Toughie No 3629 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Hello and welcome to another Toughie week. Could someone kindly go out and switch the Wirral’s daylight on, please? It still feels like nighttime, although I know it isn’t, thanks to a disturbed night courtesy of Lord Alfie-du-Sniffs who dragged me from my slumbers twice for access to the garden… I should take that as a positive, but I’d much rather he hadn’t helped himself to whatever dubious substances he found whilst fossicking around Birkenhead Park yesterday!
We have something of a challenging puzzle from Dada today – definitely no Floughie for me. My heart sank when I saw the grid – I always find the proliferation of unchecked initial letters to be a challenge. Then I thought we might be on for an easy-to-spot Nina that may have helped, but, alas, no such luck – at least not as far as I can see! The solve wasn’t helped by getting my first one in (9a) wrong – being too clever for my own good. There are some quite tough nuts to crack amongst a smattering of “Gimmes”, and to my taste there are too many onomatopoeic-like terms employed. But there are also some gems, and some “usual suspects” with lesser-spotted – but perfectly fair – meanings to get the cogs whirring. Rosettes from me today for 15a (my last one in), 20a and 4d, but my overall prize goes to 2d.
Thanks to Dada for unlocking the mental machinery, and for the first time in a while providing me with an obvious bird illustration!
Please let us know how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle
Across Clues
8 Acknowledgement of error as tool almost overturns (4)
OOPS Reverse (overturns) a domestic “tool” used in eg kitchens and for dining (and perhaps even playing golf) and remove the final letter (almost)
9 I say nothing I say! (3)
OOH The letter that resembles the numeric “nothing” followed by an exclamation meaning “I say” as in “gosh”. For the record, my initial effort was “EGO” which nearly works…
10 Cricket side stopping one run, one can but dream! (2,4)
IF ONLY The upper-case letter that resembles the number “one” and a three-letter word meaning “run” has a cricket side inserted (stopping)
11 Very weak leader in office somewhere in South Africa (6)
SOWETO A (2,3) expression that could mean very weak (especially when applied to avidly non-Thatcherite Conservatives) is followed by the first letter of (leader in) “office”
12 Lower note (4,4)
TAKE DOWN A double definition, and if you are thinking cattle and music, you’ve fallen for the subtle Cryptic-crossword-habits misdirection
13 Extinct bird in hand, green one unfortunately stuffed by swine (9,6)
PASSENGER PIGEON A four-letter synonym of “hand” (as in transfer) is followed by an anagram (unfortunately) of “green one” into which is inserted (stuffed by) a synonym of “swine”
15 As kids, say, one going topless on Italian island (7)
CAPRINE A popular Italian island (think Gracie Fields) followed by “one” from the clue lacking the “o” (topless) to get an adjective applicable to a type of animal
17 Giant starter of Welsh rabbit, perhaps? (7)
WHOPPER The initial letter (starter) of “Welsh” followed by a term that could be used as a synonym of “rabbit” (hence the “perhaps?”) based on their movement
20 Pretty popular lot turned out with a feeble pupil (9,6)
BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE An anagram (turned) of “out” and “a feeble pupil”. I suspected an anagram straight away, but it took a while before I found the correct fifteen letters, twigging that “out” was part of the anagram, not the anagram indicator
23 Master actor due to perform (8)
EDUCATOR An anagram (to perform) of “actor due”
25 Checker of story after story, on reflection, very happy (6)
ELATED Invert (on reflection) a synonym of “story” and follow that with a two-letter abbreviation for the person who checks stories, especially articles in newspapers
26 Tone evident in scowl by military leader (6)
COLOUR A two-letter abbreviation for a “military leader” is followed by a synonym of “scowl”
27 My character (3)
GEE A double-definition, the first being an exclamation of surprise (tinged with disappointment or sympathy) and the second a letter of the alphabet
28 Vegetable, revelation reportedly? (4)
LEEK This type of vegetable sounds like (reportedly) a means of unofficial or unauthorised dissemination of information
Down Clues
1 Holy smoke atop a crown (6)
CORONA A charade of a three letter exclamation meaning “holy smoke”, a synonym of “atop” and “a” from the clue
2 Daft female, one might say, or examiner (8)
ASSESSOR Take the usual three-letter Crosswordland animal associated with stupidity, and then append a suffix used to indicate the female variety of a noun (not so often encountered in these gender-sensitive times) then follow that with “or” from the clue
3 Be remembered – as would Titanic (1912) or Wall Street share prices (1929)? (2,4,2,7)
GO DOWN IN HISTORY The answer here is a term that could also describe what happened to the Titanic and the share prices in the indicated years (which are of course in the past)
4 Where decline picked up? (7)
WHITHER An old-fashioned way of synonym of “Where” sounds like (picked up) a synonym of “decline” (eg what happens to plants that don’t get watered)
5 Recover and learn music? (4,2,3,6)
PICK UP THE PIECES This is almost a double definition (I’m not calling it that because of the “?”) but the solution is also a cryptic definition of “learn music” based on a (4,2) synonym of “learn” and a (3,6) phrase that could refer to works comprising part of a musical whole. It would have been simpler to explain by just calling it a double-definition! But I’ve managed to avoid the Average White Band
6 Sweating greyhound, perhaps, favourite on a roll? (3,3)
HOT DOG A “Sweating greyhound” is an example (perhaps) of this component of a roll-based snack (as well as being the name of the snack itself)
7 Well, after uprooting of large canine (4)
FLOW Reverse (after uprooting) a large canine, a frequent villain in nursery rhymes
14 I won everything, though not all … (3)
ONE The answer is lurking (though not all) in “won everything”. “I” here is not really a letter, it’s the Romans again
16 … that’s great! (3)
ACE The solution to 14a is a synonym of the solution and vice versa! Another clue (to go with Hudson’s last week) where the ellipsis means a direct connection between the clues, not simply a matter of surface reading/grammar
18 Fifty feeds for suckling, in all likelihood (8)
PROBABLY Insert (feeds) the Roman numeral for “Fifty” into a phrase made from a synonym of “for” (as in “in favour of”) and a four-letter synonym of “suckling”
19 Shock from current loss about right (7)
OUTRAGE Insert the usual letter indicating “right” into a term for the loss of electrical power. I spent a lot of time trying to solve this based on the usual letter for electric current and a synonym of “loss”
21 Anything but freezing out (6)
UNCOOL A double definition, the second being in the realms of fashionability – or otherwise!
22 Misleading comment on rising cardinal numbers (6)
LIEDER A synonym of a (deliberately) misleading comment followed by an inversion (rising) of the colour of which “cardinal” is an example. “Numbers” here is music-related, not quantity or anaesthetic.
24 One’s opened packaging from deliverer filled with doughnuts (4)
DOOR The outer letters of (packaging from) “deliver” are filled with two instances of the letter that resembles a doughnut
I found this very challenging which was unexpected given that it is Tuesday and Dada is the setter. I finished in a 4*time and will admit that ego was my first thought for 9a. I would imagine Whybird and I weren’t the only ones to do so
Thanks to Dada and Whybird
I also tried to make ‘ego’ work, remembering the title of Sandy Balfour’s crossword book I Say Nothing (3). (Which, thinking about it, I should probably read again now I’ve progressed to somebody who can sometimes solve the things.)
Today’s actual 9a does feel a little same-sidey.
An entertaining and quirky puzzle from the Master of Quirk – thanks to Dada and Whybird.
My first thought for 9a was also ‘ego’ but I didn’t write it in as I couldn’t fully parse it.
Ticks from me for 10a, 15a, 17a and 18d with my favourite being 3d.
I am glad that CS used the term ‘very challenging’ as I, too, found this pretty tough for a Tuesday. It was all fairly clued, though, so I have no complaints. It was typically Dadaesque, with some really hard parsing to sort out. For favourites I liked 3 and 5d.
Thanks to both Dada and Whybird.
This was pretty tough for a Tuesday Toughie. I thought it was a mixed bag with some very good clues, some less so. In particular, three of the four three letter clues seemed weak, and there were a couple of unconvincing surfaces in evidence, notably 13a.
My podium comprises 12a, 2d & 22d.
Thanks to Dada and to Whybird.
I wasn’t particularly enamoured with the three letter clues either. That said, it must be difficult to come up with something witty or original given the limited number of letters to play with.
I went down a different blind alley for 9a and pencilled in oho.
Not really my cup of PG, but thanks anyway Dada and Whybird.
I found this fun, with many enjoyable clues. The answers I got myself were at the difficulty I was expecting for Dada, but I needed Whybird’s hints with two to go — the crossing 9a and 4d.
Thank you for those, and also for explaining the parsing of a few others. For instance I didn’t know the scowl in 26a, and having erroneously allocated the first 3 letters to the military leader rather than only 2, I obviously couldn’t find the scowl in dictionaries either.
For 18d, I put in E for the final letter, until the puzzles site told me it was wrong. But the -E version seems to work for both the definition and the suckling — can anybody explain why the answer has to be the adverb rather than the adjective?
My top couple where the 18d current loss and the 22d cardinal numbers; I also enjoyed the 12a lower note, the 15a kids, and the 17a giant. Thank you to Dada.
Whybird, re your comment on 5d, I once went to London for a job interview at The Guardian, and ended up eating my lunch in a plaza outside Liverpool Street station, where music was being played by a group calling themselves the The Below-Average White Band. It was a disappointing day: somebody in HR had phoned a few hours earlier saying they couldn’t find the interviewer so told me not to bother setting off — then were nonplused when I pointed out I was already hurtling down the East Coast Mainline to London, having departed Newcastle some time earlier; apparently they’d forgotten that the North existed. So The Average White Band always makes me think of being stood up by The Guardian while jobless, and being out £50 for the train ticket.
Hi Smylers, That HR department may be running the country now. I’m not sure that is much comfort for anyone, but it might explain a lot. However, that is a great name for a band, if not really worth £50 to unearth it!
On 18d, I think the adverb works better for the surface/grammar of the clue. I agree the individual elements work with the adjective, but if you re-read the clue with both possible answers inserted, it is a better sentence with the adjective. I must admit I went straight to the adverb, and didn’t even consider the alternative. Maybe today is the day I should buy a lottery ticket…
Thanks — that’s a good point about looking at 18d as a whole.
Definitely a quirky challenge with lots of fun. I thought 8 and 9A gave it a great start and happily, I was right onto his wavelength. I also liked 11 and 15A, the cleverly disguised lurker at 14A and 17D. My favourite was 2D
Thanks to Whybird for the blog and Dada for the enjoyment.
Dada certainly lives up to his name with this quirky job. I liked it a lot although I remain to be convinced by “uprooting” in 7d [can anyone]? My top picks were 15a and 4d, although I did rather like the weeuns too. I was in the “oho” camp for first stab at 9a.
Thanks to Dada and Whybird.
“Uprooting” isn’t the greatest, I agree, but it is clear enough, I think. And no issues with the tiddlers in isolation – it’s just the collection of sounds in one place that’s (very mildly) irking me!
Sorry mate but it ain’t clear enough to me. It’s one of those indicators where we all think ‘”yes that’s what it means” but actually it doesn’t mean that at all – look in Chambers, there’s no sense whatever of inversion or turning upside down. But I remain open to correction of course.
Maybe not in the literal sense, but if you put the roots up, then the top goes down. Yes, it could mean something else then than inversion, too, but that’s fine. It’s within my Toughie Tolerances for a cryptic inversion indicator – not that that carries any weight with anyone.
Add me to the Ego club (at least until I reached 3d). Some head scratching today. 5d gets my vote.
Thanks to Dada and Whybird.
Delightfully quirky sums up this one for us and we’re also in the club that wanted to put EGO in for 9a. 10a our favourite.
Thanks Dada and Whybird.
Like others I was half expecting a Tuesday Dada to be on the more placid end of the spectrum. Managed about 40% on the first pass and then ground to a halt. A short nap followed by a cup of tea and an extinct bird flew at me to get the show on the road again, leaving 5 unfinished. Whybird put me straight on 20a as I had being trying to make an anagram using ‘lot’ instead of ‘out’.
This enabled 5d leaving 9a, 12a and 4d requiring hints.
My favourite was the visualisation of the Titanic at 3d.
Thanks to Dada and Whybird
Very tough for a Tuesday. 15a was a new word for me but fairly clued. Favourite was 19d as it took a while to see what should have been obvious but wasn’t. Thanks to Dada for the brain mangling and Whybird.
My worst Toughie performance in a very long while excepting Elgar & Osmosis puzzles. Felt sure this one had been plucked from this setter’s Graun puzzle drawer. Struggled after 9 answers, eked out 7 more then eventually lost patience & revealed 5 letter checkers to grind out a finish. About the only crumb of comfort to be found was that Sue said it was very challenging. I did like 3 of the 4 long ‘uns.
Thanks to Dada & to Whybird.