Toughie 515

Toughie No 515 by Busman

More meaty than usual!

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

While this is not a Toughie that is likely to have been published on a Friday, it is a little more difficult than Busman’s usual offerings. I didn’t like the double-unches and had to look up 24 across, after guessing the first four letters, and 4 down.

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Across

1a    Meat for Olympic runners-up? (10)
{SILVERSIDE} – this cut of beef taken from the rump could describe the team that get the runner-up medals in the Olympics

6a    Temporary settlement for half the operations (4)
{CAMP} – a temporary settlement, usually consisting of a number of tents, is the first half of a word meaning a series of co-ordinated operations designed to achieve a military objective

8a    Athenian appearing in some element (8)
{ANTIMONY} – put Shakespeare’s eponymous Athenian inside a synonym for some to get a brittle bluish-white element of metallic appearance

9a    Sufficient reason to turn nothing off (6)
{GROUND} – the basis of a justification, more usually seen in the plural, is created by taking a phrase meaning to turn (2,5) and removing (off) the first O (nothing) – once again, no indication as to which of the two Os is to be removed!

10a    Sights to look around, taking in ruins of timeless Troyes (8)
{EYESORES} – these sights that are offensive to look at are constructed by taking a word meaning to look (3) reversed (around) and inserting (taking in) an anagram (ruins) of (T)ROYES without the T (timeless)

11a    Like a tailless rabbit back in US city (6)
{TUCSON} – two words that could describe a rabbit (or deer) that has no tail (2,4) are reversed to give a US city in Arizona

12a    General removed tip of lath from carbine (4)
{RIFE} – an adjective meaning general or prevalent is formed by dropping the L (tip of lath) from a carbine

14a    Tar over jumper requiring spirit (7)
{BACARDI} – reverse (over) a tar (sailor) and follow with a short name for a knitted woollen jacket with buttons up the front to get this alcoholic spirit

18a    Pre-prepared for this month (7)
{INSTANT} – a word meaning pre-prepared, like coffee, is also the term, usually abbreviated, used in formal correspondence for the current month – as opposed to ultimo and proximo

20a    No-hoper’s heading off to expert (4)
{ONER} – take a person who is beyond hope of recovery and drop the initial G to get an expert

23a    Rogue will get fabric cut with gold (6)
{TERROR} – this rogue is derived from a type of towelling without its final letter (cut) and the heraldic term for gold

24a    Anaemic youngsters’ cloaks (8)
{PALETOTS} – a charade of a word meaning anaemic and some youngsters gives these loose overcoats

25a    Ruin bishop’s day (6)
{BLIGHT} – a verb meaning to ruin is a charade of B(ishop) and day, as opposed to night

26a    A little contrary with corrupt files (8)
{DATABASE} – start with a word meaning a little (3), reverse it (contrary) then add a verb meaning to corrupt to get these computer files

27a    Flower (4)
{ODER} – this Central European river sounds like (has resonance) a fragrance

28a    He was bound for opera house — he’s from America (10)
{PROMETHEUS} – this demigod, one of the Titans, was chained by Zeus to a rock where an eagle fed each day on his liver – a charade of a word meaning for (3), the shortened form of an opera house in New York (3), HE and the United States

Down

1d    Supermarket chain mixing Brie and meat (5,3)
{SPARE RIB} – a supermarket chain is followed by an anagram (mixing) of BRIE gives a piece of pork

2d    Turner’s leading reprint — ‘Foam’ (6)
{LATHER} – a machine for turning and shaping articles of wood is followed by R (leading Reprint) to get this foam

3d    Romeo wandering, holding cross on heathland (6)
{EXMOOR} – put an anagram (wandering) of ROMEO around (holding) X (cross) to get this heathland in Gazza’s county

4d    Council and shrine demolished (9)
{SANHEDRIN} – this Jewish council is an anagram (demolished) of AND SHRINE

5d    The genie ruffled the majority? (8)
{EIGHTEEN} – an anagram (ruffled) of THE GENIE gives the age of majority in the UK

6d    Abridged cantankerous note (8)
{CROTCHET} – drop the final Y from an adjective meaning cantankerous to get this musical note

7d    Stag party cut connection for instrument (8)
{MANDOLIN} – one way of describing a stag party (3,2) is followed by a connection, maybe for a telephone, without its final letter to get this round-backed instrument like a lute

13d    Homestead fitted with one genuine siren (4,5)
{FIRE ALARM} – put a homestead around I (one) and a synonym for genuine o get this siren – every home should have at least one!

15d    Toughened choirboy in Queen’s train (8)
{ANNEALED} – a word meaning toughened is created by putting this former choirboy, now a radio presenter, after (in ….. train) the last Stuart monarch

16d    A fish repeatedly found in jelly (4-4)
{AGAR-AGAR} – A and a pike-like fish are both repeated to get this jelly prepared from seaweeds

17d    Go canvassing in half of Sandwich (8)
{DOORSTEP} – a double definition – a verb meaning to go canvassing and a large slice of bread

19d    Dancers cut short, holding wife first (8)
{TWISTERS} – these people performing a sixties dance are created by dropping the final E from a word meaning short or brief and then inserting W(ife) and IST (1^st / first)

ARVE Error: need id and provider

21d    Transfer TV duo — yes! (6)
{DECANT} – a word meaning to transfer wine from a bottle to a carafe is formed by taking two really irritating TV presenters and putting their names in the opposite order to that usually seen

22d    Garbo chewed either end of expensive herb (6)
{BORAGE} – an anagram (chewed) of GARBO is followed by E (either end of ExpensivE) to get a blue-flowered, bristly, aromatic herb, the leaves of which have a cucumber-like flavour and are used in salads and to flavour drinks

Nothing here really stands out for me, but the puzzle was a lot better than I had anticipated.