Toughie 3725

Toughie No 3725 by Hudson
Hints and tips by Whybird

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty *    – Enjoyment ****

Welcome to another Toughie Week.  

We have another perfectly-pitched Tuesday Toughie from Hudson.  Nothing too tricky, but plenty to get the cogs ticking over and a lot of very clever surfaces, some of which assist the solve, and some of which are misdirections.  5d, 8a, 18a, 22d and 26a are all great clues that any other day could have made top spot, but I’m giving my Gold Star to 25a today. 

Thank you, Hudson, for a very enjoyable start to the week.

Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle. 

Across Clues

8a Irresistible burning yen to embrace maiden (8)
ALMIGHTY Take a synonym of “burning”, add the abbreviation for “yen” as a currency and insert (to embrace) the usual letter indicating “maiden” in cricket

9a Smells good, our sausage sandwiches! (6)
ODOURS The solution is lurking (sandwiches) amongst of  “good our sausages”

10a Racket and ball taken from revered Norseman (3)
DIN Remove the letter that resembles a “ball” from the name of the supreme god in Norse mythology

11a Something that’ll stretch former nurse? (8)
EXTENDER A double definition, the second sense being a cryptic definition (indicated by the question mark) and which could stand alone as a clue if Hudson were minded to make this a bit tougher

12a US chicory tips from Euston bar (6)
ENDIVE Take the first and last letters of (tips from) “Euston” and add a synonym of a (disreputable) “bar”. The clue fits perfectly with the BRB entry for the solution

13a Innovation is, for Germans, about odd bits of theory for meddling in the economy (15)
INTERVENTIONIST Take a nine-letter synonym of “Innovation”, add the third person form of the verb “to be” in German (is for Germans) and insert (about) the first, third and fifth letters (odd bits) of “theory”. This took a while to fully sort out because I had “theory” as doing double duty hinting at the solution and was trying to end with the middle letter of “Germans”. 

15a Swell chaps sitting in gold sports car (7)
AUGMENT Take the chemical symbol for “gold”, add a two-letter abbreviation for a sports car (originally designated for comfortable, long-distance performance motoring) and insert a synonym for “chaps”

18a Wreath quietly laid in Swiss Cottage? (7)
CHAPLET Insert the letter meaning “quietly” in a musical sense into a name for a type of “cottage” (ignore the capital letter) associated with Switzerland (and eg other Alpine regions, as indicated by the question mark).  A new word for me, but clear from the clue

21a Playing I-spy, Carl pitches tricky subject (8,7)
PARTICLE PHYSICS An anagram (Playing) of “I-spy Carl pitches” gives a scientific discipline associated with eg nuclear reactions

24a American navy edge battle (6)
ARNHEM A charade of the usual single letter indicating “American”, the abbreviation for the UK “navy” (military, not merchant) and a synonym of “edge”  

25a The latest summit contribution from Blair? (8)
NEWSPEAK Nothing to do with a former Prime Minister! A charade of four-letter synonyms of “The latest” and “summit” to get a concept originating from a famous novel by an author whose real surname is Blair.  Curiously, the word doesn’t appear in my BRB in its own right, although it is in my dated (and usually much less comprehensive Concise OED)

26a English King in decline (3)
EBB A charade of the single letter indicating “English” and the two letters preceding “King” of a famous Blues guitarist/singer-songwriter

27a Mike regularly used Hilltop Road, an upper-class address (6)
MILORD A charade of the letter represented by “Mike” in the NATO phonetic alphabet, the even-numbered letters (regularly used) of “Hilltop” and the two-letter abbreviation for “Road”

28a Weird rating given to opera opening in London (8)
ABNORMAL A two letter abbreviation for a (nautical) “rating” precedes (given to) a (Bellini) “opera” to which is added the initial letter of (opening in) “London”. I’d never heard of the opera before I started my journey into Crosswordland, but now it is my starting point every time “opera” crops up in a clue 

Down Clues
1d Light yellow pastry lined with cross base (6)
FLAXEN A type of open pastry-based foodstuff surrounds (lined with) the letter that resembles a “cross” and the “base” of natural logarithms

2d By the sound of it, purchase paper boat (6)
BIREME This type of ancient vessel is a homophone (by the sound of it) of an expression that is a synonym for “purchase (a certain quantity of) paper” 

3d They’d invoiced me for work, work from ages ago (3,6,6)
THE DIVINE COMEDY An anagram (for work) of “They’d invoiced me”

4d Outlet for water monster nymphet drained (7)
HYDRANT A charade of a mythical, multi-headed ”monster” and the outer letters (drained) of “nymphet”

5d As Dorothy was in The Wizard of Oz film (4,4,3,4)
GONE WITH THE WIND This film is also a way eg Aunt Em could describe Dorothy’s disappearance in the Wizard of Oz

6d Student entering criticises doctor about unwelcome temperature (4,4)
COLD SNAP Reverse (about) a (4,3) expression that is a synonym of “criticises doctor” and insert (entering) a letter indicating “Student” 

7d Dangerous split upset equities saver, crashing stocks (8)
CREVASSE The solution is lurking (stocks) in reverse (upset) amongst the letters of “equities saver crashing”

14d Jerk, belly up (3)
TUG Reverse (“up” in a Down clue) a synonym of “belly”

16d Fearless United supporter repelled attack (8)
UNAFRAID A charade of the single-letter abbreviation for “United”, a reversal (repelled) of a synonym of “supporter” (not the lingerie one!) and another word for “attack”

17d Husband in combat injured by incendiary equipment (8)
MATCHBOX The letter indicating “Husband” is inserted into an anagram (injured) of “combat” and then the letter which is used to indicate “by” (as in mathematics) is appended

19d Something like 18 Across that is left over (3)
LEI A reversal (over) of the abbreviations for “that is” and “left”

20d Head brought up chatter showing what a student might be on? (7)
BEANBAG A four-letter (vegetable-related) synonym of “Head” is followed by a reversal (“brought up” in a Down clue) of a synonym of “chatter” gives a type of informal seating that was (and perhaps still is?) popular with students

22d Top copper: “Bravo, magnificent!” (6)
SUPERB Start with an (abbreviated) word referencing a senior policeman and add the letter represented by “Bravo” in the NATO phonetic alphabet

23d Credit initially after tax for menswear item (6)
CRAVAT A charade of an abbreviation for “Credit”, the first letter (initially) of “after” and then the abbreviation for a type of “tax”