Toughie 3533

Toughie No 3533 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird

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BD Rating – Difficulty */**  – Enjoyment *****

Welcome to the Toughie week from an overcast but dry Wirral. Dada has given us a gentle, but excellent puzzle to get us going.  I’m particularly pleased about that, having returned from a “lad’s weekend” (need to check the Trade Descriptions Act on that these days, but the concept is sound) in Blackpool to see the excellent Stillmarillion at the wonderful Waterloo Music Bar on Saturday. I remember the venue from televised Crown Green bowling events back in the day (see “Lad’s Weekend” query…). Filling in for a minor technical glitch with an unscheduled song is one thing, but doing so with 20 or so minutes of Grendel is just epic – well done lads!  

Getting 9a and 19d fairly early had me on possible double-pangram alert, but in the end, by my reckoning, we are two letters short of “just” a single pangram.  There are a decent number of well disguised anagrams, some clever surfaces and a good helping of inventive definitions to make for a very satisfying solve without scaring any horses – despite the presence of three of my “nemesis” features (“it”, “figure” and 25d).  I’ve added an extra half-star for difficulty because of the head-scratching I had to do over 6d, and I’m still not wildly happy about my reasoning.  I’ve given my prizes this week to 12a, 14d and 17d, but there are so many to chose from.  Which clues floated your boat this week? 

Thank you, Dada, for a perfect Tuesday-level puzzle. 

Please leave a comment telling us how you fared and what you liked about the puzzle.

Across Clues

1 Flier in school about work, applications going in (5,7)

HOUSE SPARROW A Russian doll clue. Take a two-letter “work”, insert a non-software, four letter synonym for “applications” and insert that into a public school (not the messy one, the agricultural one) to get a sadly not-as-common-as-it-once-was bird species

9 British money in question in France and Germany (4)

QUID An informal term for a key element of “British money” is formed from a three-letter French interrogative, and the usual single letter for Germany

10 Elastic in a closet in bits (9)

SECTIONAL An anagram (elastic) of “in a closet” gives a word meaning “in bits”

12 Limitless, as tale no-one heard? (6)

UNTOLD A synonym of “Limitless” is also how you might describe a story that had never been heard, or indeed recited.

13 Tiny fraction supporting leaders in Tottenham Hotspur after match (8)

FORTIETH A small, numeric fraction is a made up of a three-letter “supporting” and a three letter “match” (or draw) followed by (after) the initial letters of Tottenham Hotspur.  Not exactly an everyday fraction, but fairly clued.

15 Abnormally, Norman late for show (10)

ORNAMENTAL An anagram (Abnormally) of “Norman late” gets a word meaning “for show”

16 Rum say in barrel, simply rolled over (4)

ISLE An example of what Rum is in the geographical sense is lurking, in reverse (in… …rolled over) “barrel simply”. A lovely surface.

18 On top of that, a band from London (4)

ALSO A word meaning “on top of that” (or “in addition”) is formed from “a” from the clue and the abbreviation for a “band” (quite a large one, numerically) of classical musicians based at the Barbican. 

20 Early potential shown by reliable bloke, builder (10)

BRICKLAYER Place an anagram of “Early” (potential) after (shown by – although it could mean “before” but that doesn’t lead to any sensible result)) and informal term for someone who is reliable to get a key tradesman in the construction world 

23 Estimated time to get system clearer? (8)

ROUGHAGE A synonym for “estimated” and a three-letter “time” as a noun gets a dietary component that assists with clearing a digestive system. Not a clue I really wanted to consider before breakfast, but clever nonetheless. 

24 One has bagged century now (2,4)

AT ONCE An informal term for a century is inserted into another name for the number one playing card to get a term meaning “now” (or immediately)  

26 Dealer and son go to pot plants (9)

OLEANDERS Types of shrubs or small trees are formed by an anagram (go to pot) of “dealer and son”.  Another lovely surface.

27 Retired minister, old, done! (4)

OVER A three-letter abbreviation for a religious minister and the usual single -letter “old” are inverted to get another word for “done” (or finished)

28 Catcher set for a very long run? (3,9)

THE MOUSETRAP A device for controlling furry, domestic pests is also a very long running theatre production.  This could also be defined as “Catcher set” or even as an all-in-one.

Down Clues
2 Lover now put out? (3,5) 

OLD FLAME A terms for a former lover is also something that has been extinguished

3 Belt it and belt up! (4)

SASH A type of belt is formed by the two-letter abbreviation for “it” in the sense of physical attraction followed by the two-letter command to “belt up” (or be quiet)

4 Unholy carcass, not divine (10)

SACROSANCT An anagram (unholy) of “carcass not” gives synonym of “divine”. Elegant simplicity. 

5 Fly through Thailand’s capital in aeroplane after vacation (6)

AVIATE A verb meaning “fly” is formed by inserting a three-letter synonym of “though” and the initial (capital) letter of “Thailand” into the first and last letters (after vacation) of “aeroplane”.  Another clever surface.

6 Forest team, a football team (7)

RANGERS Ho hum, what to make of this?  I have this as a double definition.  The second is a major Glasgow football club. The first I assume refers to the team of people responsible for looking after forests, etc.  Although appending the solution to Forest also gives a Zambian football team. My last one in, but not the last one “answered”

7 Killed when upset, stray bitten by their rabid dog (5,7)

WELSH TERRIER A breed of dog is formed by inverting (when upset) a slightly archaic word for “killed” followed by the insertion of (bitten by) a three-letter verb meaning “stray” (or make a mistake) into an anagram (rabid) of “their”

8 American figure inferior to a novelist from England (6)

AUSTEN The usual two-letter “American” and a round number following (inferior in a down clue) “a” from the clue gives a famous English novelist. 

11 I run a lot, turning left for gateway to Europe and beyond (5,7)

LUTON AIRPORT A South-eastern departure point for many a foreign holiday is formed from an anagram (turning) of “I run a lot” followed by the nautical “left”.

14 Now going for opening door (2,8)

IN PROGRESS Insert a three-letter prefix meaning “for” (or in favour of) into (opening) one of the less-usual synonyms for “door” to get an adjectival term meaning “now going” or “active”

17 Wealth has to help poor artist (8)

PLETHORA A word for “Wealth” (as a quantity) is formed (has) from an anagram (poor) of “to help” followed by the usual two-letter abbreviation for “artist”. Lovely stuff!

19 Jam lover (7)

SQUEEZE A clever double definition, the first being in the sense of “crowded”, the second being an informal term for “lover” often used with “latest”

21 Unknown drone buzzed around there (6)

YONDER The common algebraic “unknown” followed by an anagram (buzzed around) gets a synonym of “there” as a place.  Another lovely clue.

22 Thus has nailed clue for religion (6)

SHINTO Insert (has nailed) a synonym of “clue” (what I’m providing here, as it happens) into a two-letter word meaning “thus” to get a Japanese religion

25 Listen to this piano sonata, so tender, initially (4)

PSST The sound you might make to might try to attract somebody’s attention is formed from the initial letters of “piano sonata so tender”