Toughie No 1722 by Beam
Hints and tips by Bufo
+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +
BD Rating – Difficulty **** – Enjoyment ****
I made very heavy weather of this and I’m not sure why because there’s nothing particularly obscure in it. Maybe I’m having a bad day because my routine has been disrupted by the presence of workmen replacing a door and a window. But it was enjoyable and I could appreciate it all the more when writing the review
Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.
Across
1a Answer supporters with ‘This compiler’s harsh‘ (8)
ABRASIVE: A (answer) + the usual supporters of parts of the female anatomy + ‘this compiler has’
5a About to flip in circuit going very fast (6)
RACING: A reversal of a 2-letter abbreviation denoting ‘about’ inside a circuit
9a Range of opinion on dais occasionally (8)
DISTANCE: Alternate letters of DaIs + an opinion
10a Initially walk as ducks do, leaning excessively (6)
WADDLE: Initial letters of Walk As Ducks Do, Leaning Excessively
12a Held crop up, it’s heard, producing burn (9)
CAUTERISE: I had difficulty with this one because ‘burn’ looks more like ‘bum’ on my printout and I couldn’t find any answer that meant bum. It’s a homophone of ‘held’ (6) and ‘crop up’ (5) and it means ‘burn with a caustic substance’
13a Money owed to cover University entrance (5)
DEBUT: ‘Money owed’ round U (University)
14a For section of Church sin’s not large (4)
APSE: A recess in a church is obtained by removing L (large) from ‘sin’
16a Keep manure working round top of earth (7)
DUNGEON: A keep (part of a castle) = manure + ‘working’ round the first letter of Earth
19a Snob tipping hat first (7)
ELITIST: A reversal of a slang word for a hat + 3 letters that can indicate ‘first’
21a Pop, therefore pop? (4)
SODA: Pop (fizzy drink) = ‘therefore’ + pop (father)
24a Direct back over posh beach (5)
DUNES: A reversal of ‘to direct’ round U (posh) = hills of sand on the seashore
25a Keeper for a team trapping pass through hole (9)
PERFORATE: Hidden in keePER FOR A TEam
27a Heart is heavier missing husband (6)
TICKER: A slang word for the heart is obtained by removing H (Husband) from ‘heavier’
28a Home provided in retirement lodge (8)
FIRESIDE: A reversal (in retirement) of ‘provided’ (2) + ‘to lodge’ (6)
29a Stops rites regularly following prayer (6)
AVERTS: A prayer (to the Virgin Mary) + alternate letters of RiTes
30a Party reversed decline in influence (8)
LEVERAGE: A reversal of a party + ‘to decline’
Down
1d Put in chapter adopted by technology user (6)
ADDICT: ‘To put in’ + C (chapter) inside an abbreviation for a form of technology = a drug user
2d Part in affair is questionably improper (6)
RISQUE: Hidden in affaiR IS QUEstionably
3d Barber cut back around crown of head (5)
SHAVE: ‘To barber’ = ‘to cut back’ round the first letter of Head
4d Protection against a cold reportedly identified (7)
VACCINE: A one-letter abbreviation denoting ‘against’ + A + C (cold) + a homophone of ‘identified’
6d Left a party with single daughter (9)
ABANDONED: A + a party (body of people) + ‘single’ + D (daughter)
7d Grateful Iron Duke with bravest ended losing heart (8)
INDEBTED: First and last letters of IroN DukE BravesT EndeD
8d Goods host always served up — money welcome (8)
GREETING: G (good) and G (good) go round a reversal of ‘always’ and money
11d Rose say, to get examined (4)
READ: A homophone of the colour of which rose is a shade
15d Most prudish minister accepts one’s heartless sins (9)
PRISSIEST: A minister (6) round I (one) and the first and last letters of SinS
17d Batted, never getting upset about rivalry (8)
VENDETTA: Hidden in reverse in BATTED NEVer
18d Compass location of container with salt heading east (8)
BINNACLE: A Casing for a ship’s compass= a container + the chemical formula for common salt + E (east)
20d Record hit, essence of Queen (4)
TAPE: ‘To record (e.g. on a cassette recorder)’ + ‘hit’ + the middle letter of QuEen
21d Suspect‘s escape curtailed in secure surroundings (7)
SURMISE: ‘To suspect’ = ‘to escape’ with the last letter removed inside ‘secure’. I’m not convinced by the ‘escape’ in this clue
22d Chicken possibly raised as layer (6)
LAMINA: A reversal of any organism having life, sensation and voluntary motion (such as a chicken) = a thin plate or layer
23d Calm extremes of savage rage and noise (6)
SERENE: First and last letters of SavagE RagE and NoisE
26d Overweight live in very big house finally (5)
OBESE: ‘To live’ in ‘very big’ + the last letter of housE
Another non-grumpy Thursday
Am I the only one to think that the part of the hints with red letters is going a little too far. They actually give the answer away. The phrase ‘a lurker’ would be enough for me to work it out for myself. But I still need your help. Thank you for all you do for my sanity.
yes, used to be house style but I’ve stopped doing it.
A properly Tough Toughie thank you Beam. My struggles with the SE corner mean that I have to award it 5* for difficulty, but definitely 4* for entertainment. My favourite is 10a mainly because I loved the image created of ducks going along leaning excessively! Thanks to Bufo too.
And RB-D – yes probably.
Oh good – if CS calls it a ‘properly Tough Toughie’ then I’ll forgive myself for finding it very difficult and taking a long time to do it.
I wasn’t very happy about my 21d and failed to get 30a which was silly.
I ‘found’ 2 and17d without too much trouble but it was a pity about 25a.
7d was much easier once I stopped trying to make it start with ‘FE’.
I liked 12 and 16a and 4d. My favourite was either the leaning ducks or 15d.
With thanks to Beam for such a good Toughie and to Bufo for the hints.
I found this difficult, and wouldn’t have completed it without your hints. I agree with R. Burgess-Dawson about the red letters – it IS a bit too much!
Probably the first time that I experience a smooth solve for a Beam crossword.
Knew exactly where he was leading me and found it extremely enjoyable.
1a was a write in and made me think of CS straight away with her dreaded supporters. I think I even heard the groan from where I m standing.
Wasn’t too keen on beach = dunes in 24a.
Loved the lurkers and the duck walk in 10a but favourite is 22d.
Thanks to Beam and to Bufo.
Always thought that cauterise means to burn a scar with a red poker or such like.
I didn’t groan – I smiled because it made me think of Bufo and ‘my’ crossword
We were sailing along smoothly until we came to the SE corner. We worked on 25a for ages trying all manner of wordplay combinations until the penny dropped with an almighty thud. Why on Earth did it take us so long to spot it! Once that was done it became possible to work out the ‘secure’ part of 21d where we had been exploring other options and get a satisfying conclusion. A good level of challenge and very good fun. The clue word count is correct too.
Thanks Beam and Bufo.
Pretty tricky stuff but very enjoyable. I needed the hints to fully justify a couple of Bung-ins, but missed the reverse lurker – I thought it was very well disguised (as was the indicator..)
Thanks to Bufo and RayT.
What a great day – a Shamus back pager, a good Varsity match at Twickenham (well done Cambridge) and a super Toughie from Beam. The top half went in relatively smoothly but the bottom corners were extremely reluctant to cough up there answers – especially the SE corner. Got there in the end and the time taken to finish it did not detract from the enjoyment.
So, thanks to Beam for the puzzle and to Bufo for his review.
A rather late ‘Evening all’. Many thanks to Bufo and to all for your comments.
RayT
Even later than your good self, Mr. T but nice to ‘see’ you.
Managed half of this before friends arrived for lunch. They came at 12.30 and left at 8.30pm. All bottles now safely stowed in the relevant recycling containers – rest of the puzzle could take a while……….!
You will probably have noticed that the next birthday bash has now been arranged – PLEASE will you say you’ll attend this time?
Bribes offered previously have obviously not moved you – give us a clue?
I would repeat what I posted on the back page blog – if I could remember what I posted that is
It is always a delight to see the setter pop in and say hello…… Thanks Beam.
Like the 2 Kiwis, I was laid low by the SE corner and in the end resorted to 4 of the above hints in order to complete. Certainly 4* difficulty – perhaps a bit more – but very satisfying to solve (4* for that too). 7d and 8d were nice, but 19a was my favourite. Thanks to RayT in his Beam hat, and to Bufo.
I threw the towel in on this at about 21:00 last night then returned afresh to it this morning with a mug of Yorkshire gold tea & lo – The final clues gave themselves up and I sat there for a full 5 minutes in smug mode.
Thanks to RayT & to Bufo.
Wow – the bottom half of this one certainly took some time, mostly down to a couple of synonyms I wasn’t really happy with (dunes & miss), a new word at 22d (although of course I did know ‘laminate!) and a forgotten location at 18d.
The ducks get the honours from amongst several contenders.
Devotions to Mr. T as ever and many thanks to Bufo for confirming the parsing.