Toughie No 3615 by Beam
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Toughie difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
The usual synonym work-out from Beam who has dreamed up more alternatives for “run” than I would have thought possible! Sweetheart and Queen both make a welcome re-appearance. Some lateral thinking may be required but it’s fairly straightforward. All yours.
Across
1a Benefit because one’s in line (10)
ASSISTANCE: Because/since + the usual “one’s” in(side) line/position.
6a Piece of land protected without borders (4)
ACRE: Protected/sanctified, minus outer letters (without borders).
10a Perhaps tender sweetheart’s pass gets rejected (5)
NURSE: Beam’s usual “sweetheart” (plus apostrophe ‘S’) + (to) pass/elapse, all reversed/rejected.
11a Stable lad in exercise let out (9)
PERMANENT: Lad/chap in(side) exercise/training and let out/lease.
12a One accompanies guy playing, covering Queen (8)
CHAPERON: Guy/bloke + playing/running, covering/containing the usual “Queen”.
13a Lead losing head for number (5)
ETHER: Lead/leash, minus the first letter.
15a Charge overturned in hearing I arranged (7)
ARRAIGN: Lurker, reversed/overturned in the last three words.
17a Tourist runs into one giving gratuities (7)
TRIPPER: Abbreviated “runs” inside “one giving gratuities”.
19a Terrific feeling getting thinner (7)
ACETONE: Terrific/fab + feeling/air
21a Contended, on reflection, argument’s sound (7)
NARROWS: Contended/competed (in race or election, perhaps), reversed/reflected + argument’s/tiff’s.
22a Bachelor following exotic dance (5)
RUMBA: “Bachelor” (degree) following exotic/strange.
24a Former partner’s embracing buxom models (8)
EXAMPLES: Former partner’s/old flame’s embracing buxom/full.
27a Porches traditionally sheltering large group (9)
ORCHESTRA: Lurker, hidden in the first two words. Beam laudably seems to be on a one-man mission to clue this word as many ways as possible!
28 Space admitting usually naked adults, initially (5)
SAUNA: Acrostic.
29a Alcoholic swallows hard alcoholic drink (4)
SHOT: Alcoholic/drunk swallows/contains abbreviated “hard”.
30a Pressure clot in wrong hospital department (10)
HARASSMENT: Clot/fool in(side) wrong/injure and “hospital department”.
Down
1d Spots larcenies occasionally (4)
ACNE: Alternate/occasional letters of “larcenies”.
2d Excessive load daily put into stream (9)
SURCHARGE: Daily/cleaner inside stream/rush.
3d Strips going up for nocturnal activity (5)
SLEEP: Strips/skins reversed/going up.
4d Unending yearning for drug (7)
ASPIRIN: Yearning/hoping, minus the last letter.
5d Gold atop figure in court? (7)
CORONET: “Gold” (not “Au”) + figure/number, both inside abbreviated “court”. Neat &lit.
7d Reportedly arrest foreign national (5)
CZECH: Homophone (reportedly) of arrest/stop.
8d Join force for campaign (10)
ENTERPRISE: Join/sign up + “force” (open).
9d Weaker wife with a heartless dog (8)
WATERIER: Abbreviated “wife” + ‘A’ + dog breed, minus its central letter.
14d Soldiers separate skirting a rising trail (10)
PARATROOPS: Separate/split skirting/containing ‘A’, plus (animal) “trail”, reversed/rising.
16d Lonely single proposed admitting love (8)
ISOLATED: The usual “single” + proposed/tabled, containing/admitting the usual “love”.
18d Get around established empty routine (9)
PROCEDURE: Get/acquire containing/around E[stablishe]D.
20d Fantastic woman is plump for artist (7)
ELECTRA: Plump for/choose + usual “artist”.
21d Falls once more over uncovered trap (7)
NIAGARA: Once more/anew + [t]RA[p].
23d Virile male before a short cut (5)
MACHO: Abbreviated “male” + ‘A’ + cut/hack, minus its last letter.
25d Possibly dog’s infested by small bugs (5)
PESTS: “Dog’s” (possibly/definition by example) containing/infested by abbreviated “small”.
26d Truck in detailed route going north (4)
CART: Route/path minus the last letter (detailed), reversed/going north.
We’ve got an &lit, an acrostic, two lurkers and a flurry of reversal. All very enjoyable, with 30a, 5d and 14d standing out for me. How did you get on?
A typical Beam Toughie which contrasts with today’s back-pager in terms of style but complements it in terms of a very high level of enjoyment.
I expect I am missing something obvious, but why is 20d a “fantastic” woman?
It was quite difficult to pick a favourite from such a good selection but, if you twist my arm, I’ll settle for 14d.
Many thanks to Beam and to ALP.
Hi RD, I think it’s because she wasn’t real. I don’t think Beam was thinking of Carmen *******!
The character of that name in Starlight Express was certainly ‘fantastic’ although when I saw it many moons ago, ******* was also a sexy male hunk!
This was a slightly quicker solve than the back-pager but still had the same amount of quality and guile. As neat and concise as ever, I had 5d as my worthy winner.
My thanks to Ray T and ALP.
Did anyone else bung in “awesome” at 19a? Some of it parses OK but I did spend a while trying to account for “thinner” = “some”.
Thanks to Beam & ALP.
Yes, I went down the ‘awesome’ route and reckoned it was thinner because there was only some of the feeling. It does work if you think very laterally!
All the expected trademarks from our setter with the merciful exception of lavatorial references – perhaps he actually did make the New Year resolution I requested…..
The 30a pressure caused me some grief but, once sorted out, it earned a place in the medals where it’s joined by 24a plus 5&20d.
Devotions to Mr T/Beam and thanks to ALP for the review – don’t suppose there’s much chance of changing your taste in music but I live in hope!
Hands up, H, awesome was my first thought too for 19a.
For me, this was set at about the same level of difficulty as the backpager.
I wasn’t familiar with the spelling of 12a without the extra letter on the end, though fair enough, it is in the dictionary.
The way the routine in 18d was constructed makes it my COTD.
Thanks Beam, I enjoyed that, thanks also to ALP.
Completed but not without a deal of head scratching. High on enjoyment and satisfaction. Favourite was 18d. Thanks to Beam and ALP.
I must have had a bad Beam day as I found that a lot harder than 1*! Enjoyed the tussle though and eventually got there. I also went down the awesome road until I got a ‘close but no cigar’ on submission and then the penny dropped.
Thanks to Beam for the workout and ALP.
As always, Mr Concise gives us a most enjoyable offering. So many excellent clues I found it difficult to choose a favourite. Loved the ample in 24A and the construction of 30A but the clever 5D takes pride of place.
Thanks to ALP for the blog and Beam for entertainment.
Slight false start with 13a but soon sorted when I got to the downs. 24a gets my vote. Thanks to ALP & Beam.
Evening all. Many thanks to ALP for the decryption and to all for your comments.
RayT
Many thanks for popping in – and for a lovely puzzle. Always a treat.
Good evening Mr T. Pleased to see that the resolution is holding – that’s quite awesome!
Found this slightly easier than the back pager today, but still thought provoking. I did bung in the correct 19a because I had seen something similar recently. Plenty of likes with 15a nominated as COTD.
Thanks to Beam and ALP.
1.5*/4*
NTS found it a fair bit trickier than our reviewer but immeasurably easier than Silvanus. A bit slow out the traps but once round the first bend reasonably plain sailing for a brisk(ish) completion with no parsing issues – thankfully awesome didn’t occur. The surface for the reverse lurker was my fav with 1,12&24a + 7,8&14d other particular likes.
Thanks to Ray & ALP – love that Colter Wall track (first heard on the excellent soundtrack of Hell or High Water, which is a great film) & the EP.
A very entertaining puzzle – some crackers of the Beam ilk today. 4d, 5d and 20d are all great, amongst a host of clever, concise misdirections, but I’m giving my prize to 24a. My only grumble is that 13a works just as well with alternative synonyms for “lead” (well within Beam’s somewhat elastic range) and that gives a numeric answer. That made 7 and 8 difficult until I twigged something was wrong. Still, very good fun, and I’m very pleased to find myself back on Beam’s wavelength.
Thanks to both Beam and ALP