Toughie 3515

29 comments on “Toughie 3515”

1. Whilst agreeing with the first two sentences in ALP’s prologue, I think this was a very gentle crossword indeed, especially after yesterday’s battle. I did like 11a and would have added 16d were it not for thinking about Rabbit Dave and his usual ‘problem’

   Thanks to Django and ALP

2. Almost a 1* time solve, but I was held up by the last three letters of 16d.
   A thoroughly excellent puzzle that gets 5* for enjoyment from me.
   I had a tick against almost every clue. If I had to pick one, it would probably be 26d.
   Many thanks to Django and to ALP.

3. I enjoyed this. Not too taxing but just right for a Thursday. Favourite is 16d. Not bothered whether it has US connotations as so many of them have crept into our everyday speech. Thanks to ALP and Django

4. Great entertainment as usual from Django. Thanks to him and ALP.
   I particularly enjoyed 11a (‘home to change’ – brilliant), 24a (‘using timeshare arrangement’ – equally brilliant) as well as 14d and 16d.

5. Generally straightforward with a few head scratchers. Never heard of 16d in my life. Still a welcome diversion after yesterday’s dnf. Favourite was 24a. Thanks to Django and ALP.

6. Humorous and not tough at all, though fun to solve.
   11a my favourite clue too, which brought to mind the P.J. Proby incident.
   The football referenced 17a was quite wordy but amusing to unravel and I also liked the dope smoking undergraduate in 26d.
   Had to check the last word of 16d: though it was fairly clued, it was a new term to me.
   Thanks to Django and ALP.

7. I thought I’d give this a whirl as I saw that ALP gave this officially 2 stars (unofficially 1) and read the other comments….Very gentle…….almost a 1* time solve….not too taxing….generally straightforward……not tough at all.

   Blimey!

   I do enjoy difficult backpagers from the Friday triumvirate as it mangles the brain but there is the occasional let-up thrown in to give you a breather. This wasn’t brutal but it’s nowhere near what the above thought.

   I didn’t know:

   The synonym for magazine
   The meaning of bonnet
   The meaning of timeshare (though I like it)
   ‘Up in the air’ would be a good AI but ‘up’ on its own? A new one for me.

   The parsing of 14d is bonkers and 25d is simply beyond me. Obviously, I now understand the parsing of both of them but wouldn’t have got them in a zillion years. Going through each clue, I have a chance. But, bung it all together as a package and it becomes a severe, relentless test.

   Goodness knows what yesterday’s Toughie by Prime was like if CS gave it 5 stars for difficulty!

   To quote Captain Oates….I’m just going outside (the Toughie tent) and may be some time…..

   I’ll stick to my backpagers, thank you very much.

   1. Oh, I forgot to say that, clever as it may be, the parsing of the third word in 16d is completely bonkers. Just to rub salt in the wound, I’ve never heard of the expression.

      Right! It’s Drinks O’Clock…..make mine a triple!

   2. Hi Tom. That’s more than fair enough, of course. Obviously, Toughies are meant to be just that – tougher than backpagers. And Thursday is, by repute, the second toughest of the week. By that criteria, this was “relatively” gentle. And it was noticeably gentler than yesterday. One of the quirks of Prime’s splendid puzzle was “consultancy” for EY, as in Ernst & Young. And that certainly foxed a few of us. Re “bonnet”, it is, of course, a cap, so it’s just another first-letter indicator. As for “up” as an anagram indicator, it is undoubtedly true that many people don’t care for it used as such. Indeed, I know several setters who refuse to use it. But it is perfectly legitimate and has precedent. Finally, re “timeshare”, I’ve never seen that used as a splice before so it may well be a wonderful new Djangoism. But great to see you here and hopefully, after some Oates time, you’ll be back. Just avoid (probably) the undeniably brilliant Elgar on a Friday. I don’t think he’s ever been – or ever will be – called “gentle”!

      1. Thanks for your swift reply, as ever.

         Elgar is my Everest or should that be Eiger.

         1. Ha, Elgar is that for many of us I suspect! Also, I’m astonished that you’ve clearly never watched The Sopranos. I thought that would be right up your street. As I recall, 16d is said in almost every episode!

            1. I do need to get my act together as I haven’t watched…

               The Sopranos
               The Wire
               West Wing
               24
               Breaking Bad
               Better Call Saul

               I know, I know….

               1. The Sopranos is a MUST watch. I must have rewatched the whole series at least 3 times. It has a lot of shocking violence & the central character is utterly monstrous but it’s brilliantly written & compelling.
                  If you’re only going to invest your time with 1 of the above I’d pick that one

                  1. Duly noted, Hoots.

                     Thank you.

8. Thanks ALP and thanks all.

   Tomdisappointingsturges65 re ‘up’ as an anagram indicator. There are a couple of definitions that can sensibly be relied upon.
   Up = amiss “is something up?”
   Up = in an excited state

   Neither of those seem controversial to me and those who object appear to do so because one’s first thought is of something heading up and so, in a down clue at least, it indicates reversal. But plenty of words have more than one meaning (and crosswords would be terribly dull if they didn’t) and, for example “about” is used as an indicator for anagrams, reversal and containment.

   I confess that I’ve used ‘timeshare arrangement’ a handful of times.

   1. Huge thanks for popping in, and for yet another dazzler. Nowt wrong with “up” – couldn’t agree more. I’m just mildly embarrassed not to have clocked your “timeshare” trick before – utterly brilliant. Worthy of (many) repeats!

   2. Thanks for your explanation of up, ‘Unchained’ *, which, of course, makes complete sense. I have added it to my crib sheet.

      I’ve said that, for the last year or so, AIs (anagram indicators) have got completely out of control. It really is the Wild West to what qualifies as one as there are around 1,500 of them…and counting!

      I thought it wise to make my peace with it which I did recently.

      * I suppose ‘Django Unchained’ is ‘jang’? See, I’m learning.

   3. Just asking … but does anyone know why Django has a Subbuteo player as his icon?

      1. Liverpool supporter. Any image of the real Graeme Souness would have breached the site’s guidelines on disturbing images.

9. Surprisingly easy for a Thursday Toughie … but great entertainment from Django as usual.

   Lots of very imaginative, inventive and original clues!

   Thanks to Mr Gorman.

10. Nice to hear from you on the dark side, Tom.
    I’ve often found that some backpagers are just as complex as toughies, though admittedly Friday Toughies are a real tester, particularly if Mr H (Elgar) is in the seat.
    I know there are plenty of solvers who are concerned about AIs and you have a point. For me, picking an abstract word from the clue which is meant as an AI, is all part of the challenge. In compiling a clue, I feel setters have licence to be free and imaginative with syntax and definition, as long as the surface is not too clunky.
    I don’t mind words I haven’t heard of as long as they aren’t ridiculously obscure, it’s all part of life’s education. Elgar used to chuck a few in, but as some of us have commented recently, his puzzles are much more fun when he doesn’t punch low.
    Do pop back in soon, there aren’t that many of us who comment on the shady side…

    1. Good to hear from you, Frankie baby.

       I’ve brushed myself down and will be back….sometime.

       Hoo nose when.

       ‘Wey hey!’ AIs are my cross to bear.

       I’m a huge fan of new words as long as the clue is fair.

       Combining a not oft used expression (16d) with a difficult ask (stripping the second word of 8d) is one too far. Well, for Eiger, maybe not but, for a gentle Toughie (quoting the people who have posted)….no.

11. Lovely! Not as tough as yesterday’s but every bit as enjoyable. My only disappointment was starting with the relatively feeble 1a. But then it just got better and better. 11a [home to change] 15a [changing room] 24a [timeshare!!] and 16d [ 8!!] were the highlights but there were lots more crackers. Will tomorrow maintain this standard?
    Thanks to Django and ALP – the JLH track is one of his very best and surprisingly [to my knowledge] has never been covered.

    1. I totally agree – one of his very best. And they’re all pretty good, let’s face it. There was this but not a patch on the original … obviously.

       1. I totally agree!

12. Solved at 3am during a sleep interrupted night so glad that it was mercifully sub Prime. Gentle but hugely entertaining with ticks all over the shop – 11,17&24a plus 16&24d particular likes.
    Thanks to Django & to ALP – I thought OTW too at 16d. 👍 for Jake & John Lee.

    1. OTW for 18d obviously

13. I enjoyed this one. I found it tougher than many, and thought it was appropriate Thursday fare. Maybe I’m still reeling from yesterday’s nightmare. Although being on the N Wales hills watching and listening to nightjars until well after dark probably hasn’t helped. 16d was a new one for me but clearly clued, and like many the definition of 11a puts that the top of the list.
    Thanks Django and ALP.

14. Thank you Django — both for the puzzle, and explaining “up” (which I recognized as an anagram indicator only because another crossword used it recently, but I hadn’t understood why it worked till your comment above).

    There were just enough clues I could get on the first pass to make decent progress, but I couldn’t get the final word of 16d even with the hint, so conceded defeat and revealed letters on that one. An American indicator wouldn’t have helped me; I don’t recall ever having heard either the phrase or its final word before (and if I did, I’d probably guess it meant the same as ‘on the lash’, rather than what it actually means). It is a very good clue, though, and its use of 8d is ingenious; I am glad that clues like this exist.

    So that makes this mostly straightforward for a Toughie, with a light sprinkling of DNF — either 2 stars or infinite stars?

    My favourite was 24a’s timeshare arrangement, with plaudits too to 11a’s home to change, “Dead right” in 3d, Checking on print media in 4d, and 26d’s smoking weed in Oxford.

    Thank you to ALP for confirming, hinting, and explaining.

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