Toughie No 3779 by Dharma
Hints and tips by ALP
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BD Rating – Toughie difficulty */** – Enjoyment ****
Another entertaining romp from Dharma that thrives on typically smart wordplay and fair definitions. Such generosity proved especially welcome as I’m currently dosed to the eyeballs – laid up with mild concussion and a knee the size of a beachball. Joining the wife for a spin to mansplain the gearing on her new Brompton, I idiotically cycled full pelt into a bollard as I barked faintly patronising instructions over my shoulder and somersaulted into traffic. That’ll learn me … possibly! Still, there is one vague upside – I’ve had to borrow the telescopic walking stick I gave my mother-in-law last Christmas and this daft reversal of fortune has cheered her up enormously. The floor, as ever, is yours.
Across
1a Partner left out after my appeal to bully (4,2,4)
LORD IT OVER: (romantic) “partner”, minus abbreviated “left”, after my/lumme and (sex) “appeal”.
6a Hard to stop decline in tobacco (4)
SHAG: abbreviated “hard” stops/inside decline/droop.
10a Outspoken proprietor behind sport’s Bruce? (5)
FIONA: homophone of “proprietor” behind/after sport (not rugby for once, t’other one). Straightforward … but only once I’d got Lee out of my head!
11a Gossip about store making a steal (4,5)
DIRT CHEAP: gossip/low-down + one-letter “about” + store/bundle.
12a Aristocracy working to stem heartless bombardment (8)
BARONAGE: working/running stems/inside “bombardment”, minus its central letter.
13a Cleared rash by wearing nothing – one has thick skin (5)
RHINO: R[as]H + “wearing nothing” (2,1).
15a Flipping individual who the administration holds (7)
HOTHEAD: lurker, hidden in the third, fourth and fifth words.
17a Drunk hosts televised a bit later (7)
TONIGHT: drunk/sozzled, hosting/containing “televised”.
18a Heard newspaper decline small deposit for viewers? (3-4)
EYE-DROP: homophone of (a) “newspaper” + decline/go down.
21a Opposed hotel over steps for entry? (7)
HOSTILE: abbreviated “hotel” and “over” + (rural) “steps for entry” (or exit).
23a Sketch concealing onset of Sturgeon’s stoop (5)
DEIGN: sketch/plan, concealing/minus S[turgeon].
24a Gains ground, ignoring spin and deeply unpleasant people (8)
OGRESSES: gains ground/advances, ignoring/minus its initial, two-letter (media) “spin”.
27a Tower flag fluttering causes lingering emotion (9)
AFTERGLOW: TOWER-FLAG, fluttering.
28a Key area discovered backing Reform (5)
ALTER: (computer) “key”, plus [a]RE[a] reversed.
29a At any time cuts must be unbandaged (4)
EVER: cuts/separates, minus the outer letters.
30a Showboat’s golf label covering head and stomach (10)
GRANDSTAND: abbreviated “golf” + label/marque, minus its first letter, plus (to) “stomach”.
Down
1d Spirit‘s maximum time in the can? (4)
LIFE: double definition.
2d Resistance bolstered by ten understanding law once (4,3)
RIOT ACT: abbreviated “resistance” + (alphanumeric) “ten” + understanding/diplomacy.
3d State of mind periodically ignored before a short dance (5)
IDAHO: [m]I[n]D + A + “dance”, minus its last letter.
4d Expert‘s 25 per cent off audacious deal (3,4)
OLD HAND: four-letter audacious/daring, minus its first letter, and “deal” (cards).
5d Realises taking ecstasy, given time, becomes serious (7)
EARNEST: realises/gets, containing abbreviated “ecstasy”, plus abbreviated “time”.
7d Paying attention to improving bed, perhaps making wife hot (7)
HEEDING: “improving bed, perhaps” (outdoors), with W[ife] becoming H[ot].
8d Like Madonna once was, pothead got stoned (3-7)
GAP-TOOTHED: POTHEAD+GOT, stoned.
9d Instruments brewing Americanos yours truly ditched (8)
OCARINAS: A[me]RICANOS, brewed.
14d Tired of commercial ban, mobile provider claims (10)
THREADBARE: “commercial” + ban/block, claimed/contained by “mobile provider”. Take your pick, but it ain’t EE!
16d I’m not sure endless tirade over tax is old-fashioned adventurism! (8)
ERRANTRY: “I’m not sure” + “tirade”, minus its last letter, plus (to) “tax”.
19d Letter back from Cambridge, student placed in prepared course (7)
EPISTLE: [Cambridg]E, plus the usual “student” inside “prepared (winter) “course”.
20d Queue line blocks each unwelcome follower (7)
PROWLER: “queue” + abbreviated “line” blocks/inside the three-letter “each”.
21d Testing husband on major highway presently held up (4-3)
HARD-WON: abbreviated “husband” + semi-abbreviated “major highway” (not MI!), plus “presently” reversed.
22d Drink with Trump’s agents, casual date? (4,3)
ICED TEA: “Trump’s agents” (boo!) + DATE, casual.
25d Worries after son’s tears … (5)
SNAGS: worries/pesters after abbreviated “son”.
26d … provide tangible motivation for daughter (4)
PROD: three-letter “for” + abbreviated “daughter”.
We have a healthy mix of clue types – four anagrams, two homophones, a double definition and a lurker, etc. I particularly liked 1a, 30a and 14d. How did you get on?
Certainly less of a slog than the last couple of days, but enough going on to keep the grey cells ticking over.
1a is a fine expression and I liked the flipping individual lurking in 15a, along with the alteration making wife hot at 7d and the commercial ban claimed by the mobile provider in 14d.
Best of all though was the rather ungentlemanly attention drawn to Madge’s dental imperfection at 8d. Terry-Thomas and Mike Tyson have dodged a bullet there.
My thanks to Dharma and ALP.
Is 4d hint complete?
Er, no! It was fine on the editing page but summat clearly went awry in the ether. Sorted – ta for that.
OMG, ALP, so sorry to hear your series of unfortunate events! Please, get well soon and stop this slipping any further…
Great entertainment from Dharma – thanks to him and ALP (Get better soon – you’ll have to give up these Evel Knievel impressions!).
I liked the cunning definitions: flipping individual (15a). small deposit for viewers (18a) and testing (21d).
Really enjoyable puzzle from Dharma, and for me a distinct easing of the difficulty levels of the last two days. Cracking clues, clever definitions & wordplay, all scrupulously fair.
Many thanks indeed to Dharma and to ALP, to whom best wishes for a speedy recovery – do try to stay away from push-bikes in the future!
If the aim of a crossword is to tickle the little grey cells whilst being amusing and a pleasure to solve, this Toughie does so in abundance. It’s a super puzzle!
The wordplay is very clever and the surfaces are excellent. I enjoyed every clue – so much so my podium would buckle under the weight of so many likes!
Here is a selection:
10a, 11a, 13a, the 15a lurker, 18a, 28a and 30a; 1d, 16d, and 19d. I also liked the ‘son’s tears’ providing ‘tangible motivation for daughter’. (I hasten to add my own lovely daughter has never needed 26d!)
My favourite clue is 8d. For me, being somewhat of an old dinosaur, the answer was totally unexpected and very amusing. The wordplay is excellent. I like the use here of ‘stoned’ for the anagram indicator. The whole clue hangs together beautifully. Brilliant! It is a very memorable clue.
One of the qualities that characterise Dharma’s crosswords is his very apt use of words. Reading 8d, I wondered about the etymology of ‘pothead’ and was surprised to find that it doesn’t make it into BRB (13th edn) or Chambers Crossword Dictionary (4th edn). The wonderful late Mrs Bradford however did include it According to the OED its current meaning came into use in the 1950s. ‘Pothead’ was colloquially used in the 1600s to mean a ‘fool’ or ‘stupid person’, and ‘pot-headed’ with the same colloquial meaning goes back as far as 1533.
Many thanks and appreciation to Dharma for a splendidly entertaining Toughie.
Many appreciative thanks to Alp for an excellent Review despite mild concussion, being in pain and dosed up to the eyeballs. I’m so sorry to read of your crash. It sounds awful. I do hope the pain eases soon and your knee heals up well.
My goodness, I found this really tough but I got there in the end with everything falling slowly and surely into place.
It’s a shame that the surface for 15a relies on wrong grammar, but the correct “whom” would invalidate the lurker. I also think the definition for 17a is a bit dodgy. Those two quibbles aside, i really enjoyed this.
Many thanks to Dharna and to ALP.