Toughie No 3756 by Osmosis
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
I must have been on form this morning because I completed this with less difficulty than I normally experience with Osmosis. Re-reading the clues when writing the hints reinforced how well the puzzle was constructed with no obscurities in sight. Many thanks to Osmosis.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
Across Clues
1a Chief catches barman perhaps nicking last drink (10)
CAPPUCCINO: a Mafia chief contains an Italian composer without his last letter.
6a Image of faceless suit (1-3)
E-FIT: a verb to suit or be appropriate without its first letter.
9a Knight advanced row, pursuing mate (7)
PALADIN: the abbreviation for advanced and a noisy row follow a synonym of mate.
10a Plain overcoat left out in case of amble (7)
AUSTERE: a long overcoat has the abbreviation for left removed and what remains goes inside the outer letters of amble.
12a What manager may do if defender errs in domestic fixture? (6-7)
CARPET-SWEEPER: a football manager may reprimand one of his defenders who makes a mistake. I think the question mark is necessary because this implement would not usually be regarded as part of the fixtures.
14a Top-class free broadcaster (6)
AUNTIE: the letter signifying top-class and a verb to free or loosen.
15a Mentions entertaining round, consistently missing greens? (8)
CRUDITÉS: a verb meaning mentions or quotes containing regular letters from ‘round’.
17a Trainer embracing international archer? (8)
SNEAKIER: a sort of trainer (as an item of footwear) contains the abbreviation for international.
19a Favourite skirt and jacket of oarswoman (6)
MINION: a short skirt and the outer letters of oarswoman.
22a One grasps snappy creature with lead on cliff edge (9,4)
CROCODILE CLIP: string together a snappy reptile, the leading letter of cliff and a synonym of edge.
24a Contract period to receive book delivered (7)
ABRIDGE: a period of history contains the abbreviation for book and a verb meaning delivered or freed.
25a Audi’s original wiper in question (2,5)
AT ISSUE: the first letter of Audi and some absorbent material used to wipe.
26a Scruff in a peasant’s clothing (4)
NAPE: hidden.
27a Yorkshire Division B excessively retracted footwear (6,4)
RIDING BOOT: assemble an historic division of Yorkshire, B and the reversal of an adverb meaning excessively.
Down Clues
1d Batman outfit‘s carbon copy (4)
CAPE: the chemical symbol for carbon and a verb to copy.
2d Nutty thing keeping left on one particular crossing (7)
PELICAN: a type of nut contains the abbreviation for left (its second use) and the Roman one.
3d Drama below par that’s possibly skimmed on plane? (5,4,4)
UNDER MILK WOOD: weld together an adverb meaning ‘below par’ when describing a golf score, something that may be skimmed (or semi-skimmed) and what plane is an example of as something used to make furniture.
4d Crew tracking blue sharks (6)
CONMEN: crew members follow an abbreviation for a UK political party that favours blue.
5d Harry outside curses, scrubbing innermost boat (5,3)
NOAH’S ARK: a verb to harry or annoy contains a synonym of curses or expletives without its innermost letter.
7d Cinema bound to invest in sound (7)
FLEAPIT: a verb to bound goes inside an adjective meaning sound or uninjured (as a sportsplayer).
8d Paparazzo ultimately underlining The Sun’s daily activity: guesswork (10)
THEORISING: the ultimate letter of paparazzo follows THE. Add the sun’s morning activity.
11d With Zoom, face Heather, making quick contact (5,8)
SPEED DIALLING: string together a verb to zoom, the face (of a watch, say) and a type of heather.
13d In time, is Asda maybe making a series of bloomers (5,5)
DAISY CHAIN: insert IS in a period of time and add what Asda (or any other organisation having a series of retail outlets) is an example of.
16d Botanist initially raising passion fruit reported condition (8)
BERIBERI: the initial letter of botanist is followed by the reversal of a type of passion. Finish with a homophone of a small juicy fruit.
18d European found divorce a morale-booster (3-4)
EGO-TRIP: a charade of an abbreviation for European, a verb meaning found or obtained and a divorce or split.
20d Painting for me to frame after (7)
IMPASTO: a 3-letter abbreviation meaning ‘for me’ contains a preposition meaning after.
21d Endless relay in sports car over one frozen course (6)
GELATI: the inner letters of relay go inside the label given to a car designed for high-speed long-distance driving. Finish with the Roman one.
23d Skinny latte’s essential ingredient for chap (4)
GENT: another informal word for skinny (used as a slang word for information) precedes the essential letter of latte.
I particularly liked 1a, 12a, 7d and 11d. Which ones made your list of highlights?
What an enjoyable challenge! Full of humour and sharp wordplay.
Not the most difficult Friday Toughie, but scoring heavily on the entertainment factor, with a welcome absence of obscurities too.
1a set the standard, nicely constructed with each component part cleverly being Italian.
The dressing room dressing-down at 12a, the Audi wiper in 25a and the series of bloomers at 13d were equally good.
I could have mentioned many others, this was such a high-quality piece of work.
My thanks to Osmosis and Gazza, some cracking cartoons there.
I think Osmosis is my favourite Friday toughie setter.
I didn’t find this too difficult and as said by Frankiemillwall above, it does not contain any obscurities.
My top clue was 17a [archer], followed by 12a and 7d.
Many thanks to Osmosis and to Gazza.
Very enjoyable even though I had a little trouble in the NE corner. Also had to rely on the hints above to get 4d.
Favourites for me were the bloomers in 13d and zooming heather in 11d
Thanks all
That was one of the best, too many great clues to pick a podium list. Thanks to Osmosis & Gazza.