Toughie 423

Toughie No 423 by Messinae

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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

Messinae tends to produce puzzles at the easy end of the Toughie spectrum, and this one is no exception. It is, however, very enjoyable to solve.

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Across

1a    Artisan’s wetter in storm — needs to be this (5-9)
{WATER-RESISTANT} – an anagram (in storm) of ARTISAN’S WETTER gives what you need in a storm – a sort of semi-all-in-one clue

9a    Spar in court with a marine (7)
{YARDARM} – a spar on a ship is a charade of a court, or enclosed place, A and a Royal Marine

10a    Peter to fly high in plane perhaps (7)
{TREETOP} – an anagram (fly) of PETER TO gives somewhere high in a plane, or maybe an oak!

11a    State in area beyond Isle of Wight (4)
{IOWA} – this US state is derived by putting A(rea) after the Isle Of Wight

12a    Igloo perhaps accommodating fine government department (4,6)
{HOME OFFICE} – very clever! – an igloo could be (4,2,3), then insert F(ine) between the last two words to get a major government department

14a    Capital author (6)
{LONDON} – our very own capital is the name of the American author of adventure books like Call of the Wild and White Fang

15a    Clean fellow prepared prepared pork in the West Country (4,4)
{BATH CHAP} – a charade of to clean and a fellow gives a dish made from the meat of either a pig’s cheek or jaw and formed into a shape like a cone cut vertically in half  [I meant to ask if the unnecessary repetition of “prepared” was in the newspaper version.]

17a    Iron hook made off with jewel (3-1-4)
{KOH-I-NOOR} – an anagram (made off with) of IRON HOOK results in a famous jewel that was once the largest known diamond in the world

18a & 21a    Top lawyer an expert sandwich maker (6,2,3,5)
{MASTER OF THE ROLLS} – the judge, in England and Wales, who presides over the Court of Appeal (Civil Division) could also be taken to be an expert sandwich maker

22a    Black visiting Kentucky (4)
{INKY} – a word meaning black, when split (2,2), could be visiting followed by the abbreviation for Kentucky

24a    Taking punt perhaps make wary bet (2,5)
{BY WATER} – how you could be travelling in a punt, maybe, is an anagram (make) of WARY BET

25a    One selling drugs from box round motorway (7)
{CHEMIST} – someone who is legally selling drugs is derived by putting a box around a motorway

26a    Theologian, a German, apprehended in Cape Wrath to do with spying (5-3-6)
{CLOAK-AND-DAGGER} – put a Divinitatis Doctor (theologian) and A G(erman) inside a cape, as an item of clothing, and a synonym for wrath to get an expression that means to do with spying – I found it interesting that G as an abbreviation for German comes from its use in, for example, G-agents, highly effective poisonous gases developed by the Nazis for possible military use

Down

1d    List of cargo will include, certainly, barrels (7)
{WAYBILL} – a list of passengers or goods being carried on a vehicle is generated by putting WILL around a word meaning certainly, or yes, and B(arrels) as a quantity

2d    Low teeth broken after set-piece — give up (5,2,3,5)
{THROW IN THE TOWEL} – put an anagram (broken) of LOW TEETH after a means of getting a football back into play to get a phrase meaning to give up which has its root in boxing

3d    Genuine Brazilian money (4)
{REAL} – a double definition – genuine or 100 centavos in Brazil

4d    Wild scene in Othello with former lover at forefront (6)
{EXMOOR} – a wild scene in Devon is derived by putting Shakespeare’s description of Othello after a former lover

5d    How it’s creating an obstruction (2,3,3)
{IN THE WAY} – a cryptic definition – if something is this it is creating an obstruction

6d    Glorious day for shots by player who’s on stand-by (7,3)
{TWELFTH MAN} – the glorious day on which the grouse-shooting season begins is followed by a player to get someone who is on stand-by for a cricket team

7d    Yet all-seater stadium is built thus (15)
{NOTWITHSTANDING} – split this word meaning yet as (3,4,8) and it could be how an all-seater stadium is built

8d    Maintenance needed at top of castle tower (6)
{UPKEEP} – a synonym for maintenance when split as (2,4) could be at the top of a castle tower

13d         Plant set in patio decoratively (10)
{POINSETTIA} – a small Mexican shrub with large showy scarlet bracts surrounding the small yellow flowers is an anagram (decoratively) of SET IN PATIO

16d         Rough end of California and Oregon a place to avoid (2,2,4)
{NO GO AREA} – an anagram (rough) of (Californi)A OREGON A gives a place to avoid – for which the correct enumeration is (2-2,4)

17d         Footballer of 1966 by the sound of it not regularly in shape (6)
{KNOBBY} – the nickname of Norbert Peter Stiles MBE sounds like (by the sound of it) a word meaning not regular in shape

19d         Start to rouse one from bed for revel (7)
{ROYSTER} – after the start to R(ouse) put a shellfish found in a bed to get a verb meaning to revel noisily

20d         Easy-going leader of Celts in Highland dress (6)
{PLACID} – a word meaning easy-going is generated by putting the leader of C(elts) inside a Highland dress

23d         Feature of buffet Athens-style (4)
{FETA} – something that may be found in a Greek buffet is hidden inside the clue

Although I enjoyed this puzzle, most of the anagram indicators (in storm, fly, made off with, make, decoratively) are a bit weak.