Toughie No 3700 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
You know what to expect from Osmosis – devious definitions, wily wordplay an absence of anagrams. I really enjoyed working through it in an anticlockwise route finishing in the N-E corner. Many thanks to Osmosis.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
Across Clues
4a Roman here patrols remains, height memorable (8)
HISTORIC: the Latin word for ‘here’ contains a verb meaning remains and a rocky height.
8a Fury abandons resistance when power’s lacking (6)
OUTAGE: remove the abbreviation for electrical resistance from a synonym of fury.
9a Found mean American twirling gun very mature (8)
AVERAGED: assemble an abbreviation for American, the reversal of an abbreviated verb to gun (an engine, say) and an adjective meaning very mature.
10a Listing inhibits commercial vehicle (8)
ROADSTER: a synonym of listing or schedule contains an abbreviated commercial.
11a Pop bottles corrode in settlement (6)
TREATY: an attempt (pop) contains a verb to corrode.
12a Family bag includes cold seafood (4,4)
KING CRAB: stitch together a synonym of family and a verb to bag or appropriate containing the abbreviation for cold.
13a Old character’s toasty, regularly fixing energy regulator (8)
RHEOSTAT: a Greek letter plus its ‘S and regular letters from ‘toasty’ contain the abbreviation for energy.
16a Son also called, passing most of chicken dish (8)
MOUSSAKA: abbreviations for son and ‘also called’ follow a truncated adjective meaning chicken or timid.
19a Sort of court that produces high bounce (8)
KANGAROO: double definition – an uncharacteristically generous gimme from Osmosis.
21a Island in south with rich retired sport administrators (6)
STAFFA: string together the abbreviation for south, the reversal of an adjective meaning rich or full-bodied and the abbreviation of the administrators of England’s national sport. You can read about the island which inspired Mendelsohn among others here.
23a Cooperative‘s recruit wearing nothing flash (8)
OBLIGING: a US military recruit is contained in the zero-resembling letter and an informal adjective meaning flash or showy.
24a Forward that is carrying medal over (8)
IMMODEST: the full Latin form of ‘that is’ contains abbreviations for a service medal and a crickety over.
25a Car fault reviewed with rest here (6)
NISSAN: reverse a fault or moral lapse and add an abbreviated place where you might go to rest or convalesce.
26a Bend painting which is sold deceptively (5-3)
SNAKE-OIL: a verb to bend or wind and a type of painting.
Down Clues
1d Rural British superior gripes (7)
BUCOLIC: an abbreviation for British, the letter used to mean superior and another word for gripes or severe intestinal pain.
2d Festival period, artist occupying lodgings (5,4)
MARDI GRAS: the abbreviation for a period in Spring followed by our usual artist inside an informal word for lodgings.
3d Unknown picture, essentially, that browser swipes right (6)
DEXTER: a browsing animal contains (swipes) an algebraic unknown and the essential letter of picture.
4d Single soul atop Holiday Inn (10,5)
HEARTBREAK HOTEL: string together a synonym of soul or passion, a short holiday and a type of inn to get a single released in the 1950s.
5d Annual draw involving tense delay occasionally (5,3)
SWEET PEA: a draw or lottery contains the abbreviation for tense. Finish with occasional letters from ‘delay’.
6d Adult undressed goes to grab ciggy (2,3)
OF AGE: the inner letters of ‘goes’ contain another informal word for a ciggy.
7d Sloth inhabiting Scottish county, according to Liverpudlian? (7)
INERTIA: a shorter form of ‘inhabiting’ and how a Liverpudlian might pronounce the name of a historic county in south-west Scotland.
14d Least familiar path doubled around mountains (9)
STRANGEST: the abbreviation for a major path or thoroughfare is duplicated around a word for a series of mountains.
15d Hamburger’s fine (figure companion boosted seasoning) (8)
JALAPEÑO: how a citizen of Hamburg might respond ‘fine’ is followed by the reversal of a small number (figure) and a companion or mate.
17d Extravagant country seat (7)
OTTOMAN: an abbreviation meaning extravagant and a country in the Middle-East.
18d European embargo restricts huge province (7)
BOSNIAN: a synonym of embargo contains abbreviations for huge in clothing sizes and a UK province.
20d Snob Lynn detailed upwardly mobile attire (6)
NYLONS: de-tail both of the first two words then reverse what you’ve got left.
22d Fold cloth (5)
FLOCK: double definition. Fold as well as meaning an enclosure for sheep can also mean the sheep themselves (new to me).
For my podium I’ve selected 9a, 11a, 4d and 5d (all with cunningly disguised definitions). Which ones did you like?
Slow start and quite tricky throughout. Enough checkers to get 7d but the relevance of the Liverpudlian eluded me. 4d gets my vote today.
Thanks to Osmosis and Gazza.
Blimey, that was hard enough.
In so many clues, I could identify the definition, but the synonym which was the answer, was often the last one I thought of.
My favourites were 26a, which is a great term; 3d which I remembered goes with sinister; the hot stuff in 15d; and the seat in 17d.
Talking to myself with a dodgy Scouse accent, apart from the amusement factor in itself, enabled me to parse 7d.
TGI Friday, I’ll have a beer or two now that one’s out the way…
My thanks to Osmosis and Gazza, some top cartoons there.
Funny how it goes sometimes – overall I found this easier going than yesterday’s Karla puzzle, which others seemed to find a cinch, and surprisingly gentle for a Friday. After a slowish start in the NW it all started to come together quite swiftly (getting 4d early was key) for a clockwise solve, finishing in the SW. Smiled at 3d which is a browser in its own right – we buy a moorland-browsed 1/4 carcass every year and it really is the most delicious beef.
Hugely enjoyable, with some cracking surface reads (the rich retired sports administrators in particular) and a lot of humour throughout. Honours went to 9a, 21a, 7d and 15d.
Many thanks indeed to Osmosis, and of course also to Gazza for the blog & very amusing cartoons.