Toughie No 3638 by Bandit
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment *****
One of the things I always do on a Wednesday morning is to think about various setters and who I might like to see as the setter of todays’ crossword. It never occurred to me that I might be faced with a crossword from a new Toughie setter. Having checked online and with my favourite source of cruciverbal information, who in turn checked with his, it seems that the name Bandit is a new one as far as crossword setters are concerned. I did wonder whether it is a setter of crosswords in other places who is using a new alias for their Telegraph Toughies; perhaps we might find out later if they turn up to comment.
Another appearance of the grid with so many Down clues that the last one goes onto a second page together with two things which will have annoyed our resident pedant ☹
Please let us know what you thought
Across
1a Far from lively bouncer dismissing one of pair opening in test (7)
DORMANT Remove one of the double letters from someone employed to stop undesirable people entering a club (bouncer) and then add the opening letter of Test
5a Bum cleavage seen from behind embarrassed nurses (7)
DRIFTER A cleft or fissure ‘nursed by’ or inserted into a reversal of a colour associated with embarrassment. Bum is a chiefly North American term for this aimless person
9a Sinks, wanting new foundation (5)
BASIS These sinks are plumbing features from which the abbreviation for New should be removed
10a Bishop in a state of undress overcome by women’s appreciation (9)
AWARENESS A (from the clue) and a state of undress from which the chess abbreviation for Bishop is removed and replaced with the abbreviation for Women
11a Regulator which covers energy facing fresh storm (10)
THERMOSTAT A relative pronoun meaning which ‘covers’ the symbol for Energy and an anagram (fresh) of STORM
12a Neck sore due to rubbing (4)
GALL Impudence (neck) or a sore caused by rubbing
14a Send in ham spread for filling sandwich, laying it on thick (12)
BLANDISHMENT An anagram (spread) of SEND IN HAM inserted into a popular sandwich usually known by its initials
18a Tell, perhaps, one will have brief but brilliant career (8,4)
SHOOTING STAR This description of a meteor could also describe William Tell
21a Said of the country ignoring its past (4)
ORAL Relating to the country or rural life without (ignoring) the PAST
22a Model sat with us in the buff (10)
ENTHUSIAST An anagram (model) of SAT with US IN THE
25a Mock failing bar student (9)
IMITATION A failing without (bar) the usual abbreviated student
26a Buzz A’s colleague backing film about astronauts (5)
ALIEN The name of Buzz Aldrin’s colleague on Apollo 11 should be treated in the same way as Buzz is in the clue and then reversed (backing)
27a Frank speaking to new, shy cooks after losing weight (7)
HONESTY An anagram (cooks) of TO New SHY without (after losing) the abbreviation for Weight
28a Braun possibly replacing one as part of exclusive upgrade (7)
ELEVATE The forename of Adolf Hitler’s wife replaces the Roman numeral for one in a synonym for exclusive
Down
1d Argue case for escapologist in sack being turned upside-down (6)
DEBATE The ‘case’ for EscapologisT and an adverb meaning in the sack all reversed (being turned upside down)
2d Increasingly not considered part of a full English (6)
RASHER Even more over-hasty or part of a full English breakfast
3d Take in area behind fencing I fail to get over (10)
ASSIMILATE The abbreviation for Area and an adjective meaning behindhand into which is inserted (fencing) a reversal (over) of I (from the clue) and a verb meaning fail to get
4d Time bar served up more than a single gin (5)
TRAPS The abbreviation for Time followed by a reversal (served up) of a bar or rafter
5d The stage I’m at with cards to be distributed (9)
DRAMATICS An anagram (to be distributed) of IM AT with CARDS
6d Thought drug peddler’s confession incomplete (4)
IDEA A confession of a drug peddler without the final letter of the second word (incomplete)
7d Letter stirred anger in youth doing seven years? (8)
TEENAGER The twentieth letter of the alphabet and an anagram (stirred) of ANGER
8d Stalwart United player who’s unsuccessful about covering for teammate (8)
RESOLUTE The abbreviation for United and an unsuccessful player reversed (about) and followed with the outside letters (covering) of TeammatE
13d Cold fish with a great deal tucked away? (10)
CHEAPSKATE The abbreviation for Cole and a type of fish, into which is inserted (tucked away) a great deal of something
15d Nobody turning in, not yet close to eleven (9)
NONENTITY An anagram (turning) of IN NOT YET and the ‘close’ of eleveN
16d Villa’s base amounts to hard floor (8)
ASTONISH The part of Birmingham where Villa is based, a very simple way of saying amounts to and the abbreviation for Hard
17d Taking down fancy trousers raised cheers (8)
NOTATION An idea or fancy ‘trousers’ a reversed (raised) informal expression of thanks (cheers)
19d Sheen, Charlie, released from agreement regarding article (6)
PATINA Remove the letter represented by Charlie in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet from an agreement, then add a preposition meaning with respect to (regarding) and an indefinite article
20d Position Lady Chatterley maybe hasn’t taken against (6)
STANCE The forename of the fictional Lady Chatterley without (hasn’t taken) the Latin abbreviation meaning against
23d Layer cake wants filling thus (5)
HENCE A bird that lays and the outside letters (wants filling) of CakE
24d 9 – 1? It could be double (4)
BASS The solution to 9a without the Roman numeral for one
The clues I really liked were 18a and 26a. Which ones appealed to you?
Welcome to our new Toughie setter Bandit who’s given us a proper Toughie with lots of amusing clues, smooth surfaces and misleading definitions. Thanks to him or her and to CS.
I’ve too many ticks to list them all – I’ll just mention 1a, 2d, 13d, 17d and 24d. My favourite, for the great laugh, was 5a.
If our setter keeps up this standard I predict promotion to the Friday Toughie slot ere long.
A puzzle from the very top drawer. Inventive clueing, great surfaces and humour – what more could we ask for? COTD: 2d but a lot of ticks.
Not straight forward by any stretch (especially in the NE) but an absolute pleasure to solve and, for once, CS’s difficulty rating is higher than mine.
Many thanks to the setter (more like this please) and to CS for unravelling a couple of my bung-ins.
A very impressive and pretty tough Toughie debut for a midweek slot. Many congratulations to the setter for a terrific challenge that kept me interested throughout the solve. I had 5a as my favourite as I still enjoy the schoolboyish snigger this sort of clue elicits.
My thanks to Bandit and Sue.
Wow – what a debut! Magnificent stuff – properly tough but not impossible and virtually every clue was a cracker. Difficult to pick a small number of favourites but I can narrow it down to seven[!]
14a [see, even the anagram clues were great] 21a, 1d [in sack is the highlight of a brilliant construction] 2d, 13d,16d and 20d.
Thanks to Bandit and CSue.
Crikey! This was very tough indeed and needed several sittings interspersed with cold showers to complete it. But what a cracker of a debut puzzle with some great wordplay, clever definitions and smooth surfaces throughout.
My only unknown was the second meaning of 12a, which necessitated reference to the BRB.
Two slight reservations: my usual bugbear of using a word to clue a letter in 7d; and the repetition of want(ing)/(s) as a removal indicator in 9a and 23d.
I had lots of ticks with my top picks being 1a, 18a & 24d.
Many thanks to our new setter. Looking forward to your next one. Thanks too to CS.
Certainly Tough enough for me with a sneaky peek at CS’s hints to finish the last 3, viz the picture at 12a was enough to confirm an entry I had earlier discounted; the fancy pants @ 17d where I was looking for a literal debagging and the parsing of 28a where I was looking for another Braun (Werner Von).
If this is the standard we are going to get from Bandit, bring it on.
MT to Bandit and crypticsue
****/*****
I saw a new setter mentioned in dispatches, so decided to put aside my usual archival puzzles and take a look. Bandit is indeed a welcome addition to the DT stable of Toughie setters. As Croye Dave put it, if this is the standard to expect then “bring it on”. A reference to the football team I have followed since schoolboy days further endeared the puzzle to me.
I had looked for something more complicated in 12a than a double definition, possibly a word for a ‘sore’ with some letters deleted, but couldn’t come up with anything. CS’s plant-based illustration of that second definition is interesting. Do plants have ‘sores’? Maybe so! For 1d I had jumped to the conclusion that the ‘escapologist’ might be our favourite alien who eventually escapes from earth, so didn’t read the clue correctly and made ‘Argue case’ the definition. My thanks to CS for putting me straight!
My podium places went to 1, 14 & 26 in the Across direction and 5, 13 & 23 in the Down direction. 5a also gets a special mention for its comical surface
My thanks to Bandit for a fun puzzle, and to CS for her astute review.
4*/5* for me.
An excellent first appearance of a puzzle from a new (toughie)setter which required a couple of visits for me to complete.
Top three in no particular order were 1a, 18a, and 17d.
Many thanks to Bandit and to CS. Looking forward to the next offering from this setter.
Pleased to finish without a letter reveal though not an unaided solve as I hit the check facility midway through & made a correction en route. Quite a few definition bung ins so will resist the review & have a bash at figuring out the missing whys later. I thought there were some terrific surface reads such as the 1st two across clues & some cracking anagram fodder such as 5d & 22a. Certainly difficult though maybe not as impenetrable as I feared when seeing Sue’s 5* difficulty rating.
Thanks to Bandit & to CS
Much tougher than we were expecting on a Wednesday but dogged perseverance saw us safely over the finishing line. And we had a lot of fun along the way. Top vote has to go to 5a.
Thanks Bandit and CS.
Super puzzle and impressive debut. The North surrendered pretty swiftly but a large part of the South was an entirely different ball game and very reminiscent of a Friday Toughie.
Honours to 5a, 18a and 26a
Many thanks to Bandit and Sue
Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome and very generous comments
PS I’m a ‘he’, and I’m only setting for the Telegraph.
Welcome to the blog and thank you for a great crossword
Welcome to the blog, Bandit and thanks for the excellent first puzzle.