Sunday Toughie No 211
by Light
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
Light’s thirteenth appearance in the Sunday Toughie slot but not unlucky for me. 5d took the most time to parse, but I think I have it now. It seemed like there were rather a lot of first, last, and alternate letter uses today. I did particularly enjoy the bilberry eating bird and the Hurricane, but those were just two of a long list of candidates.
I have tried to be a bit oblique with pics and vids, so I hope I haven’t given too much away. I will try and give a nudge or two if you ask.
14a and 14d clues today I hope you have as much fun as I did.
Here we go, Folks…
As it is a Prize puzzle I can only hint at a few and hope that will give you the checkers and inspiration to go further. I’ll return with the full review blog just after the closing date. Don’t forget to follow BD’s instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!
Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also” Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious. Don’t forget the Mine of Useful information that Big Dave and his son Richard so meticulously prepared for us.
A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions. Some hints follow: Remember the site rules and play nicely.
Across
1a Book, volume that poet edited (4,2,3,3)
A synonym of volume or space and an anagram (edited) of that poet
9a Automatic rifle shell warning (7)
To rifle or steal and adjective relating to your shell like appendages. Take heed of the shell like appendages, you need them again in 13a and a warning from which the outer letters have been shelled. (Thanks Jezza et al)
12a Bird biting round bilberry now and then (7)
A synonym of biting is reversed (round) alternate letters of bilberry
I think they are junipers rather than bilberries but you get the idea
14a Congrats from university, after old academic year beset by some stickiness (4,2,3)
Some Lego™ here, O for old, an academic and a year abbreviation, are inserted into some stickiness. A university abbreviation goes after
16a Handle on post? (9)
A cryptic definition of the intended recipient of post
25a Hurricane possibly seen here in two broadcasts (7)
Two synonyms of broadcast may be a place where a Hurricane may be seen
26a “Meet and greet” in Glasgow that precedes the big fight? (9-3)
The social act of meeting and what Glaswegians do when they “greet”
Down
1d Cheese starts to ripen in August, firm and dry inside (7)
The starts of three words in the clue, contain our usual firm and an abbreviation for one who is dry or abstains from alcohol
5d Prohibition boosted interest in hardcore rock genre (7)
Boosted in a down clue indicates a reversal of to interest or catch the attention of, it goes into a hardcore rock genre characterized by expressive, often confessional, lyrics
7d Goal heralding defeat for boss of mine (12)
The goal of a prey seeking animal and to defeat or surpass
10d Leaflet saying “Spades and Cutting Tools” (8,4)
A saying or adage follows a leaflet and finishes with the playing card abbreviation
17d Small scene, one revolving around Jupiter in Cymbeline? (7)
One of the astronomical bodies that is revolving around Jupiter in a play that Cymbeline? is an example of
19d Juice in US leads to spasm around base of tender stomach (7)
An American term for the juice I power my (non-electric) car with, and a muscular spasm around the base letter of tender. An adjective relating to or involving the stomach
22d Wild animal concerning ass when upset (5)
A usual concerning or about and a person who is deemed to be a contemptible ass, are reversed (when upset)
Compiler
Light
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Found this puzzle almost on the same level as the Prize Cryptic today.
Favourite 17d.
Thanks to Light and SJB from a still overcast Aberdeenshire.
A most enjoyable and fairly gentle puzzle.
My last couple in were 7d and 26a.
Many thanks to Light and to SJB.
Not sure I understand the hint to 9a; I took the last 4 letters to be a synonym of warning without its outer letters(shell).
Of course, I fell in love with the link to 13a and couldn’t see the wood for the trees. Some more first and last letters to add to the list hmm.
I, too, had 17d pegged as my favorite, mainly because I parsed it correctly, so feeling a tad smug. I don’t always get around to doing the Sunday Toughie but if this is an example of what I’ve been missing I shall make time in future. This was really enjoyable and nicely testing.
My thanks to Light and SJB.
A top-notch puzzle from Light – thanks to him and SJB.
As Jezza says ‘Shell’ in 9a is an instruction to peel the outer letters from a synonym of warning.
I particularly liked 11a, 25a, 26a and 17d.
A doubly light Light Toughie which was most enjoyable
I agree with earlier comments with regard to the role of shell in 9a
Thanks to Light and SJB
I found this harder than others it seems, compounded by my entering [redacted]. Can explain no more for fear of finding no cake on the Naughty Step but i then ground to a halt in the SW.
Favourite 10d and 17d.
Thanks to Light and SJB.
Sorry about the redaction, but definitely alternative answer territory. I don’t approve of them because they are badly treated and force fed coffee 🍒 to collect the coffee beans in their 💩 to make coffee!
What no Yottie!
Yup. No cake 😱! I knew it…..
Sorry Yottie!
So, i doubt you’re interested, but i sailed through indonesia 11-12 years ago. In Bali there’s a coffee plantation tourist attraction where you can try various coffee blends including the one to which you refer which was DISGUSTING….. and very pricey.
My grandson is on his world tour, currently on Lombok but will be in Bali this week. The clue concerned, wrong tho i may have been, led me to contact him and tell him not to bother to visit the plantation. 😎.
(Obviously, i left the plantation believing the little luvvies grazed on them as they fell off the bush. No mention of force feeding……..)
I am interested and a big coffee buff. It fits in with my 4 C,s Crosswords, Cycling, Cheese and Coffee. The cheesy bit is represented by the Yorkshire Pecorino (an aged version of the cheese required for 1d) I follow James Hoffman who I respect for his stance towards Kopi Luwak coffee and although I have been tempted in the past I won’t be contributing to the trade in cat poop
An enjoyable and manageable SPT for me. My parsing of 9a followed SJB’s original, but have to agree the amendment is much more appropriate. Plenty of smiles with 13a, 14a, 23a and 19d being memorable, but my COTD goes to the Glasgow call to arms at 26a.
My thanks to Light and SJB
Setter here. Thanks all, and thanks to SJB for the hints.
The god Jupiter does indeed appear in a scene in Cymbeline, so 17d is Ofsted-approved!
Just finished the toughie which I found to be a gentle ride compared to some Sunday offering . Nonetheless I needed help to finish . Even with the letters 17d thwarted me.23 and 26 also caused me problems although on reflection I make 23 my cotd .15 and 10 occupied podium places . Thanks to all .
I have just finished this fairly benevolent toughie although I am struggling to parse 17d. Weekend visitors are very nice but do mess about with one’s guzzle time. Many thanks to Light and to you SJB (regards to Mama Bee)
Cymbeline is a play by Shakespeare and as such is a *****tic work, insert one of the moons of Jupiter to get a small scene
Only just got round to this & found it trickier than others evidently did but very much enjoyed it. Wasn’t familiar with the Scottish ‘greet’ so that needed investigation, forgot the Jupiter moon for the umpteenth time & I’m far from convinced about my answer to 23a – if I have it correct can’t see where the D comes from or that it is particularly synonymous with what I assume to be the definition. On the plus side I did shell the warning & remembered the music genre.
Thanks to Light & of course to John – give me Laurence Harvey as Joe Lampton is the film adaptation at the top rather than the illustrated Mel G in one of the most undeserved Oscar winners in recent memory.
I read that too quickly, thinking for a second that you meant Gibson had appeared in some ghastly remake of that great book>flick. Twould have been the most heinous piece of miscasting since Sly in Get Carter#2. Doesn’t bear thinking about!
😁
The remains are that which you meticulously sweep from discs on your Linn, add being before the beak and a genealogical son
What a muppet I am – my remains came off my cigarette rather than my vinyl.
No wonder neither the answer or how the D got there made sense.
Clips of Laurence were too revealing, so in order to avoid using spoilers i went a bit oblique
An enjoyable and not overly Toughie puzzle from Light, which merited too many ticks to fit onto my usual podiums, but here they all are anyway – 12, 21, 25 & 26 Across and 1, 15, 17 & 18 Down, golds being awarded to 25a and 17d. Recognising the ‘greet’ in 26a provided a nice PDM, the other good PDM being when I twigged 16a. Last one in was 7d, where I needed to write the crossers out horizontally to identify the ‘boss’ I had been anticipating from the wordplay. The ‘rock genre’ was not in my vocabularly and having now read about it I’m not surprised it failed to enter my consciousness. The fly in my ointment was the ‘shell warning’ in 9a, where the required letters and the word ‘shell’ led me down a rather poorly constructed garden path, so my thanks to Jezza for pointing out the correct route.
Thanks to Light for the entertainment, and to SJB for his Hints and illustrations.