Toughie No 3741 by Dada
Hints and tips by Whybird
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ***
Greetings and welcome to another Toughie Week! Many thanks to Gazza and ALP for filing in whist I was off on my Jollies – Audouin’s gull, Cory’s, Scopoli’s, Balearic and Manx shearwaters, crested tit, spotless starling, black redstart, long-finned pilot whale, common dolphin, loggerhead turtle, and a (probably Fin) whale were the wildlife highlights, plus 70-odd seconds of total eclipse, so I’m pretty happy with that haul!
Dada had given us a stiff test today, certainly meriting its Toughie label. There are some very clever and inventive clues but I didn’t warm to it as much as I was expecting, although I can’t really work out why. 16a and 26a get honourable mentions, but I’m giving my top prize today to 18a. Thanks to Dada for robustly knocking away the post-holiday cobwebs.
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
Across Clues
7a Gross, as is mutineer? (9)
REVOLTING A double definition
8a Auditor’s one for capital (5)
SEOUL This capital city sounds like (Auditor’s) a synonym of “one” (or only)
10a Lower garment (6)
JERSEY A double definition, the first referencing a sound made by certain animals of which the solution is an example
11a Date with God as yet uncertain! (2,6)
GO STEADY An anagram (uncertain) of “God as yet”
12a Little bloomer of legend featured in newspaper (6)
FLORET A synonym of “legend” is inserted into (featured in) the abbreviation for a business/economics-focused newspaper
14a Crew member I adore goes abroad (6)
ROADIE An anagram (goes abroad) of “I adore”
16a Bum say snaffles hot pasty (4)
ASHY An anagram (Bum) of “say” surrounds the letter indicating “hot”
17a Roll barrel slowly at the end (5)
BUTTY A four-letter type of “barrel” is followed by the final letter (at the end) of “slowly”. I’m not mad keen on the synonym here – it might be just a personal thing, but the solution is made with sliced bread, and I took a lot of persuading to finally write it in
18a Get down – you can get down from one! (4)
DUCK A double definition
19a Piece, obscurity recited? (6)
KNIGHT The solution (a chesspiece) sounds like (recited) a synonym of “obscurity” (or darkness)
21a Reason this person has to follow cat around (6)
MOTIVE Reverse (around) the name for a male cat and append (to follow) a (1’2) term meaning “this person has”
24a Gag aboard ship binds mouth of engineer (3-5)
ONE-LINER Insert the first letter (mouth) of “engineer” into a (2,5) expression that could be a way of describing where you are when “aboard ship”
26a Too much wine Edward knocked back (2,4)
DE TROP A reversal (knocked back) of a fortified wine and an abbreviation for “Edward”
27a Secure components, looking back (5)
STRAP A reversal (looking back) of a synonym of “components”
28a A cell Fido messed up – the pits there? (9)
COALFIELD An anagram (messed up) of “A cell Fido”
Down Clues
1d Plane just the same going up and down (5)
LEVEL The solution is a palindrome (“just the same going up and down” in a Down clue)
2d Staff stood up on excursion at the back (8)
DORSALLY Reverse (“stood up” in a Down clue) a synonym of “staff” (or pole) and follow that (on) with a synonym of “excursion”
3d Grey perhaps unlikely to fade? (6)
STAYER A mixture of an all-in-one and a double definition, with “Grey” being a reference to a colour of a horse and overall being a reference to a horse renowned for stamina
4d Hiccup somewhat nauseating and gassy, first of all (4)
SNAG The answer is made up of the initial letters (first of all) of “somewhat nauseating and gassy”
5d Six of nine petals in flowering plant (6)
NEPETA The solution is found in six consecutive letters in (six of) “nine petals”. A new one for me
6d Coin drop in fictional game (9)
QUIDDITCH This fictional, wizarding, game is a charade of a slang term for a (pound) “coin” and synonym of “drop” in the sense of “abandon”
9d Off the rails, like holder of food (6)
ASTRAY A charade of a two-letter synonym of “like” and an implement used to carry food (and other articles)
13d Sign me up after youngster (5)
TOTEM A reversal (“up” in a Down clue) of “me” follows (after) a synonym of “youngster”
15d Folly is in a tiny ground (9)
ASININITY An anagram (ground) of “is in a tiny”
17d Arctic element embraced by mammoth (6)
BITING A three-letter metallic element is surrounded (embraced) by a synonym of “mammoth”
18d Joint vote rubbished within political chamber (8)
DOVETAIL An anagram (rubbished) of “vote” is inserted into the name of the lower house of the Irish parliament
20d Maiden route in Irish county (6)
GALWAY A three-letter informal term for a young lady followed by a synonym of “route”. How many others spent time trying to think of counties beginning with “M”?
22d Little less than lucid? (6)
TIDDLY A double definition
23d One opens abridged tome and a problem solved! (5)
VOILA Take an abbreviation (abridged) of a synonym of “tome”, insert (opens) the Roman numeral “one” then add “a” from the clue.
25d Cover uncovered evidence (4)
ROOF Remove the initial letter (uncovered in a Down clue) from a synonym of “evidence”
I needed the hints for a couple – thank you, Whybird – but, otherwise, an enjoyable solve. 5d was one I needed the hint for and kicked myself when I saw the answer – if in doubt an all that – but I didn’t know the flower so might not have seen it anyway. My COTT is getting down at 18a.
Thank you, Dada for the puzzle. That you, Whybird for the hints.
At first sight I thought this was going to be a real stinker, but after a short while the NE and SW were completed without too much hassle. Although I didn’t know the game at 6d having never read the series, got it from the checkers and confirmed with the BRB. 14d was new to me, but logical from its root. Then a long blank period. However, after a break during which I fixed a wonky fence post, and downed a cup of coffee, hallelujah, I saw the light. Edward’s wine tested my French, which also came in handy for 23d, although I couldn’t parse it, and the unfading grey took a while to register; 2d was LOI.
Thank you Dada for the challenge and Whybird for explaining 23d.
3*/3*
A rare foray for me into Toughie territory but I thought I’d try my hand at the early week ones. I totally surprised myself by completing it unaided.
Top picks for me were 12a, 6d, 9d, 18a and 23d. LOI was 2d.
Thanks to Whybird and Dada.
Did you go to Gibraltar Whybird? You saw some good birds. We have been there for the raptor migrations where we had fun trying to watch them while keeping all belongings away from the apes on the Rock.
Sailed from Southampton into the Med and back via various Portuguese and Spanish ports, and got a good look at The Rock as we passed, so a very good approximation! I did wonder if Dada was stalking me given the 24a & 26a combination!
I’ve not done the Gib/Tarifa migration, but did experience the Bosphorus equivalent quite a few years ago. No apes, but Istanbul’s taxi drivers offer a different peril!
A rather gentle start to the week, albeit with a couple of words new to me. Both 2d and 5d were well clued though, so the solutions were not in doubt.
18d is my COTD, an excellent surface read, with the political chamber logged in the memory from frequent appearances over the years.
After returning from vacances en Biarritz, the French terms were appropriate. I was with Edward in 26a, 22d on some très bon vin rouge.
Merci à Dada et Whybird.
Welcome back & glad to hear that the hols/paid leave went well. I started off thinking this would be a Tuesday breeze & very soon realised it would be no such thing. 5d & 8a were the holdouts & even once the penny had dropped with the capital (after an embarrassingly long time – d’oh) the unfamiliar (most of ‘em are in truth) plant had me flummoxed & I was reduced to unsuccessfully trying to cheat by trawling thro’ all of the 6 letter options in Bradford’s 5th Edition & it wasn’t even in there. Only then did the ‘if all else fails’ maxim dawn on me & Mr G gave it the 👍.
Enjoyed the tussle maybe more than our reviewer did. ✅s for 12&17a + 3,6&18d.
Thanks to Dada & to Whybird – won a couple of bob on Sam & Dave then lost it all on Wishbone Ash but great choice with Arthur.
Gentle start to toughie week, hadn’t heard of 5d but once the checkers were in it was easy enough to find the right six. Favourites were 14a and 23d. Lovely concise clues. Thanks to Dada and Whybird.
Quirky and entertaining – thanks to Dada and Whybird.
I liked 16a (once I’d got past reading the first word as BURN), 18a, 3d and 23d.
Tough for a Tuesday, especially the top bit. I had to abandon my “do it in order” rule and take whatever was available. Top picks were the “lower” in 10a and the very cunning [well I thought it was] 23d – my last one in.
Thanks to Dada and Whybird [good music picks].
Last in by quite a margin was 5d but it looks like we were not alone in this. Enjoyable solve as ever from this setter.
Thanks Dada and Whybird.
I enjoyed this mainly as it was a toughie I very nearly completed!
Needed to consult the thesaurus for the excursion in 2d wouldn’t have got there otherwise, and 3d confused me thanks for the explanation. I was pursuing “staid” and “stayed”!!
The checkers gave me 5d. And 23d was my last in really struggled with that.
COTD was 26a which was also the first in.
Thanks all