Toughie No 3762 by Dada
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty * – Enjoyment ***
The SE corner of this Dada crossword turned it from being one of his Sunday puzzles to a 1* Toughie
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought
Across
1a Where designs are cooked up, even meals (7,5)
DRAWING BOARD Even, not winning or losing, and provision of meals
9a Agreement with no room for manoeuvre dictated (4)
PACT A homophone (dictated) of closely filled (with no room for manoeuvre)
10a Broadcast featuring a more wretched London street (6,3)
SAVILE ROW Broadcast seed into which is inserted (featuring) A (from the clue) and more wretched or detestable
12a Asian cheers having invaded country to the west (6)
QATARI An informal word of thanks (cheers) inserted into (having invaded) a reversed (to the west in an Across solution) a Middle Eastern country
13a First Test, with one catcher brought in (8)
ORIGINAL A type of test into which is inserted (brought in) the Roman numeral for one and a trap or snare (catcher)
15a President in here, so we gathered (10)
EISENHOWER The surname of the 34th President of the United States is an anagram (gathered) of IN HERE SO WE
16a Insect has run off when picked up? (4)
FLEA A homophone (when picked up) of a verb meaning to run off
18a Live on floor in Japanese city (4)
KOBE Live or exist goes on or after an abbreviated way of writing knock out (floor)
20a Iran bamboozled by most sickly Italian scorer (10)
PALESTRINA Most sickly or white in colour followed by an anagram (bamboozled) of IRAN gives us the name of an Italian Renaissance composer (scorer)
23a Trick panellist – one might trick audience (8)
CONJUROR Trick or swindle and a member of a panel who decide a trial verdict
24a Barbarian‘s plate thrown about (6)
ANIMAL A reversal (thrown about) of a thin plate or layer
26a English person and a Ukrainian initially replaced Frenchman and German, for example (9)
EUROPEANS The abbreviation for English and an anagram (replaced) of PERSON A and U (Ukrainian initially)
27a Unconventional person legally shaving head (4)
ARTY A person entering into a legal contract without the first letter (shaving head)
28a Tension where fumbling about still in the dark? (4,3,5)
NONE THE WISER An anagram (fumbling about) of TENSION WHERE
Down
2d Quiet going to one’s bedroom? (8)
RETIRING Quiet or reserved; going to bed
3d Insect that’s small seized by hand from below (4)
WASP The abbreviation for Small ‘seized’ by a reversed (from below) hand
4d Purchasing method on no account repeated (5-5)
NEVER-NEVER This informal name for the hire-purchase system is a hyphenated repetition of an adverb meaning on no account
5d Head of giant squeezed in morphing of a blue whale (6)
BELUGA The ‘head’ of Giant ‘squeezed’ in an anagram (morphing) of A BLUE
6d Daughter taken into theatre with onset of lurgy – glandular? (7)
ADRENAL The abbreviation for Daughter inserted into somewhere entertainments are held, the result followed by the first letter (onset) of Lurgy
7d A bond allowed to be redrafted – as online files may be (12)
DOWNLOADABLE An anagram (to be redrafted) of A BOND ALLOWED
8d Northern parts behind French city (6)
NANTES The abbreviation for Northern inserted into (parts) a word for the buttocks (behind) which our setter often uses in crosswords
11d Pure – as a whistle at a high pitch? (7,5)
SQUEAKY CLEAN At a high pitch followed by part of an expression meaning completely emptied (as a whistle being the rest of the expression!)
14d Where one would compete for food, belly needing a bit, fed nothing (6,4)
POTATO RACE A competition where one would compete for a particular type of food. A protuberant belly, A (from the clue) and a just about detectable quantity (bit) into which is inserted the letter representing nothing
17d Primitive mood in shade of green (5-3)
STONE-AGE A mood or feeling inserted into a shade of green
19d Panic on high street, rely on career (4,3)
BANK RUN An informal verb meaning rely on and a verb meaning to career or move rapidly – when a large number of customers lose their faith in a high street money institution and remove all their money
21d Hot tea for felon (6)
INMATE Hot in the sense of fashionable and a type of tea
22d Wally in form in the end, winning on favourite (6)
MUPPET The end of forM, winning or ahead and a favourite
25d Drink taken in tavernas, tisane (4)
ASTI Hidden in the last two words of the clue
I enjoyed this although there was quite a bit of head scratching.
Top picks for me were 20a, 18a, 11d, 17d and 22d. 22d is included as I think it’s a great term.
Thanks to CrypticSue and Dada.
Most of this was fairly straightforward, but the remaining handful took as long as the others.
20a last one in, 13a my favourite.
Many thanks to Dada and to CS.
Good Toughie, at the benign end of the range but more than a 1* for me. I’d never heard of 14a and have clearly led a sheltered life! All else came to mind reasonably well and I was pleased to recall the Japanese city, 8d’s “behind”, and the Italian scorer – the latter particularly for his Stabat Mater. I do like a good Stabat Mater, even if it looks like a mispronounced Agatha Christie plot line …
Honours to 13a, 6d & 21d.
Many thanks to Dada & CS
A solid enough midweek toughie, with a couple of unknowns for me.
Don’t think I’ve come across the composer in 20a or the 14d game before.
The felon in 21d was a clever misdirection, I remembered the tea from a trip to Argentina, though it does appear in Crosswordland now and then.
My thanks to Dada and CS.
Looked very daunting at first, but completed in very little over my fastest time. Took longest on the presidential anagram and the food contest. Favourite was the London Street. Thanks, Dada and CS
Nothing too taxing for a midweek Toughie yet still absorbing enough for this solver. The tea in 21d was new to me, but it had to be what it was. Favourites were 10 and 20a.
Many thanks to both Dada and Sue.
Not one of Dada’s best but pleasant enough – thanks to him and CS.
I’d never heard of the 14d game.
My initial thought for 19d was ‘bank job’ (i.e. criminal slang for a bank robbery) which would certainly cause panic but that didn’t survive my getting 26a.
I liked 13a and 22d.