Toughie No 916 by MynoT
Don’t get your knickers in a twist
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****
A nice puzzle which wasn’t all that difficult. I was held up for a while after entering the wrong answer at 16 down and it wasn’t until I discovered MynoT’s underwear fixation that I changed it. I did think of adding a few pictures to the report but thought better of it.
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.
Across
1a French stocking one’s found in Spain (6)
{BASQUE} An inhabitant of the NW Pyrenees (hence one found in Spain) is an item of underwear (a close-fitting bodice). I’m not sure where the French stocking comes in and attempts to Google it led only to sites featuring French ladies in ****** and stockings having a good time. Not that I’m complaining
4a Note team in gold is one with little chance of winning (8)
{OUTSIDER} A note (now generally superseded by doh) + team inside gold
10a Temporarily, racket can be seen by terrace in market (2,7)
{AD INTERIM} A Latin phrase meaning ‘temporarily’ = a racket (noise) + an abbreviation for terrace inside an abbreviation for Alternative Investment Market
11a Bear this boy’s trouble (5)
{TEDDY} This word for a furry, stuffed toy bear can go before ‘boy’ to give an unruly adolescent who could well be trouble. It is also a one-piece undergarment for a woman, combining panties and chemise. I never knew that
12a Storage for artists (7)
{DRAWERS} 2 meanings: storage (in a piece of furniture)/artists. Also a close-fitting undergarment for the lower part of the body and legs
13a Women’s Institute standing in front of church and not before cathedral (7)
{NORWICH} Abbreviations for the Women’s Institute and church follow ‘and not’ to give a cathedral city in East Anglia. There’s an underwear connection because the word is an abbreviated form of “Knickers off ready when I come home”
14a Remains of ropes (5)
{STAYS} 2 meanings: remains/ropes. Also a corset stiffened with strips of bone or metal
15a Catch and book gang returning for explosive device (4,4)
{NAIL BOMB} ‘To catch’ + a reversal of B (book) and a gang
18a At first George and Henry (a Scot) could be non-violent (8)
{GANDHIAN} The first letter of George + AND + the abbreviation for Henry + a Scottish man’s name
20a Service for women once each is bewildered (2,3)
{AT SEA} The abbreviation for the women’s branch of the British Army in World War II (replaced by WRAC in 1949) + ‘each’
23a Reply in chambers during ceremony (7)
{RIPOSTE} Chambers (chamberpots) inside ceremony
25a Fragrant foodstuff (ground mast) found in half of Mumbai (7)
{BASMATI} An anagram (ground) of MAST inside the second half of the word Mumbai
26a Priest holds company to be cause of food poisoning (1,4)
{E COLI} An Old Testament priest goes round CO (company)
27a In addition, the soldiers and peacekeepers will get taken out initially (9)
{THEREUNTO} THE + a corps of the British army + the international organisation which deploys peacekeepers + the initial letters of taken out
28a Isn’t ‘lacy’ coded for ‘with barely enough coverage’? (8)
{SCANTILY} An anagram (coded) of ISN’T LACY gives a word often appearing before ‘dressed’ to describe a model posing in their underwear
29a Photographic fault coming from overnight flight (3-3)
{RED-EYE} 2 meanings: a common fault in amateur flash photography/an overnight aeroplane journey
Down
1d Waving torch is hot (8)
{BRANDISH} Torch + IS + H
2d In the main a tide is turning for member of the Rose family (7)
{SPIRAEA} A reversal of A + a type of tide inside the main (ocean)
3d Raise sweet head, timeless, without braids (9)
{UNTRESSED} A reversal (raise) of a sweet (pudding) and a slang word for the head with the letter T omitted
5d Lingerie nobleman unties perhaps (14)
{UNMENTIONABLES} An anagram (perhaps) of NOBLEMAN UNTIES gives a word humorously used for articles of underclothing
6d Settled with your Greek god (5)
{SATYR} ‘Settled’ + an abbreviation for ‘your’ gives a Greek god of the woodlands
7d Father aims to change movement (7)
{DADAISM} Father + an anagram (to change) of AIMS gives a short-lived movement in art and literature
8d Take endless song and put in the short beat (6)
{RHYTHM} A song (or jingle) with the last letter removed (endless) goes round TH (‘the’ short)
9d Here one’s suffering from a disturbance of the mind that’s ominous (14)
{PRESENTIMENTAL} Here + I (one) + ‘suffering from a disturbance of the mind’
16d Support one moving towards front in bar serving food (9)
{BRASSIERE} Take a bar serving food and move the letter I (one) nearer the front of the word. This gives a woman’s undergarment that provides support
17d Garment seen in river I fish (8)
{CAMISOLE} A sleeveless undergarment for women normally extending to the waist = a tributary of the Great Ouse + I + a flatfish
19d A speed in a car or a vessel (7)
{AMPHORA} A + the usual units in which the speed of a car is measured + OR + A
21d Cheers for favoured among list of candidates (7)
{SLAINTE} ‘Cheers!’ (as said when about to down a pint of Guinness) = ‘favoured’ inside a list of candidates
22d Instructions to put a bit of flavour in cheeses (6)
{BRIEFS} Instructions, e.g. to a barrister = F (first letter of flavour) inside French cheeses. It is also close-fitting legless underpants for men or women
24d Cook fish ahead of time for group of workers (5)
{SHIFT} An anagram (cook) of FISH + T (time). It is also a simple kind of women’s undergarment
I was only going to give it *** for enjoyment but I enjoyed writing the review so much that I upped the rating. It was a vast improvement on his alphabet series
I think one down should read…”Wave” rather than “Waving”……but that’s just me…..I don’t want to cause an international incident……
I was dreading the usual sort of MynoT theme so quite enjoyed the diversion into ladies undergarments. I bet there will be a few gentlemen of the blog wondering how Gazza might have illustrated this one, had he been the blogger this afternoon
I didn’t understand the stocking bit of 1a either. I also didn’t take enough notice of the theme when I first solved 16d and had to revisit when I saw the theme and 27a didn’t work. Thanks to MynoT for an enjoyable puzzle and to Bufo for the review. 2.5*/4* for me.
Hi Sue – I can visualise exactly how Gazza (or I for that matter) would have illustrated
Isn’t 1a also known as some sort of “body stocking” or am I getting my French knickers in a twist?
French for ‘stocking’ is bas, and ‘one’s’ (that) could be translated as que.
That seems to work – I never was any good at French, not even lady’s underwear
I just can’t see you in ladies’ underwear somehow… thank goodness!
I’m not convinced by the journey from “one” or “one’s” to “que”. I favour pommers’ theory that French stocking is indicating a word from French that is some sort of body stocking.
I’m not convinced either gazza, but for certain, ‘bas’ is french for stocking.
Eek, went for a beer and pub quiz and cogitated and i’m still not sure, Jezza is spot on with bas. I just don’t see it
Gazza – it’s only 15:23 so there’s still time for you to add your usual bevy of ladies to Bufo’s review.
Thanks to MynoT and to Bufo, enjoyable toughie and review.
In my haste I had brasserie at 16d…was that your crime too Bufo?
also I liked the choice of jockey as the advertiser!!
All the best people had brasserie at 16d
It don’t parse!
I stopped and didn’t!. Unusual for me.
Me too!
See we had the French cheese again! Am I mistaken or is that the third time this week?
I love that French cheese so could have it every day!
Enjoyed this one good fun all round thanks to MynoT and to Bufo for the comments.
I enjoyed this one too. 3*/4* for me. I always forget the musical note in 4a, but fortunately I spotted it in yesterday’s Times puzzle, so it was still fresh in my mind.
Thanks to MynoT and to Bufo for the review.
Ditto enjoyment and 16d haste > I also found my Gaelic wasn’t what it used to be (0) but Chambers rescued me .
Thanks for the review which clarified one or two and the setter with the brief fixation
Solved it and enjoyed it, but it wasn’t until we read the review this morning that we appreciated that it did have the underwear theme! We joined “all the best people” by having brasserie too for a while. Kept looking for a letter theme which probably diverted us from the underwear.
Thanks Mynot and Bufo.
I too am in the best people club, there’s a first time for everything I suppose!!
I too got fooled by Brasserie / Brassiere. 1ac stumped me along with 2d and 21d. A slate as a list of candidates is a new one to me. Nice puzzle. To continue the underwear theme. Norwich stands for “Knickers Off Ready When I Come Home”
I note that the adverts accompanying this page are for such things as Beautiful Large Bras and Women’s Padded Pants. Has MynoT got shares in an underwear company?
The advert on my page is for an annuity calculator. Life’s just not fair.
My advert offers me the chance to improve my golf swing – surely Gnomey should have had that one.
Nah! – My swing is unimprovable!.
The advert here and now is for “mytights.com” – a row of young blonde girls in varying colours of tights! Poor gazza -clearly missed out today!!
I really enjoyed this before and after getting the ‘theme’. Thanks to MynoT and to Bufo. Sorry I have been a bit quiet lately – work and all that.
I really enjoyed this. Being newish to Toughies the Myno T puzzles that I have done have had themes, but they have all been to do with letters of the alphabet so I was really barking up the wrong tree here and completely missed the undies theme. Now that it’s been pointed out by the hints I love it and even clues like 12a have taken on a new meaning!
Getting 16d the wrong way round (and failing to spot the mistake) really screwed up the bottom right corner – I knew that something had to be wrong but was sure of that one! Oh dear!
Very enjoyable.
With thanks to Myno T and to Bufo for sorting out the problems that I created for myself.
16 d yes I had Brasserie plus 15a I had put in Atom Bomb – A Tomb(book) round reversed Mob Arggh???????