Toughie No 3639 by Kcit
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ****
Highly enjoyable shenanigans from Kcit today with a smidgeon of tricky vocab (e.g. 16a’s “age”) and a pleasingly classical feel. There was, happily, no need to know about models of mobile phones popular in New Zealand this time out but I suspect not many of us (with two notable exceptions!) will be overly familiar with 20a’s definition. Still, it’s all fair – and fun. Over to you.
Across
1a Parts of male formal wear reordered as female wear? (5,5)
SHIRT DRESS: formal male wear has its two parts/words switched (reordered).
6a End for Achilles and Hector in a boat? (4)
SCOW: [Achille]S + hector/bully. This tickled me. I can only imagine the question mark was added because they famously didn’t come a cropper in a boat. Hector was stabbed by Achilles before he himself was fatally shot in the heel.
9a King welcomes parody crime (5)
CAPER: the king’s initials welcoming/containing parody/mimic.
10a Chaps get on and ride, abandoning 500 animals (9)
MENAGERIE: chaps/blokes + get on/decline + ‘RIDE’ from the clue minus its 500 in Roman numerals.
12a Succeeded occupying area returned to original state, reflecting part of bigger picture (7)
TESSERA: abbreviated “succeeded” occupying/inside abbreviated “area” + returned to original state/factory settings, all reflected/reversed.
13a Couple rejected pinioning wings of large baby bird (5)
OWLET: couple/pair rejected/reversed, pinioning/containing L[arg]E.
15a Insights originally captured in a study left unfinished (7)
APERCUS: C[aptured] in(side) ‘A’ from the clue + study/scan, minus its last letter.
16a Old King of advanced age back beside pub (7)
PHARAOH: abbreviated “advanced”, plus “age” (a rare, poetic usage these days despite what Chambers says to the contrary), back/reversed, all beside/after abbreviated “pub”.
18a Biblical city opposing comment of St Andrews? (7)
ANTIOCH: opposing;/against + (dismissive) comment/interjection from St Andrews, i.e. Scotland.
20a An ace internet publication mostly about NZ material (7)
KIWIANA: ‘AN’ from the clue + two-letter “ace” (i.e. not the usual abbreviation) + internet publication/collaborative website (software), now synonymous with leaks. The definition isn’t in Chambers but it is in Collins and the meaning is self-apparent.
21a Weapon student buried in common (5)
RIFLE: abbreviated “student” (buried) in common/widespread.
23a Discover some of you near Thetford (7)
UNEARTH: lurker, hidden in the last three words.
25a Spat behind unattractive person in suit (9)
PLAINTIFF: spat/row behind/after unattractive/ugly.
26a Information in unconscious body language? Not all of it (5)
INTEL: ‘IN’ from the clue + unconscious body language/giveaway (poker, etc), minus the last letter.
27a British writer spoke mostly about King (4)
SAKI: spoke/uttered, minus the last letter, about/containing abbreviated “king”.
28a New Testament period adopted by member of clergy, no modern saloon here (7,3)
VINTAGE CAR: abbreviated “New Testament” + period/time adopted/contained by member of clergy/reverend.
Down
1d Hearts not in surprise hit (4)
SOCK: surprise/startle minus abbreviated “hearts”.
2d Restless troublemaker game to stop soldier (9)
IMPATIENT: troublemaker/brat, plus game/draw stopping/inside the usual “soldier”.
3d Arranged research into origin of pole dancing (13)
TERPSICHOREAN: RESEARCHINTO+P, arranged.
4d Memory linked to personal baby wear (7)
ROMPERS: (computer) “memory” + abbreviated “personal”.
5d A Parisian getting thump in pursuit of shilling or tanner (7)
SUNLAMP: Parisian/French “A” + thump/punch after abbreviated “shilling”.
7d Pink colour’s beginning around the mouth (5)
CORAL: C[olour] + around/concerning the mouth.
8d Questions that chap about energy and fertiliser primarily delivering farm product (5,5)
WHEAT SHEAF: questions/interrogatives + “that chap”, about/containing abbreviated “energy”, plus A[nd] F[ertiliser].
11d Climate impact: large drop concerning around start of winter (6,7)
GLOBAL WARMING: large drop/dollop + concerning/frightening, around/containing W[inter].
14d Unsuitable male sadly hugging rugby player with love (10)|
MALAPROPOS: abbreviated “male”, plus “sadly” hugging/containing “rugby player” and usual “love”.
17d Cool way to get in a revolutionary quote (9)
APATHETIC: way/route getting in/going inside ‘A’ from the clue and revolutionary/reversed “quote”.
19d Harry – name needed – in irons, initially! (7)
HOUDINI: Harry/badger, needing/lacking abbreviated “name”, plus ‘IN’ from the clue and I[rons].
20d Sudden effort to follow castle’s exercise regime (4,3)
KEEP FIT: sudden effort/motion following castle/stronghold.
22d Mark‘s heading for front row (5)
FRANK: F[ront] + row/tier.
24d Disparaging comment on Parisian cuddling student (4)
SLUR: Parisian/French “on”, cuddling/containing another abbreviated “student”.
Just one anagram, a lurker, a clever &lit and Kcit’s usual plethora of abbreviations. I particularly liked 6a, 25a and 5d but 19d stood out for me. How did you get on?
Not as tough as usual for kcit. I too liked 19d and smiled at 18a.
Thanks to kcit and ALP.
This served to expand my vocabulary somewhat (so the puzzle was harder for that) and I needed e-help to get to the end.
I liked 10a and 16a – 3d was a lot easier for it having surfaced in a recent puzzle.
Thanks to Kcit and ALP
Kcit is a bit trickier than usual but he’s provided an enjoyable challenge. Thanks to him and ALP.
I’m slightly surprised in 20a by the truncation of what is already an abbreviation – would it be ok to clue LA as ‘short dog’?
Top clues for me were 18a, 25a and 24d with my outstanding favourite being 19d.
Not that tough but I did have to check 20a was a real thing. Nice to see 3d again and another appearance of crosswordland’s baby bird of the month
Thanks to Kcit and ALP
A cracking puzzle, reasonably straightforward although 20a needed looking up afterwards for confirmation, likewise a couple of other parsings on coming here.
Many thanks to Kcit & ALP
I wasn’t entirely convinced by the ingenious but convoluted explanation for that 15th Jan Toughie. I wish Kcit would pop in to confirm, but I was firmly in the camp that said the explanation was simple: the words in clue 28 were “as seen here”, “opposite number” 28.
2*/4* …
liked 19D “Harry – name needed – in irons, initially! (7)” …
“Harry” was part of his professional name.