Toughie No 3770 by Silvanus
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
Unusually for both a Wednesday and a Silvanus crossword, I found this to be a proper Toughie – my favourite Across clue was 28a and my favourite Down clue was 8d, as both of them mde me smile
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought
Across
1a Keen wrestling Oscar and I spice up (13)
PERSPICACIOUS An anagram (wrestling) of OSCAR I SPICE UP
9a Prominent classical feature of flower inspiring country name (5,4)
ROMAN NOSE A type of flower ‘inspiring’ a Middle Eastern country and the abbreviation for Name
10a Goes off to return drug cache (5)
STORE A reversal (to return) of a verb meaning goes off or bad followed by the abbreviation for the drug Ecstasy
11a Craft using clay wingless animal (5)
OTTER A type of craft using clay without its outside letters (wingless)
12a Weakens regiment guarding palace primarily (4)
SAPS An abbreviated army regiment ‘guarding’ the primary letter of Palace
13a Not quite building coalition of parties (4)
BLOC Almost all (not quite) of a large building
15a Parody shriek by La bohème character (7)
MIMICRY Split 4,3 this could be a piercing cry by a character in La Boheme
17a Remarks on book reviews (7)
NOTICES Remarks or observes; reviews of books
18a Buff colour of bread and nuts (7)
NANKEEN This usually turns up in crosswords as a type of material, but here we have the colour after which the material is named. A type of Indian bread and feeling intensely about something (nuts)
20a Way to welcome leading trendy dressmaker (7)
MODISTE A way or method ‘welcomes’ foremost or leading
21a About to divide excellent nutritious fruit (4)
ACAI The Latin abbreviation or about ‘dividing’ excellent or first-rate
22a Members of Parliament left broadcast, cycling (4)
OWLS The abbreviation for Left and broadcast (seed perhaps) ‘cycling’
23a Comes across flipping enthralling black and white creatures (5)
ORCAS Hidden in reverse (flipping … enthralling) in the first two words of the clue
26a Dropping racket, sorry to get beaten (5)
TRITE ‘Dropping’ or removing the trick or swindle (racket) from full of guilt or remorse (sorry)
27a Trees surrounding yard Alice put at random (9)
EUCALYPTI An anagram (at random) of ALICE PUT ‘surrounding’ or going round the abbreviation for Yard
28a When everybody is out of military commander’s vehicle (7,6)
GENERAL STRIKE If you moved the first letter of the second word to the end of the first and added an apostrophe, you would have a military commander’s vehicle
Down
1d Field of expertise of star, conceivably? (10,4)
PERFORMING ARTS An anagram indicator telling you what to do with STAR in the clue
2d Maybe switch round terms of reference (5)
REMIT A reversal (round) of a device which sets something off at a preset time
3d Rotten, perhaps, virtually weak chair king occupies (4,6)
PUNK ROCKER Almost all (virtually) of an adjective meaning weak and feeble and a type of chair, between which is inserted (occupies) the chess abbreviation for King
4d Release pressure from tyre in an angry manner (7)
CROSSLY Remove the symbol for Pressure from a type of tyre
5d Belittle revolutionary writer defending article (7)
CHEAPEN A revolutionary we haven’t seen in a crossword for some time and a ‘writer’ into which is inserted (defending) an indefinite article
6d Replace old hat son wears (4)
OUST The abbreviation for Son ‘wears’ old or no longer in fashion
7d They’re tied up with criminal cases involving B&B, losing time (9)
SHOELACES An anagram (criminal) of CASES into which is inserted a place to stay (B&B) without (losing) the abbreviation for Time
8d Reportedly what a small sheep means to farmer in county (14)
LEICESTERSHIRE A homophone (reportedly) of a phrase referring to a small sheep having less wool to trouble a farmer at a particular time of year!
14d One stopping boss recently almost finding one-room property (6,4)
STUDIO FLAT The Roman numeral for one ‘stopping’ a stud or knob and a phrase meaning recently without the final letter of the second word (almost)
16d Giving authority to fellow on Tinder? (9)
MANDATING Split 3,6 this could describe a fellow on Tinder
19d Travelling anywhere without husband’s a time to celebrate! (3,4)
NEW YEAR An anagram (travelling) of ANYWhERE without the abbreviation for Husband
20d Rent, typically large amount, nurses watch it regularly rising (7)
MUSICAL A reversal (rising) of the abbreviation for Large and an amount into which is inserted (nurses) the even (regular) letters of wAtCh
24d Charlie promises to pay to flee unstable island (5)
CAPRI The letter represented by Charlie in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet and some promises to pay ‘flee’ or leave an adjective meaning unstable
25d Dictator’s narcissistic streak (4)
VEIN A homophone (dictator’s) of narcissistic or conceited
Some cunningly disguised definitions ensured I strung this one out a bit.
The sheep being shired at 8d was my favourite, along with the Rotten 3d.
Didn’t know that Rent was a 20d, though the wordplay confirmed it was.
My thanks to Silvanus and CS.
Thoroughly enjoyed this despite finding it very challenging so somewhat heartened by the fact that our reviewer didn’t find it a breeze.
Unfortunately not an unaided finish – the answer to last in 26a would never have occurred to me as synonymous with the definition & I was trying to deduct the wrong racket somehow so on the wrong track completely before revealing the 4th letter & it couldn’t be owt else.
As ever ticks aplenty with 3&8d + 28a fighting it out for positions on the podium.
Thanks to silvanus & to CS.
I agree on 26a where I tried tripe, but i expect Mr Chmbers thinks it OK. Otherwise an excellent puzzle, much enjoyed
Well, Silvanus has more than made up for the not too challenging back pager and like CS I give this real Toughie ****/****
Candidates for favourite – 9a, 8d, and 16d – and the winner is 16d.
Thanks to Silvanus and CS.
For me this was a slow burner with too much use of the search function in the BRB app for my liking. For most I could see the parsing, but in the end I needed CS’s hints to finish off 25d and 26a, so I’ll call it a DNF. I still don’t get the parsing of the small sheep at 8d, or do I have to say it with a rural accent? My picks are 1d, 15a and 7d.
Thanks to Silvanus and crypticsue.
It is just ‘less to shear’ said quickly
Thank you, I saw the ‘less’ part but didn’t follow through.
As our reviewer says Silvanus has increased his Toughie trickiness somewhat and given us a top-notch puzzle. Thanks to him and CS.
I didn’t know the specific meaning of ‘beaten’ in 26a but it’s in the BRB.
I liked 28a, 1d, 3d and 16d but my favourite was the excellent pun at 8d.
Thanks Gazza, I fully realise that the middle part of the 8d homophone would not have passed muster with you, so it’s especially kind of you to choose it as a favourite clue.
Thanks, Silvanus. I tend to be more lenient with puns (as in the DT Quick Crosswords) and yours is an excellent example.
I agree that this was definitely at the tougher end of Silvanus’ spectrum, but it was very well worth the effort and an absolute joy to solve.
I had ticks aplenty with 28a and 1d fighting it out for first place.
Many thanks to Silvanus and to CS.
Is 1 across really spelt as CS suggestss? My idea is one fewer ‘e’ and one more ‘i”
IIts been ages since I completed a Toughie without recourse to the hints, so today’s success has left me feeling unbearably smug!
Apologies – I don’t think my fingers were co-operating with my brain
I thought this morning that my last in was 20d, however reading the review I noticed that I hadn’t solved 25d (2 letters short).
Many thanks to Silvanus for yet another enjoyable puzzle, and to CS for the write-up.
Favourite clue was 9a [prominent classical feature].
Really enjoyable puzzle today; thanks to setter. After many years of solving crosswords, I have to say that, for me, I thought 8D and 28A were brilliant. Very entertaining.
I agree with you about 8d- what a stunning clue! It was one of the six I achieved on the first pass. A proper toughie and only completed with much electronic help and loads of hints – thanks to crypticsue for those. Of course, thanks to Silvanus.
I was evidently fortunate to tune-in to Silvanus’s wavelength from the off today, and had a straightforward broadly N-S, W-E solve with 1d ironically the only hold-out, my LOI. 26a was unfamiliar in that particular usage, and I trusted the instructions at 20a. 28a was in The Times a few months ago (Senior officer’s way of getting around mass protest) but for me today’s version has the edge.
8d was superb, my COTD, joined on the podium by 20d & 24d with 1d runner-up, but there could have been many more.
Many thanks to Silvanus and to CS.
I’ve been dipping in and out of this really enjoyable crossword. When not solving, we’ve been out walking around the beautiful Seil Island on the west coast of Scotland and enjoying the better than forecast weather!
Great puzzle, lots of good clues, not sure I could pick a favourite but 1a is a brilliant word!
Thanks to Silvanus for the puzzle and Sue for the hints and tips…and giving it 4* for difficulty – made my day!
Many thanks to Sue and to all those commenting for being so complimentary. Much appreciated.
See you all again soon.
With 8d we started off thinking that size made the miniature ovine creature most difficult (or worst) to fleece. Had to rethink when we came to 10a.
A thoroughly enjoyable challenge from start to finish with 8d being our favourite.
Thanks Silvanus and CS.
I simply had to drop by and say how much I enjoyed 8 down, me duck – it was my favourite clue in a superb Toughie. Thank you Silvanus and CS – your help was most appreciated today.