Toughie 382

Toughie No 382 by Elgar

An eruption of pleasure

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment ****

The sight of all those 1ac references in (mostly) the down clues made me concentrate on that clue first. I couldn’t see the answer immediately but the enumeration was helpful, so I moved on to the first reference at 11a, trying to find 9-letter anagrams including the letters of BRISTOL. Of those I found, one seemed very likely as fitting a theme (it also matched the wordplay) and that made 1a much easier. Identifying the theme was by no means a guarantee of an easy ride and there were quite a few tough clues to crack, but the first run-through elicited 14 answers and the only real headaches beyond that were awkwardly spelt (or, for me, unknown) members of the theme set.

This was good entertainment as ever from Elgar, perhaps without the usual degree of naughtiness and LOL moments, but the enjoyment factor was kept aloft by a number of witty definitions and wordplay indicators. My favourite clues are highlighted in blue.

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[Today I am trying out a new idea – if you hover over a clue the background changes to grey and you should be able to see the answer. Let me know what you think – particularly if you are using an iPhone or similar.  BD]

Across

1a    Seeing red, angry noble holds in the red, red sign (7,4,3)
{BLOWING ONE’S TOP} This key answer has a moderately tough clue – we’d expect no less. Angry noble points to an anagram of NOBLE, which contains (holds) a 5-letter word meaning in the red. Finally add what a red sign often means to give the answer phrase to match seeing red.

8a    Medical chap with 12-inch leeway (5)
{DRIFT} The abbreviation for ‘doctor’ and a shorthand way of saying ‘one foot’ (12-inch) leads to an answer meaning leeway. I had a look at my thesaurus for potentially ruder synonyms of the answer. Without success.

9a    It’s lovely, this awfully glib roundabout entertainment! (3,5)
{BIG WHEEL} The surface reading is quite odd, but this gets the blue stuff for the lovely lift-and-separate component it’s lovely, this which gives a 4-letter word (a shout of pleasure from someone on e.g. a fairground ride) around which is placed an anagram (awfully) of GLIB. The answer, defined as entertainment, is indeed something you may find at a funfair.

11a    Being busy, Bristol needs to retain order for one 1ac (9)
{STROMBOLI} So, the breakthrough clue. Being busy leads to an anagram of BRISTOL, which is placed around (so it needs to retain) the abbreviation for Order of Merit. This is the first of the theme answers and its location is off the north coast of Sicily.

12a    Plot of ground to set behind house (5)
{LOTTO} Even if the wordplay bits look misleading, part of the pronunciation of plot (which also means plot) and the gimme TO will quickly lead to a game which is also called house.

13a    Why writer won’t write report of Animal Farm? (4)
{OINK} If your biro’s empty it contains zero (or 0) ink, so it won’t write. That should be enough to give you a report (i.e. a sound) you’d hear on a farm.

14a    Painter has a long time in the Fat Duck (8)
{LEONARDO} The painter we want is often erroneously referred to by the rest of his “name” (not his name at all – it’s where he came from; something Dan Brown couldn’t get his head around, the pillock). For the answer take a word meaning a very long time and place it in a type of fat used in cooking, finally adding a letter to represent zero – in cricket, a duck.

17a    A king’s lifeboat turned over to single one 1ac (8)
{KRAKATOA} The bits that need to be turned over (reversed) are A, K(ing) and the biblical craft which could perhaps be described as a lifeboat. Add TO and a word that means single to give another theme answer.

19a    Internet naturally admits this one 1ac (4)
{ETNA} This theme answer is simply hidden inside Internet naturally.

23a    Fabric only broken just before noon (5)
{NYLON} Another easy clue using an anagram (broken) of ONLY placed in front of the abbreviation for noon.

24a    Normally too old to tour North America (2,7)
{ON AVERAGE} A good, smooth surface here for a clue that’s not quite as ready to fall as you’d think; it took a while for me to see it, anyway. Start with a hyphenated word meaning too old and place it around (so it effectively tours) the abbreviation for North America. The answer means normally.

25a    Strong and sturdy, breaking law in the beginning (8)
{STALWART} For the answer, meaning strong and sturdy, put an anagram (breaking) of LAW into a word meaning the beginning (or, as a verb, to begin).

26a    A bit quiet, as you can hear (5)
{PIECE} I can’t believe I haven’t seen this before – it just seems that Elgar has found a neat way of expressing this simple homophone in which the answer, meaning a bit, sounds like another word meaning quiet.

27a    Bad rationing, alas, has nothing to do with the business (14)
{ORGANISATIONAL} A bad (or anagrammed) version of RATIONING ALAS has (contains) O (nothing) giving the answer which means to do with the business. I’m not 100% happy with the wordplay but the last six words of the clue are strung together very neatly.

Down

1d    One function of funeral director’s one-piece attire? (4,8)
{BODY STOCKING} This wryly implied double definition gives me a second opportunity to, er, well, you know…

2d    No distance at all to go for a letter (7)
{OMICRON} The answer here is the 15^th letter of the Greek alphabet. The last 6 letters are a very small measure of distance – but no distance at all if you place O in front of it.

3d    When play’s over, eventually (2,4)
{IN TIME} The definition eventually allowed me to solve this without thinking, but on reflection I’m not entirely sure how when play’s over works. I’d initially thought it had something to do with tennis but that doesn’t seem quite right. Any ideas?

4d    Up-and-coming person of wealth acquires large ape (6)
{GIBBON} A person of wealth is sometimes called a NOB. Follow this with a word meaning large and reverse all of it to find the ape.

5d    Flimsy attire, making Elgin lose marbles? Go on! (8)
{NEGLIGEE} For this flimsy attire, Elgar takes a slight liberty with the anagram indicator lose marbles for the letters of ELGIN. After this place an equine utterance which means go on! Many thanks to Elgar for giving me another opportunity…

6d    One 1ac, less then fresh (2,6)
{ST HELENS} Another theme answer, this one using a nice easy anagram of LESS THEN.

7d    Poor home to row about (3-4)
{ONE-STAR} For the definition poor, think of a low-quality hotel. The wordplay consists of the home of (especially) a bird placed inside a word meaning to row (a boat).

10d    Top people out to capture lion, say, find one 1ac (12)
{POPOCATEPETL} Yes, I did need to look this one up! This theme answer takes an anagram (out) of TOP PEOPLE and places it around (so it will capture) the sort of animal a lion is.

15d    In a trice a fractured ulna has one, one 1ac (5,3)
{MAUNA LOA} I had to double check this as well, but only to confirm that it exists – I’d placed the answer thanks to the wordplay, which uses MO (a trice) inside which is an anagrammed (fractured) version of ULNA. Finally add the same version of one (single) as used in 17a.

16d    Work in cab firm, overriding one 1ac (8)
{COTOPAXI} Amazingly I did know this one, which is just as well because the wordplay arrangement is a little tricky, thanks to the craftily strung together cab firm element. Start with OP (short for ‘opus’ or work) and put it into a word for a cab. The abbreviation for ‘company’ (firm) is overriding this, which is an oblique way of saying it goes at the front.

18d    Lowry who painted over holy table with lots of well-known people (3-4)
{ALL-STAR} This is almost the opposite of 7d! Take the first two initials of the artist Lowry and put them the holy table you’d typically find in a church. The use of over as an insertion indicator doesn’t work for me but it didn’t hold up the solving process.

20d    A good deal of French on Eurostar? (5-2)
{TRADE-IN} With cross-checking letters and give-away enumeration this was very easy; solved cold, I’m not so sure it would be. Take the French word for of and put it inside what Eurostar is an example of.

21d    14, say, endlessly written up in sacred text (6)
{MANTRA} The answer at 14a is a significant name in the world of art – or a significant art name. Take away the last letter of this made-up phrase and reverse it to give a word meaning a sacred text which is often chanted.

22d    Source of good advice gleaned from Prince in Asian capital (6)
{DELPHI} Finally, a single-letter abbreviation for Prince placed inside an Asian
capital city gives us the location mythologically famed for its Oracle.