Toughie No 3684 by Sparks
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
For a Friday Toughie Sparks is being quite gentle with us today. Thanks to him. He often gives a Nina in the grid and today we have a Dylan Thomas play as well as a phrase which is used backwards in 3d.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
Across Clues
1a Desperate lag doesn’t steal small cases (9,4)
GLADSTONE BAGS: an anagram (desperate) of LAG DOESN’T, a verb to steal or snaffle and the abbreviation for small.
9a One that quantifies potential output (9)
VOLTMETER: a cryptic definition where potential relates to electricity.
10a Solver and setter keeping cool about chaos (5)
SNAFU: a pronoun identifying solver and setter containing a verb to cool all reversed.
11a Short of financial backers, saving skin (5)
UNDER: a word for financial backers without their outer letters.
12a Exploit revolutionary national airline one boards (4)
MILK: reverse the national airline of the Netherlands and insert the Roman one.
13a Cover of Wexford grabs focus of book club (4)
WOOD: the outer letters of Wexford contain the central letters of book.
15a Ground paprika finally put in reduced casserole (7)
TERRAIN: insert the final letter of paprika into a type of casserole (or the dish that it’s cooked in) without its last letter.
17a Give warning of Irish channel when in Atlantic? (7)
PORTEND: the Irish national TV channel goes inside a facetious term for the Atlantic Ocean.
18a Hide French bike in cycling enclosure (7)
ENVELOP: insert the French word for a bicycle into an animal enclosure with its final two letters cycled to the front.
20a Indian wordplay with punch and hint of irony (7)
PUNJABI: string together a type of joke involving wordplay, a verb to punch and the first letter of irony.
21a Pressure wave’s ending in bore (4)
HEAD: the last letter of wave goes inside a verb meaning bore or gave birth to.
22a Several deliveries of unopened port (4)
OVER: a channel port without its opening letter.
23a Rakes arms with spurs (5)
HEELS: double definition, the first meaning slopes and the second lifted directly from the BRB.
26a Frustrate discharged stuck-up general (5)
SPIKE: the outer letters of stuck-up and the nickname of a WWII US general.
27a Controls high load on PC once more (9)
REINSTALL: controls (for a horse or small child) and a synonym of high.
28a Garden, for one week initially, soothes worried virtuous type (5,3-5)
GOODY TWO-SHOES: assemble what Graeme Garden was (as one member of a comedy trio) and an anagram (worried) of W[eek] SOOTHES. If you’re interested in finding out where the saying comes from see here.
Down Clues
1d Fickle high-up vets, e.g., to stop working (4,2,3,5)
GIVE UP THE GHOST: an anagram (fickle) of HIGH-UP VETS E.G. TO.
2d Troubled celebrity cook’s been set up (5)
AILED: reverse the forename of a female celebrity cook.
3d Several cast slur at what would have you 23 22 21 (10)
SOMERSAULT: a word meaning several followed by an anagram (cast) of SLUR AT.
4d Old cat occupying brown padded seat (7)
OTTOMAN: start with the abbreviation for old then insert a male cat into a synonym of brown.
5d US marshal carrying exhausted foal – a bit of a lug (7)
EARFLAP: the surname of a famous US marshal and gunfighter contains the outer letters of ‘foal’ and A.
6d Hassled on and off outside quiet church recess (4)’
APSE: regular letters of ‘hassled’ contain our usual abbreviation for quiet.
7d Neighbours maybe upset a poor 6 (4,5)
SOAP OPERA: an anagram (upset) of A POOR and the answer to 6d.
8d Weapons manuals incorporating slides I’m altering (6,8)
GUIDED MISSILES: another word for manuals or handbooks contains an anagram (altering) of SLIDES I’M.
14d That chap’s invading country’s liberties (10)
FRANCHISES: a possessive pronoun (that chap’s) invades a European country with its ‘S.
16d Displaying bust, perhaps artist Heather hosts First Lady (9)
REVEALING: our usual abbreviated artist and a heather plant contain the Biblical first lady.
19d Deficiency evident in Paraguay (7)
POVERTY: a synonym of evident or unconcealed inside the IVR code for Paraguay.
20d Under pressure, struggle in climbing sport with competence (7)
PURVIEW: start with the abbreviation for pressure then insert a verb to struggle between the reversal of an abbreviated sport and the abbreviation for ‘with’.
24d Muse’s quota record-makers partly raised (5)
ERATO: hidden in reverse.
25d Unknown champ blowing top for nothing (4)
ZERO: a mathematical unknown followed by a champ or brave man without his top letter.
My ticks went to 17a, 22a and 27a. How does your list compare?
Managed to knock this out early doors before starting a busy day of travelling. Happily, I got a good foothold from the start and managed to complete it in reasonable time.
It helped I’ve got a couple of leather 1as indoors.
1d is a cracking turn of phrase which certainly did not apply today, as this was fairly painless for a Friday Toughie.
The chaos at 10a was remembered from previous puzzles as well as being the name of a rock band from the 70s.
My pick is 20d, a fine word, and the clue acknowledges the female sport which I shall endeavour to keep up with tomorrow.
My thanks to Sparks and Gazza.
Like the back pager, I found t this extremely benign for a Toughie, especially on a Friday; is it my birthday? Nothing to scare the horses, except I needed to confirm post solve the Garden connection with 28a and the acronym at 10a, a word I have come across before, but could not remember the meaning.
I didn’t see the Nina, not that I was looking.
Many thanks to Sparks and Gazza.
1.5*/3*
Definitely Friendly Friday today and the second enjoyable puzzle of the day.
I saw the Nina and was delighted to spot the Garden in 28a
Thanks very much to Sparks and Gazza