Toughie No 3590 by Silvanus
Hints and tips by ALP
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Toughie difficulty ** – Enjoyment ****
Sue is still bouncing back, so I’m afraid you’ve got me again. But I’m delighted to blog another Silvanus – only my second. Whip-smart as always. The top left stumped me initially but I quickly moved on and it all flowed pretty smoothly from there. As we know, there’s always a way in. It just wasn’t the NW! All yours.
Across
1a Screen actor finally brought before court claims to be revolutionary (6)
PURDAH: [Acto]R, claimed/contained by “brought before court” (3,2), all reversed/revolutionary.
4a Travelling south, together with several hundred (8)
THOUSAND: SOUTH, travelling, plus together with/as well as.
10a Number, mostly inexperienced, cycling (5)
LOCAL: Inexperienced/immature, minus its last letter, with its letters cycled = setters’ favourite meaning of “number”.
11a New girlfriend originally denied cooking thick orange vegetable (9)
ARTICHOKE: THICKORA[N+G]E, cooking.
12a Fail to keep appointment with comedian (5,2)
STAND UP: Remove the comedian’s hyphen.
13a Vision, say, of Fury boxing against European (7)
AVENGER: Fury/rage boxing/containing the abbreviations for “against” and “European” = Marvel hero.
14a Biscuit, delicacy Republican plugs – it may eventually arrive here (9,5)
DIGESTIVE TRACT: A popular biscuit (surely best with chocolate?) + delicacy/diplomacy, with the usual Republican plugged/inserted. The “it” in the definition relates back to the “biscuit”. Ideally, I’d underline just the first and last five words – but then it would look like the double definition it isn’t. NB, there’s a bit of minor swearing, so please avoid if that’s a worry. But I just couldn’t not!
17a Street flashers trying to attract attention! (7,7)
BELISHA BEACONS: Cryptic definition, nowt to do with streaking.
21a Enthusiasm of extra on EastEnders (7)
FERVOUR: A homophone of “extra”, as said in a Cockney accent.
23a Rather like mountain lake spot (7)
TARNISH: How one might whimsically say “rather like mountain lake”, i.e. add the three-letter “rather like” suffix to said lake.
24a Flipping retreat over current newspaper piece (9)
EDITORIAL: Retreat/den + “over” abbreviation + current/flow, all flipping/reversed.
25a Famous Miliband brother, David presumably? (5)
NOTED: How one might rhetorically ask “Miliband brother, David presumably?” as (3,2). Or what I indeed did say – less rhetorically – when I recently saw a list of mooted Starmer replacements!
26a Look on face of Siamese cat Pete spoilt (8)
SPECTATE: S[iamese]+CATPETE, spoilt.
27a Every second farm boy really lacking any principles (6)
AMORAL: Alternate (every second) letters, starting from the ‘A’ in “farm”.
Down
1d Defensive line perhaps royal equerry uttered (8)
PALISADE: Homophone (uttered) of, for example, “royal equerry” (6,3).
2d Neglect a suspect supporting essentially corrupt figure (9)
RECTANGLE: NEGLECTA, suspect, after/supporting [cor]R[upt].
3d Hints those dull adverts upset hosts (7)
ALLUDES: Lurker, reversed in the second, third and fourth words.
5d Attractive quality, courage, in one sharing your bed? (3-5,6)
HOT-WATER BOTTLE: Attractive/sexy + “quality” (as in “of the first or purest *****”) + courage/heart. Some scrolling may be required for the “quality” synonym but the definition is crystal clear.
6d Relative right to keep answer ambiguous (7)
UNCLEAR: (Male) relative + the usual “right”, keeping/containing the usual “answer”.
7d Throughout day barely overcomes thirst (5)
ALONG: [d]A[y] + (to) thirst/yearn.
8d Gloomy prohibitionist receiving attention (6)
DREARY: Prohibitionist/pussyfoot (so much more fun than “teetotaller”, no?), receiving/containing attention/heed.
9d Musician chap Rod’s shirt I ripped (14)
HARPSICHORDIST: CHAPRODSSHIRTI, ripped. Lovely spot.
15d One singing in synch – or is terrible? (9)
CHORISTER: Lurker, hidden in the last four words.
16d Plant Poles had cultivated (8)
ASPHODEL: POLESHAD, cultivated.
18d Sign golfer’s ready to play shows resolve (4,3)
IRON OUT: How one might say that a golfer is ready to play a shot. Just not the first one off the tee, er, generally. One for Huntsman!
19d MoMA maybe friend enters in the morning (7)
ACRONYM: Friend/companion enters/goes inside the usual “in the morning”.
20d Sweet daughter put out by comparatively stupid son (6)
AFTERS: Comparatively stupid/thicker, minus the abbreviated “daughter”, plus the usual “son”.
22d Outsiders excluded from acclaimed institute (5)
RAISE: Acclaimed/lauded, minus its outside letters.
We’ve got five anagrams, two lurkers, a brace of homophones and a cryptic definition, etc. I especially enjoyed 10a’s cunning and the wit of 17a & 5d, but I think the clever 1a takes it. How did you get on?
Super puzzle, perfect level for a midweek toughie.
Plenty of sharp wordplay and Silvanus’ usual excellent surfaces.
The orange vegetable which isn’t in 11a is my pick of a very decent crop.
My thanks to our setter and ALP.
Like our blogger, I finished in the NW corner, but this did not detract from the enjoyment. Unusually, 1a and 1d were the last to fall for me.
The parsing of 10a eluded me for ages. Clever (if tricky) when you see it.
I bunged in AMONG at 7d, but couldn’t parse it. Not surprising, as it was the wrong answer!
As we all know, a broad range of general knowledge is required to complete a cryptic crossword, but I take my hat off to those who are intimate with American comics and superheroes!
Excellent stuff, Silvanus. Many thanks.
Thanks also to ALP for stepping into the blogging chair (can you step into a chair?…probably not). Get well soon, CS.
A really entertaining puzzle – thanks to Silvanus and ALP.
I puzzled about the definition of 13a. The wordplay was clear but I’d no idea how the answer means vision – so thanks to ALP for explaining that.
The clues I liked best were 1a, 14a, 25a and 1d.
Shame on you for not knowing your American superheroes!!
Yes, I’ve led a very sheltered life.
It’s not a genre in which I have any interest whatever, but I simply figured that there are so many utterly ridiculous names for comic/film superheroes & villains that “Vision” just had to be one of them!
I found this rather challenging but nevertheless a joy to solve despite being utterly bemused by the definition for 13a. At least the answer brought a smile to my face as it reminded me of a young Diana Rigg in her escapades with Patrick Macnee in the 60s.
From a plethora of ticks, 1a, 25a & 1d climbed onto the podium.
Many thanks to Silvanus and to ALP.
That duo were far superior to anything Marvel could dream up!
As super smooth as always with every clue a potential winner. I needed my trusty pin to select my favourite, which turned out to be 17a.
Thanks as always to Silvanus and to ALP.
I’d always thought 1a simply referred to a state one was forced to live in so had to verify that one with Mr G, elsewhere it was just a case of reading each clue carefully and following Mr Smooth’s instructions to the letter – sometimes easier said than done!
I think 14a takes my gold star today with the following pack comprising 4&12a plus 1d.
Many thanks to Silvanus for a pitch-perfect Toughie and thanks to ALP for the review and the Peter Kay clip which fitted the clue perfectly – not that I’m a fan of soggy biscuits!
The top left took me the longest to unravel.
I had to check my guess at 13a, as I know nothing about Marvel heroes.
Plenty of ticks with 17a and 25a in close contention.
Many thanks to Silvanus and to ALP.
I too had trouble with the NW and was bemused by the definition in 13a. I think 21a gets an award for sheer chutzpah and 1a gets a gong for sheer quality.
Thanks to Silvanus and ALP [good to hear “Watchtower” again, I think we’ve previously agreed it’s probably the best Dylan cover ever].
Super puzzle. I too finished in the NW, with 1a – clever instructions, very deceptive! Barring two in the NW and two in the SW this was surprisingly light for a Wednesday, but a hugely satisfying challenge. I groaned when the East End enthusiasm finally dawned, which then relieved me of my comparative stupidity, while it was the even louder groan of 1d’s pun that unlocked the 1a’s screen.
Honours to 1d, 21a & 25a, but to be honest the laurels could have adorned many clues in this grid. Many thanks indeed to Silvanus and ALP. Best wishes too to Sue for her swift and full recovery, and her return to these pages!
Many thanks to ALP and to all those solving and commenting. Much appreciated.
Huge thanks for popping in – another belter.
Second day running I’ve finished the toughie! Yeah, thanks all.
Great puzzle although I need to brush up on screens, Marvel characters and plants. 18d was my favourite.
Thanks to Silvanus and ALP.
13a had to be what it was but was still a bung in. The rest were difficult but doable but, to be fair, about right for a Wednesday. Favourite was 1d. Thanks to Silvanus and ALP.
Hadn’t a Scooby what vision had to do with the answer at 13a & now realise I hadn’t really understood the concept of 1a fully (other than pre-electoral protocol). The 4 long uns yielding reasonably quickly helped matters & the one at 14a was my clear favourite. As ever a great puzzle.
Thanks to Silvanus & to ALP – great music clip choices
1*/5* ….
liked 17A “Street flashers trying to attract attention! (7,7)” … amongst others.