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
We’ve also been enjoying the Ned and David podcast, not quite the same as the ITV4 coverage but enjoyable nonetheless. They are both so knowledgable about cycling and such good presenters. I’m afraid the TNT commentary drives me nuts, so have given up on them!
Ned and Jacopo’s coverage of the Giro was also very interesting.
Pogacar was amazing on that climb and the Yellow Jersey competition is already over barring accidents. The sprint finishes are interesting but seem a bit tame compared to the days of Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (known as the Tashkent Terror and referred to by Phil Liggett as ‘the nine most terrifying syllables in cycling’). He’d approach the finish line like a demented camel weaving all over the track and leaving brought-down rivals and demolished street furniture in his wake.
Zandio’s pretty gentle today but entertaining as always – thanks to him and SJB.
I particularly liked (from a long shortlist) 12a, 14a, 18a and 3d.
Characters like the Tashkent Terror are few and far between, especiallt since Peter Sagan retired
Enjoyable puzzle. I liked the Spoonerism, and most of the rest.
It’s only on reviewing my solutions, and reading this blog, that some of parsings had passed me by, especially 3d. Thanks for all the explanations here.
I enjoyed the unhinted 26a, but can say no more.
Working up for a boozy BBQ before the game on Wednesday….
I did enjoy this a toughie I managed to complete and submit before the blog came out. I am getting better at toughies but not faster !
Was held up by having the wrong third word in 1a ( and I parsed it with the wrong word) however eventually i had to revisit as absolutely nothing would fit 5d
Really liked today’s spoonerism which is my COTD
Now to go and have a look as today’s cryptic with an NGOW (nice glass of wine)
Thanks all
I suspect we had the same wrong 3rd word in 1a, as I had to revisit it too
The first half of the puzzle went in reasonably quickly and the I came to a grinding halt! Fortunately SJB’s fine hints arrived and some help with 9d was just what I needed to get going again!
An enjoyable solve and the Spoonerism gets my vote too.
Thanks to Zandio for the cerebral exercise and SJB for the hints.
Hello, compiler here. Thanks very much for taking the time to solve, hint and discuss. Always appreciated.
As Mr Millwall noted, there are an unusual number of lurkers here. Normally I aim for two. As there were half a dozen candidates, I actually ran the idea past the puzzles team to check they were okay with it. In a way, doing more than two could be seen as misdirection, because regular solvers wouldn’t be looking for more.
Shame about the sports spoilers but you weren’t to know that I was still only halfway through Stage 6. Like the Likely Lads, I go to extremes to avoid hearing the results of matches I’ve recorded, but they trip you up in unlikely places!
Many apologies for spoiling your fun, I thought I was on safer ground with the TdF. My long departed father was at school with Ian la Frenais, he was known as Laffer, which ties in very nicely with 2d
I’m another who had the incorrect 3rd word in 1a, but knew it was wrong when 5d became apparent. Also needed SJB to give me the explanation for 3d. Otherwise a manageable Sunday Toughie. Favourites were Spooner’s officer, the sharpest beaks and the biblical deep.
My thanks to Zandio and SJB
Friday’s back-pager was a hard act to follow though this gave it a run for its money. Gentle but fun. Lots to like – 14,18&27a along with 2,9&19d the ones that stood out for me.
Thanks to Zandio & to John
Great puzzle, I quite liked 2nd until the image rather spoiled it 😂. Lots of brilliant clues, and I am always a fan of lurkers and spoonerisms, but my biggest smile went to the croaky rook at 20a.
Sorry, for spoiling your dinner with the pic for 20d. You appear to have posted twice because I was correcting your email address just as you reposted
Having a bit of a moment. I’ll blame coming off HRT and overseas heat. I tried to edit too. 🤦🏻♀️
Great puzzle, I quite liked 2nd until the image rather spoiled it 😂. Lots of brilliant clues, and I am always a fan of lurkers and spoonerisms, but my biggest smile went to the croaky rook at 20a.
Tried to edit this but the site not playing. Should have read 20d not 2nd, and 26a not 20.
Thank you Zandio and SJB in spite of the orange buff.
According to a recent comment in the backpage blog from MrK, he is still working on updates after the site went down the other day. The edit function is one that is temporarily offline
Thank you for clarifying. Will bear that in mind and try to be less menopausal such that editing is not required.