Toughie No 3788 by Luxor
Hints and tips by Gazza
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BD Rating – Difficulty ***** – Enjoyment ***
Luxor has given us a proper Friday-level Toughie upping the difficulty since her last outing. I found it daunting on first reading through the clues but I gained a foothold at the bottom and worked my way upwards to complete the grid with several visits to the BRB en route.
Many thanks to Luxor for the enjoyable challenge.
Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.
Across Clues
1a Scout essentially dumped box of supplies in bay (6)
RECESS: remove the central letter from an informal verb to scout or reconnoitre and append the outer letters (box) of supplies.
4a Lean chicken, perhaps, endlessly flipped barbeque fare (5,3)
SPARE RIB: an adjective meaning lean or rangy followed by the reversal of what a chicken is an example of without its last letter.
9a Aerobics coordinator sorry after losing – or not, unfortunately? (6)
CARDIO: remove the jumbled (unfortunately) letters of OR NOT from COORDINATOR and make an anagram (sorry) of what remains .
10a Like China, perhaps coercive initially – nothing odd in that (8)
ORIENTAL: the even letters of ‘coercive initially’.
12a Moving group expedition leaving one pole for the other (8)
ELOQUENT: an English rock group is followed by a synonym of an expedition or crusade with the abbreviation for one of our earthly poles changed to that of the other.
13a Going around piously, bishop hosts visionaries (6)
SIBYLS: hidden in reverse.
15a Great mystery resolved surrounding medium forces linking theory (13)
SUPERSYMMETRY: an adjective meaning great or excellent is followed by an anagram (resolved) of MYSTERY containing the abbreviation for the clothing size medium. This, apparently, is a theory about the expansion of the very early universe – I’ll leave it to the physicists amongst us to explain in more detail!
18a Parking method of production following two days in bad pain, say (3,3,7)
PAY AND DISPLAY: a word for a stage production follows two abbreviations for day inside an anagram (bad) of PAIN SAY.
22a Stretch out threads spun by length (6)
SPRAWL: reverse a word for threads on a loom and add the abbreviation for length.
24a Secure honour catching quiet back-and-forth at table? (4-4)
PING-PONG: a verb to secure or fix followed by an informal word for an honour or award containing the abbreviation for quietly.
26a Island in set back after idea unveiled? It’s open to question (8)
DENIABLE: stick together a Mediterranean island off Italy and IN. Now reverse that and append it to the inner letters of ‘idea’.
27a Crazy cuckoo in protective gear (6)
MANIAC: insert a black cuckoo with a curved bill and long tail (thanks BRB) into an informal word for a garment used to protect against rain.
28a Compassion washed over me replacing American clergy on vacation (8)
CLEMENCY: start with adjective meaning washed or dirt-free and replace the abbreviation for American with ME. Finally add the outer letters of clergy.
29a In the way that cosmetic treatment turned out (6)
ASLEEP: an adverb meaning ‘in the way that’ followed by the reversal of a cosmetic treatment involving exfoliation.
Down Clues
1d Tear register when Democrat goes for run (6)
ROCKET: tear here is a verb to move speedily. A word for a register of cases in court has its abbreviation for Democrat replaced by that of run.
2d Oddly spiralling housing arrears (9)
CURIOUSLY: an adjective meaning spiralling or twisty contains acknowledgements of arrears or debts.
3d Jack voiced doubt in dance’s chilly launch (3,4)
SKI JUMP: insert the abbreviation for jack and a spoken expression of doubt or indecision into a verb to dance or bound.
5d Address system behind power loop (4)
PURL: the abbreviation for the system used to address websites follows the abbreviation for power.
6d Layer current through strange element (7)
RHENIUM: a creature that lays and the symbol for electric current go inside an adjective meaning strange.
7d Glam rocker originally silly, losing head (5)
RITZY: the original letter of rocker and an informal US adjective meaning silly or scatterbrained without its first letter.
8d Peppermint shot (5-3)
BULL’S-EYE: double definition, the second a shot in archery or darts.
11d Barge clumsily untied around river (7)
INTRUDE: an anagram (clumsily) of UNTIED contains the abbreviation for river.
14d Pupils my games-mistress hauled up about uniform (3,4)
GYM SLIP: hidden in reverse.
16d Thorny struggles with energy absorbing team for energy regulator (9)
THYROXINE: this (new to me) is a hormone produced by the thyroid gland which regulates growth and development. We need an anagram (struggles) of THORNY followed by E(nergy) and containing the shorthand way of identifying a football or cricket team.
17d Island beggar seen in The Odyssey? On and off (8)
EPISODIC: an abbreviation for island and a jocular slang term which can replace beggar in a phrase such as ‘you lucky beggar!’ are inserted into what The Odyssey is an example of.
19d Talking Heads style hairdo after recent perm? (3,4)
NEW WAVE: Talking Heads (I’ve discovered) was an American rock band which pioneered this musical style. It could describe one’s latest hairdo after a perm.
20d Power conserves tie-ups (7)
LOGJAMS: charade of the mathematical abbreviation for the power to which a fixed number must be raised to produce a given number and fruity conserves.
21d Stand on the table possibly – doubly grand with elevated purplish clothing (6)
EGGCUP: two abbreviations for grand are clothed by the reversal of a purplish colour.
23a Asian VIP initially rowdy on a bender heading off (5)
RANEE: the initial letter of rowdy followed by A and a bendy joint without its heading letter.
25a Pronounced head for the EU? (4)
BLOC: this sounds like an informal word for one’s head.
I particularly liked 4a, 24a, 29a and 14d. Which one(s) earned your approval?
The slimmest of pickings in my first pass but a very enjoyable puzzle, which required a bit of investigoogling along the route to completion. Nothing floughie about this one.
24a and 3d were my favourites.
Thanks to Gazza & Luxor.
That was a properly fiendish Friday and no mistake
Thanks to Luxor for the proper brain mangling and to Gazza for the blog
What a day we’ve had in Crosswordland! The backpager was a belter and this one sits alongside on a lofty perch, possibly even a twig higher.
A great variety of clue types, quirky definitions and deft wordplay, mixed together with a large serving of wit.
The table back-and-forth at 24a, the chilly launch at 3d and stand on the table at 21d had me smiling.
9a was a fine extraction anagram, 10a a clever alternate-letter lurker and I learned a new word for a cuckoo at 27a, though my eyes popped at the mild expletive in 17d.
Best of all was the brilliant 1a, which had the lot: a cracking surface, subtle definition and a neat extraction. The box of supplies part was the icing atop the cake.
I’ve ‘ad me money’s worth today!
My thanks to Luxor and Gazza.
Well I never! A completed Friday Toughie, albeit with several visits to the BRB search facility. Like Gazza, the bottom half proved to be more generous than the top. Whilst challenging, this had some very clever surfaces to tax the grey matter. .
My favourites were 19a, the parking method, the loop at 5d and the aerobics at 5a. 15a and 16d were new words for me, but gettable from the wordplay. 1a was last in and the only clue I failed to parse properly.
Many thanks to Luxor and Gazza.
I’m happy that this was awarded 5* for difficulty.
I found this incredibly difficult; a step down from Elgar’s level (when on a good day I can manage to solve perhaps two thirds).
The one I liked the most was 12a (nice surface, nice wordplay, nice definition).
Thanks to Luxor and to Gazza
Yep, a proper Friday toughie, altho’ I found the top easier than the bottom – the SW corner holding out the longest. It was full of very inventive clueing and fiendishly obscure definitions. Top favourites out of many were 1a, 28a, 29a, 21d and 23d.
Thanks to Luxor and Gazza.
“„ certainly the toughest this week and thoroughly enjoyed. All good clues, but a very mild eyebrow rays at the definition for moving. Favourite was the parking system which jumped out when the second D appeared.. thunx, Luxor and Gazza
Phew, that was tough and pleased to see it gets a Gazza 5*! There were a few that I couldn’t fully parse, so thanks for the explanations Gazza. I liked the chilly launch pad and the back and forth at the table. I was on pandagram alert but it was short of an f.
Thanks to Luxor for the workout and Gazza for the 5*s and a 5* blog!
We found that quite a challenge and very satisfying to eventually get a conclusion with a few bits of new knowledge (like the cuckoo) along the way.
!a set the standard so gets our vote.
Thanks Luxor and Gazza.