Toughie 385

Toughie No 385 by Giovanni

Hints and tips by Bufo

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

I enjoyed this puzzle and thought it was the right standard for a toughie. Although there were a lot of less common words used I didn’t find any of them overly obscure and I finished it without recourse to dictionaries, etc. However, I didn’t care for the grid with its four poorly-connected corners. I had problems with the bottom right but this was caused by my carelessly writing the author’s name in at 23 down and thence being unable to solve the acrosses.

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Across

1a    Arabian woman about a hundred? Unlikely to be this! (3,5)
{ARM CANDY} An abbreviation for Arabian followed by a woman’s name round C (a hundred) gives (according to Chambers) someone who is invited as a partner to a social event more to add to the glamour of the occasion than for her sparkling conversational skills

5a    Fine cake containing cream primarily (6)
{SCONCE} A type of flattish cake (sometimes cooked on a girdle) contains C (the first letter of cream) to give (again according to Chambers) a fine imposed for some breach of university rules or etiquette at Oxford (paid in ale or in attempting to drink a large amount of ale without taking a breath, or otherwise)

9a    False exploitation traps four (8)
{ILLUSIVE} A term for exploitation (3,3) goes round IV (four) to give a word meaning “false”

10a    Wilde right to be seen as sufferer for a cause? (6)
{MARTYR} The Wilde in question is not Oscar but a late-1950’s pop star whose daughter had a string of hits in the 1980’s. Add R (right) to his first name to give the sufferer for a cause

12a    Like our Parliament Blair came to wreck (9)
{BICAMERAL} An anagram (to wreck) of BLAIR CAME gives a word meaning “having two chambers”

13a    City couples getting a bit twisted inside (5)
{PARIS} Take a word meaning “couples” and transpose two of its internal letters to give a European capital city

14a    Ray’s nearest neighbours in the building (4)
{DOME} This was the last one I did. “Ray” is an alternative spelling of “re” (the note). Take the two notes either side of “re” and put them together

16a    Member of family has vermouth with a watery ice (7)
{GRANITA} The member of the family is an aged female. Put IT (Italian vermouth) A after her to give a grainy-textured flavoured water ice

19a    Travelled on unlikely flier, we hear — one making the journey difficult (4,3)
{ROAD HOG} Pigs might fly! Put another word for a pig after a word that sounds like travelled to give a swinishly selfish or boorishly reckless motorist or other user of the road. (That’s according to Chambers again)

21a    Not getting runs, old-fashioned rabbit (4)
{CONY} Remove R (runs) from a word for old-fashioned (that’s often used to describe a feeble joke) to get another name for a rabbit

24a    Black Country not particularly interesting? (5)
{BLAND} B (black) + a synonym of country gives a word meaning “without distinctive characteristics”

25a    Impetuosity and ire somehow limited by endless tact (9)
{FIERINESS} An anagram (somehow) of IRE inside a word for tact without its last letter gives impetuosity. The word for tact is also a word used in bridge (the card game)

27a    I keep quiet, absorbing excellent article in book (6)
{ISAIAH} The answer is a book of the Bible. I + “keep quiet!” goes round excellent (or first-class) A (article)

28a    Island with nothing had to be developed? Definitely not! (8)
[INCHOATE} A Scottish/Irish word for an island (but not necessarily a very short one!) is followed by O (nothing) and a synonym for “had” in the sense of “had food”, The answer means “rudimentary”

29a    Jaunty artist with drunkard’s way of expressing affection? (6)
{RAKISH} A Royal Academician is followed by how a drunkard might pronounce “kiss” to give a word meaning “jaunty”

30a    Element from the North diminished and re-expanded (8)
{NITROGEN} Take the one-letter abbreviation for North and pretend it’s an atomic symbol

Down

1d    A Kipling lad, short boy having a sort of posture (6)
{AKIMBO} A character in Kipling is followed by BO (short boy) gives “with hand on hip and elbow out”

2d    Spite of one cold inside, masculine on the outside (6)
{MALICE} I C (one cold) goes inside a word for masculine

3d    State in line with America’s avuncular image? (5)
{ASSAM} the state is in India and is famous for tea. The last three letters form America’s uncle

4d    Monster in den creating rupture (7)
{DIVORCE} A mythological sea monster (or a killer-whale) goes inside a den (a disreputable place)

6d    French explorer wants cold meat without any embellishments (9)
{CHAMPLAIN} I only know this explorer through his providing the name of a lake between Vermont and New York state. Apparently he founded Quebec (1608) and was governor of New France (1633-1635). His name is fomed from C (cold) + pig meat + without any embellishments

7d    Bird not flying north, in roost having flown (8)
{NOTORNIS} This flightless bird, long thought extinct, was found surviving in New Zealand in 1948. An anagram (having flown) of N (north) IN ROOST

8d    A tourer’s abroad — having used this? (8)
{EUROSTAR} An anagram (abroad) of A TOURER’S gives something you can board at St Pancras

11d    Criticise young ladies needing to grow up (4)
{SLAG} Reverse a word for young ladies (or girls) to give a word meaning “criticise”

15d    Snakes etc. from India shop flogged (9)
{OPHIDIANS} An anagram of INDIA SHOP gives a generic term for snakes. I’m not sure what the “etc.” is doing in the clue

17d    Being held in little credit makes Scottish poet more bad-tempered (8)
{CRABBIER} Take a form of the first name of the best-known Scottish poet and put it inside CR (little credit)

18d    A master keeps hold of dog? Quite the opposite if there’s a tree (8)
{TAMARACK} A MA (Master of Arts) is put inside a verb meaning “to dog” to give the American or black larch

20d    Humbug comes from manager with no hesitation (4)
{GAFF} Remove ER (hesitation) from a British term for a foreman or boss to give a word meaning “humbug”. I wasn’t familiar with this meaning of the answer

21d    Greek character holding princess up in Indian city (7)
{CHENNAI} We old timers still know this city as Madras. A Greek letter holds a reversal of a current princess’s name

22d    Writer with fury wanting rid of Queen and State (6)
{PENANG} The state this time is in Malaysia. Take the usual crossword equivalent of writer and add a word for fury without ER (Queen) at the end

23d    It sounds like a novelist of the eighteenth century’s back (6)
{ASTERN} The novelist is best known for “Tristram Shandy”. A + a word that sounds like his surname gives a nautical term

26d    Special fluid gets one menial task cut short (5)
{ICHOR}The ethereal juice in the veins of the gods is derived form I (one) + a routine (household) task missing its last letter

Easily the best toughie that I’ve blogged to date.