Toughie 3541

Toughie No 3541 by Chalicea
Hints and tips by Whybird

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BD Rating – Difficulty *  – Enjoyment ***

Hello and welcome to another Toughie week. Your peripatetic Blogger finds himself in the delightful surroundings of Dumfries and Galloway, looking out over a small loch near Auchencairn and trying desperately not to lapse into Scottish cliches.  It’s a tough life (not the cliche-avoidance), but we must all make sacrifices… 

Chalicea has given us a very gentle puzzle today, made easier by 5 lurkers/rekruls in concise clues. My main issue was with fully parsing 17d. The second sense took me much, much longer than completing the grid, and I still can’t say I’m satisfied with my explanation.  13a takes my prize today, closely followed by 4d – both excellent surfaces.  Thank you, Chalicea, for restoring balance to the Toughie Universe after last Tuesday’s battering. 

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

Across Clues

1 Doctor welcoming start of lovely old musical (7)

MELODIC Take a five-letter “doctor” and insert (welcoming) the initial letter of “lovely” and the usual letter for “old”

5 Manured incorrectly without accessory apparatus (7)

UNARMED An anagram (incorrectly) of “manured” gives a word meaning lacking weaponry, which is a fairly imprecise interpretation of “without accessory apparatus”, but fair enough in a Toughie

9 Wine and fish journalist described in words (9)

PORTRAYED A charade of a four-letter (fortified) wine, a three-letter fish and the usual journalist gives a synonym of “described” (the “in words” possibly helps the surface, and isn’t incorrect, but could have you looking for something more literary.

10 Suffer fashionable dog (5)

INCUR A charade of the usual two-letter fashionable and a three-letter lowly dog

11 Revolutionary maths aces embracing electronic financial transactions (1-4)

E-CASH The solution is found lurking (embracing) in reverse (revolutionary) amongst “maths aces”.

12 Break stride and run for Bond’s martini? (9)

UNSTIRRED An anagram (break) of “stride” and “run” narrows down the methods for preparing James Bond’s vodka martini 

13 Royals are out of sorts in period of revolution (5,4)

SOLAR YEAR An anagram (out of sorts) of “Royals are” gives the period for the earth to complete an orbit of the sun

16 Kicks fellow doing menial hotel tasks (5)

BOOTS A double-definition.  Think footwear for pantomime cats

17 Dip discovered in combat helmet (5)

BATHE A synonym of “dip” in the water/swimming/cleansing sense is lurking in the letters of “combat helmet”

18 Stripped like a plain salad (9)

UNDRESSED Another double definition, the first being in the sense of absent clothing. 

20 Series of six balls in cricket surprisingly worth upset (9)

OVERTHROWN Another term for “upset” (as in, for example, deposed) is formed from the “series of six (legal) balls in cricket” followed by an anagram (upset) of “worth”.  It’s unusual to see the cricket term spelled out in such detail

23 Requirement we’re told, to massage (5)

KNEAD A phononym (we’re told) of a noun meaning “requirement” gives a word for massage, often applied to dough

25 Parent to join with others between beginning and end of day (5)

DADDY Insert a three-letter alternative term for “join with others” into the first and last letters of “day” to get an informal parent.

26 Popular stringed instrument, item at heart safe from injury (9)

INVIOLATE A charade of the two-letter “popular”, a five-letter stringed instrument and the middle letters (at heart) of “item” to get a lovely synonym for “safe from injury”

27 Chide about Yankee essentially banal sobriety (7)

DRYNESS A synonym for “chide” (more often encountered in association with “down”) surrounds the NATO phonetic letter “Yankee” and the middle letter (essentially) of “banal”

28 Outspoken child sad when day is at an end (7)

SUNDOWN A phononym (outspoken) of a (male) child followed by a four-letter synonym for “sad” 

Down Clues
1 Planners principally mark original papers (7)

MAPPERS People who make plans/directions are obtained from the first letter (principally) of “mark” followed by an anagram (original) of “papers”

2 Immature insect – some particular variety (5)

LARVA The solution is lurking (some) in the letters of “particular variety”

3 Black Beauty say, competitor about whom little is known (4,5)

DARK HORSE A sporting (or other competitive) unknown is also another way of describing Anna Sewell’s equine hero.

4 Bashful cat half consumed large rodent (5)

COYPU A rodent native to South America is formed from a three-letter synonym of “bashful” and the first two letters (half consumed) of a four-letter alternative term for a cat (think 16a)

5 Is endured unhappily, not wanted (9)

UNDESIRED An anagram (unhappily) of “is endured”

6 Appeal I binned contains self-justification (5)

ALIBI A “self-justification” (or reason it couldn’t have been me, I wasn’t there…) is lurking (contains) in “Appeal I binned”

7 Mother sings softly clasping American cookies (9)

MACAROONS A type of cookie, commonly containing coconut, is formed from an informal “mother”, and a word meaning “sing softly” (think Perry Como et al) surround the usual letter for “American”

8 Speaks with contempt of empty daytime journeys (7)

DERIDES A word meaning “speaks with contempt” is formed from the first and last letters (empty) of “daytime” and a synonym of “journeys” (on something, a horse, bus, train etc)

14 Modern but sadly tardy and late (6-3)

LATTER-DAY A synonym of “modern” (usually associated with a church based in Utah) is an anagram (sadly) of both “tardy” and “late”

15 European questions about right royal attendants (9)

EQUERRIES Take the usual single-letter “European” and follow that with a synonym of “questions” into which is inserted the usual single letter “right” 

16 Give detailed analysis of reason car won’t go (9)

BREAKDOWN This works either as a double definition, or with the sense of “give detailed analysis” split (5,4) to mean “reduce to constituent parts”

17 Of good pedigree and full of life? (7)

BLOODED A term meaning “well bred” (often used with livestock), when prefixed with “full” also means “lively or enthusiastic.  I think this could be what the question-mark is getting at. Or I suppose “xxxxxxx” could be seen as cryptically defined by “full of life”.  I’m open to alternatives!  Perhaps Chalicea could drop in and let us know?

19 Resentment of last of men becoming trapped ultimately in underground cell (7)

DUDGEON A synonym of “resentment” is formed by taking a word for “underground cell” (without the dragons) and replacing the (internal instance of the) last letter of “men” in that word with the final letter (ultimately) of “trapped”.  To me, this clue could also work in reverse, but thankfully the third checking letter removes any ambiguity. And the use of “trapped” at least hints at the internal substitution.

21 Suitable moment, it’s said, for plant used for seasoning (5)

THYME Crosswordland’s common herb is a phononym (it’s said) of a four-letter “suitable moment”

22 Swallow’s tail, covering birds, flutters (5)

WAVES The final letter of “swallow” followed by (covered in a down clue) the scientific class comprising birds to get a synonym of “flutters”

24 Venerator embraces love-poetry muse (5)

ERATO Crosswordland’s regular muse is lurking in “Venerator”