Toughie No 3789 by Shabbo
Hints and tips by Whybird
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BD Rating – Difficulty */2 – Enjoyment ****
Greetings from the Wirral. Grey, still and a little chilly today. At least that means the leaves are falling and staying put instead of being blown into the foliage trap that is my garden. Even the local tawny owls seem to have given up, and I had plenty of 8d opportunities to hear them overnight courtesy of Lord Alfie demanding to be let out.
Shabbo has given us a typically enjoyable and well-clued puzzle today, although I didn’t find it tough at all. Before tackling the puzzle, ensure you have scissors, a craft knife or something similar to hand – there is a fair amount of pruning to be done. 13a, 15a, 24d all occupy my podium places today, with 24d in top spot. Many thanks to Shabbo for easing us into the Toughie Week.
Please let us know how you fared and what you thought of the puzzle.
Across Clues
1a and 5a Where drinker might go topless once more for good measure (4,3,7)
INTO THE BARGAIN A (4,3,3) phrase which describes “Where a drinker might go” precedes a synonym of “once more” lacking its initial letter (topless)
5a See 1 Across
9a Removing broken bearings after tip off (7)
ERASING An anagram (broken) of what remains of “bearings” after removing the initial letter (tip off)
10a Sketch Indian city with simple housing (7)
DIAGRAM A well-known, four-letter Indian city is inserted into (with… ..housing) a synonym of “simple” in the sense of not very bright
11a 4 Down reviewed information on church development (9)
EMERGENCE A reversal (reviewed) of a four-letter abbreviation for the military version of 4d followed by a synonym of “information” and an abbreviation for one of the branches of the Anglican church
12a Judgment ignoring sanctimonious tear-jerker? (5)
ONION Start with a synonym of “Judgement” then remove (ignoring) a two-letter word meaning “sanctimonious” to get this renowned “tear-jerker” in vegetable form
13a When breaking navigation system is pants (5)
GASPS A synonym of “when” is inserted into (breaking) the abbreviation for a satellite-based “navigation system”
15a The French best-selling book is on the counter – it’s passionate! (9)
EMOTIONAL A reversal (on the counter) of each of the French female word meaning “the”, a (2,1) description that resembles the abbreviation for something said to be in first place (best-selling) and synonym of (typically large) “book”
17a Mushrooms‘ creaminess changes without mustard at first (9)
INCREASES An anagram (changes) of what remains of “creaminess” after removal of (without… …at first) the initial letter of “mustard”
19a Dignified accent in Paris (5)
GRAVE A double definition, the second sense being a mildly cryptic definition of a feature of the French language (in Paris)
22a Involved in tense qualifying match (5)
EQUAL The solution is lurking amongst (Involved in) the letters of “tense qualifying”. For such a brief clue, the lurker is well hidden
23a Distressed to end term struggling (9)
TORMENTED An anagram (struggling) of “to end term”. The clue also works (within Toughie Tolerances, although maybe not quite as well) with the roles of “Distressed” and “struggling” reversed
25a Close to developing angst about AI (7)
AGAINST An anagram (developing) of “angst” into which is inserted (about) “AI” from the clue
26a Greed from Aston Villa and Arsenal initially getting Declan? (7)
AVARICE The first letters of each of “Aston Villa” and “Arsenal” followed by the surname of a noted footballing “Declan”
27a Prepares bandages (7)
DRESSES A double definition, “bandages” here being used as a verb
28a Secures number in empty turrets (7)
TETHERS Remove all the inner letters (Empty) from “turrets” and replace them with a chemical that was formerly widely used as an anaesthetic, “number” here being one of Crosswordland’s “Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing”
Down Clues
1d One cold diver raised main hazard (7)
ICEBERG A charade of the Roman numeral “One”, the abbreviation for “cold” and a type of bird renowned for diving. And no, I am not going to illustrate this with Ms Dion
2d Time to join barman’s excursions (7)
TRAVEL The abbreviation for “Time” precedes (to join) a famous musical composer, “barman” here being another one of Crosswordland’s “Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing”
3d Attempting to drop anchor finally when mooring (5)
TYING Remove the last letter (to drop… …finally) of “anchor from a synonym of “Attempting”
4d Sappers‘ manoeuvres (9)
ENGINEERS A double definition
5d Sign animal has tail removed (5)
BADGE Take the name of a large, black-and-white member of the mustelid family and cut off the final letter (has tail removed)
6d Thinking son should replace daughter in centre of Berks town (9)
REASONING Take a seven-letter, large town in Berkshire, and swap the central letter, the abbreviation for “daughter” for “son” from the clue
7d Charge a posh car to go on main road finally heading north (7)
ARRAIGN The solution is reached by assembling, “a” from the clue, a two-letter abbreviation for a luxury/posh car followed by (“to go on” in a Down clue) the letters that resemble the name of a trunk road linking London and Edinburgh and the last letter (finally) of “heading” and the abbreviation for “north”
8d So-called leaders of next Olympics monitoring international news at Lausanne (7)
NOMINAL Use the initial letters (leaders) of “next Olympics monitoring international news at Lausanne”
14d Information published by Wimbledon committee about lake plants (9)
SEEDLINGS The player ratings for the Wimbledon lawn tennis tournament (Information published by Wimbledon committee) surrounds (about) the abbreviation for “lake”
16d Mindful of voter bans in need of reforming (9)
OBSERVANT An anagram (in need of reforming) of “voter bans”
17d Country hospital avoiding hardline restructuring (7)
IRELAND An anagram (restructuring) of what remains of “hardline” after removal (avoiding) of the abbreviation for “hospital”
18d Vintage singer is offensive (7)
CRUSADE A charade of a three-letter term for (wine) “vintage” and the professional name of a famous Nigerian-British singer-songwriter
20d Fast rider entertaining on a horse? (7)
ASTRIDE The solution is lurking amongst (entertaining) the letters of “Fast rider”
21d Unlimited budget ignoring the odds (7)
ENDLESS Start with a (5,4) description of what you may try to do if you are on a “budget”, remove (ignoring) a two-letter abbreviated synonym of “odds” (in a horse-racing sense) and then glue the remaining letters together
23d Charms without Mulberry’s top bags (5)
TOTES Remove (without) the initial letter (top) of “Mulberry” from a synonym of “Charms” as a noun
24d Faultless late performance (5)
EXACT A charade of a two-letter prefix meaning “late” (or former) and a synonym of “performance”
I didn’t find this remotely tough, but every clue was an absolute joy. My one slight hold-up was parsing 21d but, when the penny finally dropped, this became my favourite.
Many thanks to Shabbo and to Whybird.
A very pleasant jaunt toughie?? land . Probably on a par with today’s back pager . Favourites 13,14 and 15 . Thanks to shabbo and whybird .I have some unfinished business with a Sunday puzzle so will head for there after finishing some pea and ham soup , with buttered baguette .hmmmm
Great fun to solve, but in no way was this a toughie.
I liked the posh car on the main road at 7d and the cleverly ignored odds in the budget at 21d but my COTD was 18d, nice to see the smooth operator getting namechecked.
My thanks to Shabbo and Whybird.
A pleasant puzzle with the exception of 11a.
Some of the posters here have their personal dislikes, whether it’s a random name, an anagram indicator, an overseas word that is not indicated as such etc etc
My immense dislike in any puzzle is the use of ‘on’ in an across clue to indicate that AB = AB. No! If you put something on something in an across clue it goes after, not before. In a down clue it obviously goes on top of it.
Rant over. Thanks to Shabbo and to Whybird.
As previous commenters have said: most enjoyable but definitely not a Toughie ; for me it was probably more suited to the Thursday Backpage spot
Thanks to Shabbo and Whybird
Extremely entertaining and fairly gentle – thanks to Shabbo and Whybird.
My ticks went to 10a, 13a (how many solvers initially thought ‘pants’ was an anagram indicator?) and 21d.
I first thought the answer was “nasty”, with “as” inserted into the famous navigation system “nty”.
A good start to the toughie week with lots to like, I never complain about the lack of difficulty. With crosswords this good picking a favourite is always going to be difficult and so it is but I’ll go with 15a. Thanks to Shabbo and Whybird.
A really enjoyable puzzle. I needed Whybird’s help to parse 18d and 21d.
Top picks for me were 2d, 1d, 14d, 24d, 26a and 12a.
Thanks to Whybird and Shabbo.
I couldn’t figure out 14d, so needed the hint for that. Otherwise, almost plain sailing.
Enjoyed the whole crossword especially 19a, the dignity in Paris.
Thanks to setter and hinter.
A super puzzle oozing with enjoyment. As others have said however definitely a floughie.
Still just like todays backpager – beautifully crafted. Been spoilt today!
My thanks to the Shabbo and Whybird.
A very enjoyable diversion but a floughie by nature. In fact this took less time than today’s backpager. Having said that, there are plenty of standout clues viz. 12a,15a,14d and 21d. On a technicality re- 4d and 11a, my understanding is that sappers are privates in the Royal Engineers which is not the same as REME.
Anyhow, many thanks to Shabbo for the the amusement and Whybird for the unused hints.
1*/3*
I think I may have parsed 11a incorrectly – I thought it was Royal Engineers & Mechanical Engineers reversed giving EMER to start with.
That’s how I parsed it, and that’s what I trying to say!
sorry guv – I know nowt about engineering but have just consulted Mr G.
Hadn’t appreciated that mechanical engineers are prefixed with royal electrical hence REME so now I’m even more confused 🤔
Me neither: I reach for both whenever engineers crops up in a clue and do my best to spanner one of them into a solution! It hadn’t occurred to me to look up the difference. Although by coincidence, Lord Alfie’s evening dog walk involved a stroll over a local bridge rebuilt by the RE in the late 60s. Which takes me into Interesting Fact territory, without the humour!
Ah. Just noticed you’ve been googling too. But they’re all engineers so the clues are OK, I think.
It’s Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. I didn’t know – just looked it up.
My reading is that Sappers are 4d, and that REME are also 4d, so the clues are correct, as it doesn’t say that Sappers = REME. Not that I’d have known the distinction without your observation!
Well, I’ve certainly got a reaction.
The point that I wanted to make was that sappers and REME are not synonymous.
Enjoyed this, especially the Wimbledon info [14d] and the unlimited budget [21d].
For the avoidance of doubt and confusion – whilst the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers [REME] are undoubtedly engineers [11a] and sappers are arguably engineers, the Sappers are properly a different mob, the Royal Engineers.
Brilliant crossword, thanks Shabbo. Far too many good clues to pick a favourite.
Thanks too to Whybird.
Very enjoyable toughie and for me just the right level of difficulty for the first of the week.
Technically a DNF as needed the hints for 18d which was an eyeroll when I got it!!
COTD was 5d took an age to think of an animal that was six letters with an e as the fifth- surprising few!! And 14d was also an excellent clue
Completed this in The bar of the P&O ferry back to Hull with Mr SC doing today’s cryptic. We know how to live 🤣
Thanks to Shabbo and Whybird
As ever with a Shabbo puzzle thoroughly enjoyed the solve – comfortably my pick of today’s 2 offerings.
Ticks aplenty – 1/5,11,15&26a + 7,14,16&21d particular likes. Not tough but who cares with such great surfaces.
Thanks to Shabbo & to Whybird for the comedy clip, tunes (didn’t get one either) & the explanations
A lovely puzzle, gentle, but still very enjoyable – many thanks to Shabbo.
Thank you also to Whybird for the blog, and for including The Passions – brought back lots of memories! They were one-hit wonders, IIRC, but what a hit.