the tone for an enjoyable solve.
I do like clues which read well and there were plenty of smooth surfaces here, which is impressive for a newcomer to the art of setting.
LOI was 25d, I could see it was a triple def but had to go through the alphabet before I got there.
Congratulations Shabbo, a fine start to your new career and thanks to CS for the blog. (Don’t even think about venturing out when there’s ice around, with your new knee).
A splendid debut. Ticks all over the oche. I didn’t know 13a or 15a but fairly clued and anyway I do now. Hard to pick a favourite but I’ll go with 9d. Thanks to Shabbo and CS.
An excellent opening puzzle from what will assuredly be a long Toughie setting career – thanks to Shabbo and CS.
I wondered whether an apostrophe after the second word would improve the surface of 25d?
My ticks went to 1d, 6d, 16d and 24d.
Great puzzle, and I won first prize in the family challenge, beating all of Shabbo’s many other siblings 😊
I’m really intrigued now – what was the family challenge?
First prize was a night out with me. Second prize was two nights out with me.
I could cope with that – as long as you were footing the bill and I could take Heather with me as my bodyguard!
I claim second prize, two nights out with Shabbo ….. but it was a joint effort with Shabbo’s Sister-in-law. Very proud of my brother. And also “Shabbo’s Sister” for easily winning the family challenge.
Welcome to the blog
Very enjoyable without being too challenging. For me, being relatively new to taking on the Toughies, it was my fastest solve yet with everything falling into place after 1a/5a was a ‘bung in’. 26a and 6d are my podium choices.
Thank you Shabbo.
Congratulations, Shabbo, on your debut … hope to see you again soon in the Toughie slot and/or the back-pager.
The French Barman gets an appreciative wave of the baton from the conductor’s rostrum. 🎼🎶
Just the way I like my Toughies – thought provoking, chewy in parts and with excellent surface reads. An excellent debut from our latest recruit to the DT team who will, I’m sure, be sorely missed from our own blogging team.
Clues that particularly appealed to me were the formation flying team, the port swillers, the top cat and the joint flying exercise. Special mention for the 25d triple which is something of a private joke.
Many thanks and congratulations to Shabbo and thanks also to CS for the review – good to see you back but please do take good care of yourself.
Congratulations Shabbo on your debut puzzle. A thoroughly enjoyable top quality puzzle in our opinion. Lots of ticks on our pages but top honours go to the triple definition at 25d.
Thanks Shabbo and CS.
Thank you to all who have commented. Your positive messages are much appreciated.
Thanks also to CS for the blog.
I do not usually step into Toughie World, but because it was you, Shabbo, just had to – and was not disappointed. Managed to finish with a little help, and thoroughly enjoyed. Looking forward to lots more from you. Thank you.
I don’t often attempt the Toughie but thought I would try with Shabbo’s debut. I’m so glad that I did, I really enjoyed it. 13a was a new word for me and 14d my LOI.
Top picks for me were 15a, 26a, 2d and 25d.
Thanks and congratulations to Shabbo for his wonderful debut Toughie and to CrypticSue for the hints. Please be careful in this weather with your new knee
Shabbo’s excellent start in his new role matching that of Jacob Bethell in Sydney. Lovely puzzle, and nicely accessible for someone like me who only makes occasional forays into Toughieland. VMT also to Sue.
What a magnificent debut Toughie puzzle from Shabbo! Initially, this did not seem at all like a Toughie, as I was able to solve eighteen of the clues very quickly, though it took me a lot of time to tackle some of the others. I wasn’t aware of the educated woman which I am sure I guessed correctly, but I Googled for 15a to find and wonder about the barman’s composer! The only cIue for which I had to look at just the hint from CS was the triple definition clue. I particularly liked 13a because it was a word I learnt at Alliance Française and remembered. There were several other clues that I enjoyed solving such as 1a/5a, 10a, 20a, 25a, 28a, 1d, 3d, 8d, 16d, 17d, 19d and 21d. Many thanks and heartiest congratulations to Shabbo from whom I have learnt a lot and wish him continued success in the times ahead. My thanks also to CS for her wonderful review which I later read in full. I again pray to the Almighty (as I have done several times during the past two months) to bestow upon her sound health and the courage and strength to walk as before.
A great debut which occupied me for a bit longer than it did some others by the looks of it. 16d was my favourite with special mentions for 10a and 26a, not least because they provided me with plenty of checkers as well as being good clues. 13a has been duly added to my vocabulary book. Thanks very much to Shabbo and to Cryptic Sue for helping me understand a couple of my solutions.
It’s late, but as many know I don’t do the cryptic till late afternoon and the toughie in the evening so I rarely comment.
But this puzzle definately deserves one. Elegant, concise and fine wordplay with just a little trickery here and there to rate it is a toughie.
A mention for 1d, 25a, 36ac and my LOI 14d – loved the pennydrop facilities.
Well done Shabbo and look forward to future challenges and thanks to CS for sorting out 6d for me. I got it but often miss those cockney references when trying to parse the answer!
I don’t usually venture into Toughieland after Tuesday but after recommendations from the cryptic blog I thought I’d give it a go. A tremendous puzzle with loads of humour and clever misdirection. Favourite clues include demands at 6d, basic 14d and the French barman at 15a.
Thanks to Sue and Shabbo (no pressure but you’ve set yourself a high bar)
Congratulations to Shabbo on his first puzzle. I don’t usually have the time for cryptic and toughie but made an exception today.
3*/5*
I thought it was great fun and fairly chewy in places – 2d, 13a and 15a for example
25a, 25d and 28a favourites
As we’ve had 28a I expect to see Orchestra ans Serengeti very soon!
Thanks to Sue for the hints.
Congratulation on your graduation to the Toughie, Shabbo with an assured debut crossword. It is a great encouragement to see another former Rookie reach the status of a national setter and a great testament to foresight of Big Dave in setting up the Rookie Corner. Thanks too to Crypticsue for the review.
I have had a very busy day but I was never going not to tackle Shabbo’s debut Toughie. I have always thought that he had the talent to become a nationally published setter, and this opener proves this emphatically.
Concise and clever cluing together with super-smooth surfaces made this a joy to solve.
Many thanks to Shabbo. I’m looking forward to this being the first of many. Thanks to CS.
Excellent stuff from Shabbo, just right for a Wednesday evening. Lots of clever clues 1d, 20a, 25a in particular, but I’m giving my prize to 11a – a lovely surface.
Thanks, Shabbo, and also CS for the blog
Thank you Whybird. I thought you would enjoy the avocets.
Popped out for an hour this afternoon to our local bird reserve and saw green sandpipers, teal, water rail, common snipe and two jack snipe.
I loved this. Many thanks Shabbo and congratulations.
Thanks and welcome back to CS too
A couple of words new to me (13a & 2d heard of but forgot the romantic and fictional link) earned its Toughie(ish) status.
Thanks to Shabbo for a great debut and to CrypticSue for blogging – it keeps the brain and the knee moving!
Congratulations Shabbo on your excellent debut Toughie. I hardly ever tackle the Toughie but thoroughly enjoyed this and finished almost unaided. Thanks to you and to CS for your hints – I needed to clarify parsing of a few of my answers.
This was my first completed Toughie which I was determined to have a go at and support Shabbo in his debut role as a Toughie setter. I looked at it last night with just 2 clues left to complete tonight. Really enjoyed the journey and lovely to have CrypticSue doing the hints which I looked at for my final 2 answers. Confirming my thoughts just lacked the confidence!
Congratulations Shabbo , I’ve only just got round to doing this toughie which very enjoyable . Thanks to all .