Toughie No 3666 by Donnybrook
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****
Only just a Toughie but with the usual level of entertainment we expect from Donnybrook – lots to make the solver and blogger smile making it the perfect crossword for my 2,000th blog post
Please let us know what you thought
Across
1a Double entendre this bad keeps fellows hiding? (10)
PUNISHMENT A word or phrase with two meanings and an anagram (bad) of THIS into which is inserted (keeps) some fellows
6a Inflammatory complaint on Observer’s cover? (4)
STYE A cryptic definition of a nasty inflammation on the cover of a body part that ‘observes’
10a In cannon it replaces explosive component (5)
NITRE Hidden in words two, three and four of the clue
11a Traditional fare, best fare cooked with duck? (5,4)
ROAST BEEF An anagram (cooked) of BEST FARE with O (a duck in cricket scoring)
12a Sour fruit almost ripe, gold inside (7)
MORELLO Almost all of an adjective meaning soft and ripe into which is inserted the heraldic word for gold
13a Commander reversed Russian car crossing border (7)
ADMIRAL A make of Russian car ‘crossing’ a border or edge and then, as the clue helpfully says, reversed
14a Expert butcher chops camelid (12)
ACCOMPLISHED An anagram (butcher) of CHOPS CAMELID
18a Bottle after bottle from wife about as old as us? (5,7)
DUTCH COURAGE Artificial ‘bottle’ induced after drinking alcohol. Cockney Rhyming Slang for wife, the Latin abbreviation for about and a two-word phrase meaning as old as us
21a Be above complete fabrication (7)
OVERLIE Complete or finished and a fabrication
23a Mimer‘s brandy served with water in Nantes (7)
MARCEAU Brandy made from grape skins after wine making with the French (as used in Nantes) word for water
24a Mycenaean king soon snatches plucky maiden (9)
AGAMEMNON An archaic or literary word meaning soon ‘snatches’ an informal word meaning plucky or courageous and the cricket abbreviation for Maiden
25a Surprise result winning series of games (5)
UPSET Winning or ahead and a series of games (in a tennis match, perhaps)
26a Farewell from armadillos perhaps in paradisal garden (4)
EDEN Remove an informal farewell from the order of mammals with no front teeth, or teeth at all, such as the armadillo
27a Playwright in country valley river engulfs (10)
PIRANDELLO A country that is very much in our minds at the present time and a deep hollow or small valley ‘engulfed’ by an Italian river, that always makes all of us who have been around here for a long time think of our former blogger Gnomethang!
Down
1d Other ranks out of view in an isthmus (6)
PANAMA The abbreviation for Other Ranks of soldiers removed from a wide view
2d Official disallowed rugby score Ahern initially secured (6)
NOTARY A disallowed rugby score might be a xx xxx into which should be inserted (secured) the initial letter of Ahern – the surface reading presumably refers to the Irish Rugby Union player, Thomas Ahern
3d Brilliant solver regularly taking a bow? (8,6)
SHERLOCK HOLMES A fictional detective who regularly played a violin while thinking about to solve a particular case
4d Ruin sweet packaging firm’s wandering merchant (5,4)
MARCO POLO A verb meaning to ruin and a round sweet with a hole in the middle ‘packaging’ an abbreviated firm
5d One bounding area between two coastal cities (5)
NYALA The abbreviation for Area goes between two abbreviated American coastal cities, one on the east, the other on the west
7d Our opponents outside bend rule of God (8)
THEARCHY Our opponents go ‘outside’ a bend
8d Discharge from firearms, fine lead shot (8)
ENFILADE An anagram (shot) of FINE LEAD
9d Smart reason to seize American politician’s territory (8,6)
STAMPING GROUND A sharp pain and a reason or justification ‘seizes’ the abbreviations for American and a British politician
15d Burning lust of agent leaving First State (9)
PYROMANIA A secret agent without the first letter and a European state
16d Snubbed chap on the rebound in an assignation, one pressing a suit? (8)
ADVOCATE A truncated (snubbed) a slang chap reversed (on the rebound) inserted in a simple way of saying an assignation
17d Theatre boxes always cheapest way to go? (8)
STEERAGE The theatre ‘boxes’ a contraction of ever (always)
19d Double-dealer with supporter of the arts (6)
WEASEL The abbreviation for With and a frame for supporting an artistic work
20d Enters the lists, nothing out of place, neat (4,2)
JUST SO Enters a contest between two lance-bearing knights on horseback, moving the O to the end (nothing out of place)
22d Languor in endless night in Paris (5)
ENNUI French words (as used in Paris) for in and night, the latter without its final letter (endless)
Cracking puzzle, so much to admire and enjoy
The discharge at 8d was a new word to me as was the playwright in 27a, though both were eminently solvable.
The violin playing sleuth in 3d was my LOI as I was looking for something more complex in the wordplay than a simple all-in-one: great misdirection.
The hiding in 1a got a tick as did the term in 18a, along with the fire starting at 15d.
My thanks to Donnybrook and congrats to CS on reaching such an incredibly impressive landmark.
Firstly & most importantly huge congratulations to CS on an incredible milestone. What an immense & much appreciated contribution to the site – don’t know how you do it. I knew that it was coming up but the stats on the woefully out of date Meet the Bloggers page are clearly awry as they have you on a paltry 1997.
Thoroughly enjoyed the puzzle – easier than yesterday but NTS still trickier than a * rating for the likes of me. Ticks aplenty too numerous to list. My fav was 27a for no other reason than I’d vaguely heard of him & immediately thought I bet Robert, our literary & much missed contributor from over the pond, would have been familiar with his works.
Thanks to Donny & Sue
I just went by what it said on the WordPress dashboard – there are also a few shared posts by Fred (Tilsit) and Ginger and Antony (Big Dave) and Cleopatra
It is sixteen years this month since I decided I was never going to get a final clue in a Toughie and so typed the whole clue into Google. In those days, there weren’t so many help options and the first thing to come up was Big Dave’s Blog. I found the help I wanted and then lurked for a while, before commenting. I then received an email from Big Dave, the master reverse psychologist, who said that someone had suggested I might be a good blogger, but that he thought I’d be too busy with my day job at that time. He lured me in good and proper and I started by alternating Saturday Prize Puzzle Reviews with Gnomethang. I just wish he was here to see how far a too busy person had come.
Congratulations Sue and thanks for everything you do on Big Dave, it is much appreciated.
Great fun – many thanks to Donnybrook and CS (and congratulations on reaching the impressive milestone – I am trailing well in your wake).
I particularly liked 6a, 25a, 3d and 20d.
Congratulations Sue, what an achievement.
For a Toughie I found this to be remarkably straightforward with several read and writes. I was left with 4 requiring CS’s hints to complete which is a PB for me. I hadn’t heard of the playwright and I should have got 1a as all the checkers were in place, and for 6a I was trying to parse something with OR (observer’s cover) which stymied 7d.
Otherwise, definitely at my level of ability and enjoyment.
Thank you Donny and many thanks to crypticsue.
3*/4*
Many congratulations Sue on an incredible achievement. Ever since I found the Big Dave Blog, you have been a constant help in my Cryptic Journey. As you can see, you are a much appreciated gem. Thank you for today’s Blog and to Donnybrook for the enjoyable challenge.
Favourites 6A and 15D.
Great puzzle, great blog … many thanks to Donny.
Congratulations to Crypticsue, our brilliant solver and blogger. Take a bow!
A busy day meant a late afternoon solve.
I found this quite tricky – as I usually do solving puzzles in the afternoon – but very entertaining.
Plenty to enjoy, however I immediately put a tick against 9d, so that wins first prize.
Many thanks to Donnybrook, and many thanks to CS (congratulations on the number of blog posts. I can’t believe it must be around 15 years ago that my family of 4 met you in Putney at a BD get-together).
Considerably less taxing than yesterday’s but just as much fun. I laughed out loud at 26a [maybe one needs to be a bit of a biology nerd], thought “bottle after bottle” was v neat and so was 20d. As FrankieM 3d resisted right to the end and even then it took a while for the “bow” penny to drop.
Thanks to DB. Thanks and huge congrats to Sue.
A really enjoyable solve with our biggest delay being with 3d where we needed all the checkers before the penny would drop. That has to be our favourite.
Thanks Donnybrook and thanks and congratulations to CS.
Congratulations, Sue!
An enjoyable, not too tricky puzzle, just right for the end of a working day. Thanks to Donnybrook for the puzzles
I knew 8d from the Molesworth books (funny what old stuff you can recall). Never heard of the playwright, but the clue was very clear. My prize goes to 20d for its overall quirkiness.
Lovely puzzle, just the right level of challenge for a Wednesday, with some great clues and lots of humour.
Many thanks to Donny, but especially to CS on such a phenomenal achievement, and for all the help and wisdom you have generously given to and bestowed upon the countless lurkers and commentariat over the years.
i did it a day late. For 18a I get the answer but don’t understand your parsing. I realise there are two different rhyming slangs for wife but I don’t see where the first letter of the second word comes from
That’s because I omitted to add something about the Latin abbreviation meaning about. I have amended the hint
I finished this this morning with the help of the blog. Gave up on it yesterday halfway as this was not on my wavelength or vice versa.
Never heard of 8d or 27a
Of the solvable clues the stand out for me was 24a
Thanks anyway as it’s all helping me get better at the aptly named toughie
Thanks to Donnybrook for his 99th Toughie, and a fraction more than 20 times the thanks to Sue for her 2000th blog.
I have just been doing some catch-up, and this puzzle was probably my favourite
1*/4* …
liked 20D “Enters the lists, nothing out of place, neat (4,2)” …
Congratulations, Sue !
Thank you