Sunday Toughie No 233
by Zandio
Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee
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A cracking puzzle from Zandio, I solved this with less stress than watching the England game last night, although 3d and 13a took a bit of pondering.
My stress levels have soared as the installation of new broadband is not going smoothly…
I hope you find the checkers to finish, and I will try to give a nudge if required.
Here We Go…
As it is a Prize puzzle, I can only hint at a few and hope that will give you the checkers and inspiration to go further. I’ll be back just after the closing date with the full blog. Don’t forget to follow BD’s instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!
I hope I don’t have to redact any comments, but I am not so new at this and don’t want to rock the boat. If in doubt, I’ll rub it out! I think that sentence is a bit redundant. You have all been so helpful in sorting out prior parsing failures, and I am sure I will need similar help again.
Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also” Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious. Don’t forget the Mine of useful information that Big Dave and his son Richard so meticulously prepared for us.
A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions. Some hints follow: Remember the site rules and play nicely
Across
1a Also sad after tripping is all over (4,3,3)
Synonyms of also and sad go after one of tripping (on drugs perhaps). Where you have to look for something lost
12a Like Lazarus before the introduction of Christ, as stated deep in the Bible (4,3)
The condition of Lazarus before the miraculous intervention of Christ, and a homophone (as stated) of the introductory letter of Christ
13a Card player leading accommodating partner endlessly (3-4)
One of the players in the card game Bridge, leads a phrasal synonym of leading, that contains (accommodating) his partner
14a Figure city detective lacks focus to solve grand plots? (7,5)
An abbreviated figure that can be represented numerically, a city in the Fens, and a fictional detective without the letter at the focus of solve
18a The sharpest beaks? (7,5)
Beak is an informal term for someone who is a judge, the sharpest of which pass judgement here
24a Used in review, a term illustrating feature of Constable’s work (5,4)
A lurker (used in) the next four words (It confused me for a while, but review is not a reversal indicator)
27a Dr Spooner’s phantom message for officer at sea? (10)
A phantom and a short message are given the Reverend Doctor Spooner’s treatment
Down
2d Twisted joker stifling very loud, posh laugh (6)
A joker contains a musical notation for very loud and a posh abbreviation, this should be reversed (twisted) before inserting into the grid
3d Smallest man gets here in five steps, generally (6,3,5)
A double definition (I think) I puzzled over this for some time and concluded that it refers to the smallest man in chess. Generally, they are allowed to move two spaces forward on the first move and once thereafter, considering they start on the second rank, it takes five steps before they can be upgraded to a better man
5d Other ranks realise when one’s lost heart? (5)
To realise a profit, without the Roman one, follows soldiers of other ranks. Heart? Is a definition by example
9d Wearing Dior, maybe it gives one more taste (6,8)
Wearing the clothes of Christian Dior (or one of his fellow countrymen) may give a salad more taste
15d Escapes in lido, perhaps getting over tears (9)
A lido is reversed (getting over) some rips or tears
17d Mechanic fixing speaker in gym? On the contrary (8)
The wordplay suggests that the speaker goes in the gym, on the contrary allows the gym lesson to go into the speaker
20d Ally of Republican caught in buff (6)
A buff or someone obsessively devoted to a particular interest or activity contains a Republican
Sorry! I hope he doesn’t spoil your Sunday lunch
Compiler
Zandio
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The music is a little bit too electronic for my tastes but the sport is always on my agenda at this time of year;
That’s All Folks…
A similar experience to the back-pager; gentle but very enjoyable.
I counted 11 ticks on my printed puzzle, however I’ll narrow it down to 12a, 14a, and 2d (twisted joker…)
Many thanks to Zandio and to SJB.
Change 14a to 13a… blame it on last night’s late alcohol consumption!
I couldn’t decide if the joker was twisted before adding the very loud posh person or after, but I suppose either way works
Unusual to see as many as four lurkers in a puzzle, we’ve certainly got our money’s worth here.
Highlights for me included deep in the Bible at 12a, grand plots at 14a and the mechanic in 17d. All three were smartly constructed with flowing surfaces. 16d similarly gets a nod and is a good old-fashioned word too.
My thanks to Zandio and SJB.
I parsed 3d the same as you did, John.
I had play a few endgames in my head to parse 3d. Not conducive to sleep on top (13a) of the football
I particularly enjoyed some of the very well-crafted definitions in this Zandio puzzle – 12a, 14a, 1d and 7d (hah!) stood out for me. However, only 14a made it onto my Across podium steps, accompanied by 13 and 27 (a very nice Spooner clue). The Down podium places went to 3, 9 & 16. My ‘bit of pondering’ was spent on 20d.
Many thanks to Zandio and to SJB. There has been so much sporting activity going on recently that the TdF has taken a bit of a back seat (or should that be saddle?). However, I did tune in to watch some of Pogacar’s imperious climb up the iconic Col du Tourmalet. This perfectly symbolises what he did to his yellow jersey rivals…
The coverage is not the same now itv4 have lost free-to-air coverage to tnt. I am having to settle on Ned Boulting and David Millar’s podcast