My last one for the year and it’s a Nimrod, oh dear not again, several days of feasting – well drinking, eating and lounging in front
of the tele, let’s be honest here is not the best fare to prepare for this.
Just the ticket. Nimrod/JH seems to have come to the conclusion we need training, need signals and other points, a great platform to
build on. But he’s giving lines for punishment, I ground to a halt in places, hit the buffers, needed many level crossings out and came off the rails today. Thomas the Tank Engine seems to be the driver for this.
I expected Ninas round the edges or unches but can’t see anything. Having met Eimi I wouldn’t call him or Nimrod the fat controller! I found this bl**dy hard.
| 8 | Awdry | As in the Reverend, no OR in WorD in A RY. Great semi &lit clue. |
| 9 | Run for it | IT replaced by RUN in BitCH to give brunch and scat!! Cheers Nimrod this was not at all obvious. I hate trying to solve these get the answer and reapply it to the clues. Is this fair for a weekday puzzle? |
| 10 | Burgeoning | In BING (Crosby), urge on |
| 11 | Nude | Hidden reversed in thE DUNderhead |
| 12/20 | Choo choo | HOOCH in COO |
| 13 | Dripstones | I thought these were the lintels you could shelter under, still. [I (current) + SPORT ENDS]* |
| 15 | In the engine room | [THREE NINE GO IN]* + OM. This is the sort of clue that makes you want to find and kill setters. 🙂 honest |
| 18 | Assessment | SS + MEN in ASSET |
| 21 | Whoa | Dr Who + A |
| 22 | Watercress | [WAR SECRETS]* |
| 23/24 | Jones the steam | Ivor the engine’s driver, not part of the (t)Awdry stuff but closely aligned. Cryptic theme definition. All complaints to setter please! |
| Down: | ||
| 1 | Capuchin | No N in (mr) PU(n)CH all in CAIN |
| 2 | Adagio | AD + 1 in AGO |
| 3 | My goodness | SEND + O in SO + GYM all reversed. Not at all obvious this one for me. |
| 4 | Training centres | Very CD see other answers |
| 5 | Snog | GO + Bridge partners NS all reversed. |
| 6 | Downpour | OW + NP in DOUR |
| 7/19 | Middle school | [model child so]* |
| 14 | Song thrush | [hung shorts]* |
| 16 | Hee-Hawed | EH !! rev plus [Head we]* |
| 17 | Opossums | OP + OS + SUMS |
| 20 | Corset | Gosh=wow=blimey=my goodness=strewth. So we have a set of CORs…… |
| 22 | With | WIT + H |
Thanks Nimrod for a crossword which I found far from straightforward but ultimately rewarding. Thanks also to flashling for the blog.
23/24: ON in JEST + (AS THEME)*
Thanks flashling and Nimrod. Very tricky. I filled in all the squares (as they say!) but without much idea why, in several cases. 2 and 9 were the most opaque for me.
This was a fine puzzle which I too found very difficult and rewarding. My knowledge of the theme was scant to say the least so I was v pleased to work it all out with my last answer being JONES THE STEAM which I got from the wordplay PB mentions at #1, and then Googled to confirm that there was indeed such a character. The clues were very intricate. Thanks Nimrod and flashling.
I would say thank you flashling but I think you need to shunt to the washdown stand.
For some reason I spotted the theme instantly but failed on almost every reference. And to be spectacularly brutal, engine rooms are not to be found on railway locomotives which is why I wanted to write shed, ho hum.
And I won’t mention 12/20…
I raced through this, but unfortunately without solving any clues…… Managed SNOG on my second pass, then chipped away at it and finally managed to finish, but with a lot of answers I couldn’t follow so many thanks for the blog! 9a was particularly convoluted; I don’t think I’d ever have worked that one out.
An extra part to the theme in 22a WATERCRESS, which is the name of the railway line between Alresford and Alton in Hampshire where Thomas and friends can sometimes be found.
With all due respect to Nimrod I thought the theme a bit tenuous, although the gateway clue, 8a, was brilliant. As sidey has pointed out steam locomotives don’t have engine rooms – the nearest equivalent term is footplate. And Jones the Steam comes in a different set of stories from Thomas. As for 12/20… Grrr!
Thanks, flashling, for the blog – there were a few answers I got without being able to parse them.
Really enjoyed this puzzle, only a couple (inc Jones The Steam) beating me in the end. Corset was my favourite.
Hate to be ungracious but I have to add that I did not enjoy the blog. Criticism and challenge is fair enough but I think this goes over the top.
I was defeated by 13a but once I had the theme in place the rest were filled in a reasonable time (for a Nimrod anyway!!). I did wonder when I got Jones the Steam whether Ivor the Engine might be in there somewhere but sadly not. Thanks to Nimrod for the fun and flashling for the blog. To those of you who thought this tough, you should have tried Nimrod’s alter ego Elgar’s double size online only Telegraph Toughie on Christmas Day. This train set theme was a pussycat after that one.
Re Trebor at #7, I didn’t think the blog was critical of the puzzle – I think it was just saying the puzzle was hard (which has not been disputed!) – and included a couple of “tongue-in-cheek” comments if I read them right.
Thanks to Pelham for seeing the wordplay on Jones The Steam – I usually miss at least one somewhere and suspected there was more to it. @Trebor – well NMS pretty much beat me to my own defence – I didn’t mean to criticise the puzzle or setter – rather to backhandedly compliment on (for me) a real workout.
Phew!
Had to finish this in the morning. We could blame it on having to entertain family but actually it was dificult – and it’s not even Thursday! We realised that some of the clues were very obscure having worked out 2d and 16d with a few checking letters but thank you flashling for explaining 9a.
Thanks to Nimrod as well – you certainly woke up a few brain cells after the Christmas festivities!