Toughie No 3309 by Donnybrook
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***/****
A brisk and breezy start to the “Toughie” week from Donnybrook. There’s a splash of mild GK but nothing too exotic. Very playful, very light. Just the job for a Tuesday. All yours.
Across
1a Writer’s apostle endlessly featured in Authorised Version (6)
ASIMOV: One of the 12 apostles, minus his last letter, inside A~V~.
5a Jam is essential when making cream tea (3,5)
HOT WATER: an essential when making (cream) tea. Unless I’m missing summat, the “cream” isn’t really needed here but it makes for a jollier surface.
10a Pressure on games at Wimbledon determined in advance (6)
PRESET: The usual “pressure” + the regular “on + (six) games of tennis.
11a Halo with gravitational attraction can feature (4,4)
RING PULL: A synonym of halo + gravity’s force. Nice definition.
12a Moscow’s tyrant: run to stop believer in that barbarian (4,3,8)
IVAN THE TERRIBLE: R[un] inside BELIEVERINTHAT, barbarically. Lovely surface and spot.
16a Poor here soon displaced (3-5)
ONE HORSE: HERESOON, displaced.
18a Official in uniform quietly sucked into bog (6)
UMPIRE: The usual “uniform” and the usual “quietly” inside bog/mud.
20a Atomic City – very good composition (6)
ARIOSO: A[tomic] + (Brazilian) city + a two-letter synonym for “very good”.
21a Dish of Greek weed (not with bananas) (8)
KEDGEREE: GREEKWEED, bananas, minus W[ith].
22a Hidden from public scrutiny with summer over? (5-3-7)
UNDER-THE-COUNTER: If (a) summer (as in someone who does sums) is over/above you, you could say that you were in this position. This made me smile but the QM is doing some pretty heavy lifting here!
27a Beer in the evening for silent winger? (8)
NIGHTJAR: How you might describe a beer in the evening (5,3) = a winger that is silent in flight.
28a Scots pass around heavy stick, which is deliberate (6)
DEBATE: The Scottish word for pass/die contains heavy stick (club, say) = (to) deliberate.
29a Made gloomy broadcast, tricked into it (8)
SHADOWED: Broadcast/aired contains tricked/conned.
30a Bond returns: gives way under pressure? (6)
YIELDS: Double definition, the first relating to savings, etc.
Down
2d Copyist split with European in staff room (9)
SCRIVENER: Split (past tense) + the usual European, all inside the abbreviation for “senior common room”.
3d Mixed metaphors in one such as Timon (11)
MISANTHROPE: METAPHORSIN, mixed = what Timon of Athens “famously” was.
4d Double check for climbing plant (5)
VETCH: Two words for “check” – a verb, then a chess abbreviation.
6d Pointedly secure in Old English, express opinion (5)
OPINE: To secure (pointedly/with a point!) inside O~E~.
7d Practise on river in punt (5)
WAGER: Practise/carry on + the usual “river” = punt/bet.
8d Digit hit at the end becoming black (5)
THUMB: Hit/punch, with its final letter replaced with B[lack].
9d Woman tempted to devour Whopper after dinner ultimately finds comfort (7)
RELIEVE: The usual “tempted woman” contains the usual “whopper”, after dinneR.
13d Fan of Spock or Kirk regularly there, excited (7)
TREKKIE: KIRK+ThErE, excited. Reads well, this.
14d Eighteen holes – drinks at nineteenth? (5)
ROUND: Definition + definition by example. 18 holes of golf and/or what the winner of 14d may buy afterwards at the 19th/clubhouse.
15d Unassailable chorizo perhaps served up by Puck? (11)
IMPREGNABLE: How one might (but only in a crossword!) write “the Spanish sausage” (2,6), reversed, after/by puck/little devil. Fun.
17d Sailor in bunk to sleep as birds do (5)
ROOST: Ordinary Seaman inside bunk(um).
19d Staggered about etc when drunk returned to office (2-7)
RE-ELECTED: Staggered/stumbled contains ETC, drunk.
20d Old boy in defamation where case dropped by us? (7)
ALUMNUS: A synonym of defamation minus its first and last letters (case dropped) + “us” from the clue.
23d Perhaps pointer before noon reverses belief (5)
DOGMA: What a pointer is an example of + “before noon”, reversed.
24d Relationship over, call for sailor’s attention? (5)
RATIO: What you might shout to attract a sailor (2,3) reversed/over.
25d Yank in paradise not initially expelled (5)
HEAVE: The usual “paradise” minus its N[ot] at the end.
26d How swindler is selected for side? Not in the normal way (5)
ODDLY: For “swindler” to become “side” how must its letters be selected? Tickled me.
Six anagrams, including partials, some light whimsy and the odd comfy favourite made for a fun and very gentle solve. I enjoyed 11a, 13d and 26d, and, of course, the excellent 12a but the chucklesome 15d gets my golden buzzer. What did you make of it?
Brisk and breezy – especially in the top half – and the usual Donnybrook fun in what was a definite ‘start of the week Toughie’
Many thanks to him and ALP
It took a little while of wandering aimlessly around the grid before I got going but then it was off to the races – 1.5*/4.5*
Candidates for favourite – 1a, 10a, 11a, 19d, and 24d – and the winner is 1a.
Thanks to DYBK and ALP.
A cracking puzzle with chuckles galore – many thanks to Donnybrook and ALP.
Lots to like including 22a, 4d, 8d and 24d with my favourite being the amusing Spanish sausage (15d).
An enjoyable start to the Toughie week with several answers I knew were correct but couldn’t parse, so thanks ALP for shedding the light. Lots to like but a mention goes to 20 and 27A. I loved 24D but my favourite by a country mile was the hilarious 15D once I’d parsed it.
Thank you ALP for the blog and Donnybrook for the fun.
Great fun, thank you Donny and ALP. 22a my COTD joined by 19d and 15d.
I thought 6d suffered from having its first four letters appear in opinion, and was surprised to see two sailors (a coxless pair, maybe?) in such close proximity. As PJ notes, so too was it for me: “several answers I knew were correct but couldn’t parse” Always thought of one-horse in the context of a very small town, so was happy to be taught otherwise, and likewise the Scottish pass. 13a popped up very recently either in the DT or Times – happily for such fans.
Thought 6d could have been improved upon by our setter and wasn’t very persuaded by the ‘practise’ in 7d but such fun to be had elsewhere in the puzzle.
Nominations for podium places are 11,21&27a plus 4&15d.
Many thanks to Donnybrook and to ALP for the review.
I didn’t find this at all tough as I worked my way down the grid until I got to the last four rows which took ages to yield. Even then, I couldn’t parse either 15d or 24d.
“Cream” in 5a looks like surface padding to me.
22a, 27a & 4d were my top picks.
Many thanks to Donnybrook and to ALP.
The ‘cream’ makes the clue work in the surface scenario and the definition. A cream tea is a pot of tea (for which the solution is essential) plus scones with cream and jam.
I had to think long and hard over the parsings and failed on three. 1d, curiously I fill my crossword grid in with one, 8d, it just didn’t occur to me, and 20d as I didn’t know the word for defamation. 20a was a new word for me. Apart from those I coped fairly well with the rest albeit slowly. Favourite was obviously 15d. Thanks to Donnybrook and ALP.
Great fun and just the job after a week off. Lovely, witty clueing and good surfaces. Favourites were 11a [can feature] 24d [call for sailor] 26d [clever] and possibly the funniest clue so far this year – 15d.
Thanks to Donny and to ALP [I don’t often listen to G&R but that’s a pretty fine cover].
Thanks ALP and thanks all!
Cheers
DYBK
Huge thanks for popping in and for such an entertaining puzzle. Good to see a lot of love here for your Spanish sausage!
Thanks from me too. Needed help for the last five but got there in the end.
Mazel Tov it’s Asimov!
I haven’t read any of his stuff for too many years Heinlein and Asimov were the big two of a misspent Sci Fi youth
Gotta love a bit of Spanish sausage – terrific clue. Mentally done in after Hudson so made much harder work of this than I may have done otherwise & used the hints for last 2 remaining – 20d&29a. Super puzzle as per from The Doorknob.
Thanks to Donny & to ALP – love G&R’s KOHD cover