Toughie No 3635 by Dharma
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Toughie difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Typically sharp but fair definitions from Dharma with some knotty wordplay. For some reason, I found this slightly harder to break into than usual but once the top fell, it was a brisk-ish solve. All yours.
Across
1a Bar essentially trendy, bitter’s chilled (7)
RESTFUL: Bitter/aggrieved, bar/minus [tr]EN[dy].
5a Cycle was hard with pressure on to take the lead (3-4)
PRE-WASH: “Was” + abbreviated “hard”, after abbreviated “pressure” and two-letter “on”.
9a One’s upset about American hospital food (5)
SUSHI: The usual “one’s” is less usually (in an across) upset, i.e. reversed, about/containing abbreviations for “American” and “hospital”.
10a Man aboard small boat gets emergency medical cover (4,5)
SKIN GRAFT: Man (chess) aboard/inside abbreviated “small” and (makeshift) boat.
11a Current price to get hold of male fashion becoming excessive (10)
IMMODERATE: (Electric) current + price/charge holding/containing abbreviated “male” and fashion/style.
12a Accommodating each youth on vacation is okay (4)
YEAH: Y[out]H accommodating/containing abbreviated “each”.
14a See, cutting egotism not complicated for fan of six-footers (12)
ENTOMOLOGIST: See/behold, cutting/inside EGOTISMNOT, complicated,
18a Club sandwiches possibly tuna with half of best spread (6,6)
PEANUT BUTTER: Club (golf) sandwiches/contains TUNA+BE[st], possibly/anagrammed.
21a Referee starts action taking only seconds before Hearts score (4)
ETCH: Second letters + abbreviated “hearts”.
22a Beat It belted out by Nick, which may be useful for Queen? (4,6)
FLEA COLLAR: Homophone (belted out) of beat it/get away + nick/arrest.
25a Breaking locks, criminal slept in with police officer (5,4)
SPLIT ENDS: SLEPTIN, criminal, plus a usual “police officer”.
26a Remarkably, actor unneeded (5)
EXTRA: Triple definition.
27a Military force evacuated refuge before first strike? (7)
RESERVE: R[efug]E + “first strike” (tennis, etc).
28a Our French bread ingredient not hot, don’t worry (2,5)
NO SWEAT: “Our” in French + (a) “bread ingredient”, minus abbreviated “hot”.
Down
1d Plain piece of bread after cycling back from deli’s devoured (6)
RUSTIC: “Piece of bread” (not slice) with its letters cycled, devouring/containing [del]I.
2d Possibly oil in first pair of SEATs unchanged (6)
SESAME: First two letters of “seats” + unchanged/identical.
3d Victoria’s genuine material for writing pretty thick, but not black, lines (4,6)
FAIR DINKUM: Writing material/product, lined/contained by pretty/attractive + thick/stupid, minus abbreviated “black”. One usually sees “lines” as an insertion, but “to line” can, of course, also mean “to border” as in “crowds lined the roads”, etc.
4d Door maybe not opening? One’s unlikely to get in first (5)
LOSER: What a door is by example, minus its opening/first letter.
5d Mentions tips on solving cryptically? (6,3)
POINTS OUT: Reverse anagram, i.e. what two words, cryptically, might lead you to “TIPSON”.
6d Hunk cutting wife’s fringe (4)
EDGE: Hunk/lump, minus abbreviated “wife”.
7d Learned cooler half of Bordeaux’s inspired by Zola’s final chapter (8)
ACADEMIC: Cooler/summat that cools, plus “half” in French inspired by/inside [Zol]A + abbreviated “chapter”.
8d Weapons buried in outbreaks of peace? (8)
HATCHETS: Cryptic definition.
13d Shows off with job people looked up to (4,6)
ROLE MODELS: Shows off/poses, with/after job/function.
15d After due consideration, loan can be dealt with (2,7)
ON BALANCE: LOANCANBE, dealt with.
16d Look to pinch empty store’s doormat? (8)
APPEASER: Look/seem, pinching/containing S[tor]E.
17d Maybe Tiger Woods’s ultimate eating demand – raspberries (8)
CATCALLS: “Tiger”, by example, + [Wood]S, eating/containing demand/need.
19d Dress from Crew, with old red covering (6)
CLOTHE: Crew/(large) group, covered by old red/communist.
20d Absentee soldier, largely faithful to the crown (6)
TRUANT: Faithful/true, minus the last letter, with the usual six-foot “soldier” to the fore/crown.
23d Right to stop a relative lighting up? (5)
ARSON: Abbreviated “right” stopping/inside ‘A’ + “relative”.
24d Prison disturbances on reflection out of the ordinary (4)
STIR: (Public) disturbances, reversed, minus the abbreviated “ordinary”.
We’ve got five anagrams, including a reverse, one cryptic definition, a triple and a homophone, etc. I especially enjoyed the definitions in 5a, 3d and 16d as well as the homophone indicator in 22a, 7d’s “half of Bordeaux” and 20d’s “to the crown”. 5d’s fun, and 10a reads well too. Smart stuff. How did you get on?
Another excellent Toughie!
A mixture of straightforward and quite difficult.
The only one I didn’t get was 3d, which although I know the expression, I would never have got.
My top three were 5a, 10a, and the triple definition at 26a.
Many thanks to Dharma and to ALP.
I forgot to mention that I was slow to parse the first two letters of 7d; cooler=AC.
Silly of me really! Especially as we have 4 of them in our home in Valencia.
A cracking puzzle from Dharma – thanks to him and ALP.
This is just how I like a Toughie – clever wordplay, well-disguised definitions and a welcome lack of obscurities.
Ticks from me for 10a, 3d, 5d and 8d with my favourite being 22a.
A real bum biter this one! Threw me off kilter a few times. But eventually got to the finish. Bravo Dharma. V. Good wordplay
Unusually for me, I solved this one back to front, rising up from the south and finishing in the north-west, spending too long trying to cycle the wrong piece of bread in 1d. On reading our blogger’s notes, I see I was not alone.
The other cycle mentioned in 5a got a tick as did the club sandwiches in 18a and tips on solving in 5d.
The ripper expression in 3d was best of all though and deserves a raised glass of the golden throat-charmer.
Great fun as always from Dharma, my thanks also to ALP.
Found this a tough nut to crack but got there eventually albeit with 7d unparsed & a fair few of whys needing a good crumpet scratch. Really enjoyed the tussle & appreciated the clever wordplay. ✅s aplenty – 5,10&22a + 3,7&16d the standouts for me with 22a my fav.
Thanks to Dharma & ALP for the review & music
Another tour de force from Dharma. Certainly I found it tougher than you ALP but that’s not unusual! Lots to like with, as we have come to expect, some clever wordplay and some well disguised definitions such as those in 1a 10a and 25a. I did need the hint for 5 across which enabled the pennies to drop for 5d – I do like a diy anagram – and for my favourite clue 8d. Several more could have been on the podium. Many thanks Dharma for a thoroughly enjoyable workout and to you ALP for the blog.
Many thanks to ALP for his usual spot-on review and to those who’ve left a comment, always hugely appreciated here.
Ta lots for yet another absolute banger.
Really clever and well constructed clues, some rather tortuous.
Was beaten by a few and a little annoyed except for 3d – completely thrown by this and its my COTD
5*/5*
Thanks to Dharma and ALP
Proper Thursday challenge, a steady solve broadly from S to N, and good exercise for the LGCs. Plenty of PDMs.
Many thanks to Dharma and ALP
Dharma never fails to entertain and entertain this Toughie most assuredly did!
To be honest, I found it a little trickier than usual. Nonetheless, the extra effort to find the right wavelength reaped a super reward. The clueing is excellent, the misdirection superb! My overall assessment is ***/*****.
I enjoyed it all, which makes naming a favourite impossible. I’ve singled out nine for special mention. In no particular order of merit, they are
5a (I laugh whenever I read it), 10a, 18a, 22a and 25a; and 3d, 8d (it’s a while since I heard this expression), 17d and 20d.
Many appreciative thanks to Dharma for an exceptionally good Toughie.
Many thanks to ALP for the excellent review.
2*/4* …
liked 25A “Breaking locks, criminal slept in with police officer (5,4)”