Toughie 617

Toughie No 617 by Shamus

Hints and tips by Bufo

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

This week I wasn’t on the setter’s wavelength and so struggled more than I should have done.

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Across

1a    Supplier of records is caught by judge in part of court with short attention (4,6)
{DISC JOCKEY} Someone who plays records is made up of IS C (caught) J (judge) inside part of a court of law + a word meaning observation with its last letter removed

6a    Special label for man and dog (4)
{STAG} S (special) + a label gives a word that means both a man (attending a party?) and “to dog”

9a    Backward killer with a second name among gendarmes, singularly obsessed sort? (10)
{MONOMANIAC} A reversal of the name of the first ever murderer + A second (short time) + the French word for “name” gives someone obsessed with a single subject or idea

10a    One exhibited some bridal images (4)
{DALI} The name of an artist is hidden in briDAL Images

12a    Target flying feature? Not half (4)
{BUTT} A target in archery/shooting or for ridicule is the first half of the name of an architectural feature that may be preceded by the word “flying”

13a    Twitter report perhaps by excited ornithologist not to be taken lightly (2,7)
{IN EARNEST} This phrase meaning “not to be taken lightly) may conceivably be what n ornithologist may tweet (1,4,4) when within sight or sound of his/her objective.

15a    Prominent position gained by foreigner in southern church (8)
{SALIENCE} A prominent position is made up of a foreigner inside S (southern) CE (church)

16a    Vienna oddly always having a superficial appearance (6)
{VENEER} The odd letters of ViEnNa + “always” gives a superficial appearance

18a    Place of refuge close to penitentiary in a poor area (6)
{ASYLUM} A place of refuge is formed from Y (last letter of penitentiary) inside A poor area

20a    One running a saloon? (8)
{MOTORIST} A cryptic definition where the saloon is a car

23a    Prickly type keeping gold trophy at home amid exercises (9)
{PORCUPINE} An animal with spines is derived from OR (gold) + trophy + IN (at home) inside PE (exercises)

24a    Notice old currency (4)
{MARK} 2 meanings: notice/old (German) currency

26a    One dumped by Welsh politician in test (4)
{EXAM} Someone who is dumped becomes an **. This is followed by an abbreviation for a member of the National Assembly of Wales to give a test

27a    Croat mends tattered footwear (3,7)
{DOC MARTENS} An anagram (tattered) of CROAT MENDS gives a make of footwear with light thick resilient soles

28a    Flower duke pruned is sentimentally pretty (4)
{TWEE} The flower is a river on the border of Scotland and England. Remove D (duke) to get “sentimentally pretty”

29a    Poor knight beginning to waver rocks — be very cautious? (5,5)
{THINK TWICE} “Poor” + KT (knight) + W (first letter of waver) + rocks (diamonds) gives “be very cautious”

Down

1d    Get rid of squalid place (4)
{DUMP} 2 meanings: get rid of/squalid place

2d    Nude lass posed with no end of sangfroid being this? (7)
{SENSUAL} An anagram (posed) of NUDE LASS without the D (end of sangfroid) gives an adjective meaning “tending to arouse sexual appetite”

3d    Go over the potter’s item reportedly and claim undue precedence? (4,3,5)
{JUMP THE QUEUE} Here the potter is a snooker player and the item is what he uses to pot the balls. A homophone of “go over the potter’s item” means “claim undue preference”

4d    Persuade prisoner with fault to accept latest in rehabilitation (8)
{CONVINCE} “To persuade” = prisoner + fault containing N (last letter in rehabilitation)

5d    English and French race venue without sun promoted in hard material (6)
{ENAMEL} E (English) + a reversal of a French motor racing circuit missing the letter S (sun) gives a vitrified coating (hard material)

7d    Mug with drugs, we hear, an accessory to daredevil activities? (7)
{TRAPEZE} The mug is the mouth. Take another slang term for the mouth and add what sounds like drugs to give a piece of apparatus used by acrobats

8d    Great title I devised covering European film set? (10)
{GLITTERATI} An anagram (devised) of GREAT TITLE I with an E (European) removed gives the current fashionable set (possibly film stars)

11d    Decoration symbolised in home barring outsiders (5,2,5)
{ORDER OF MERIT} A British decoration, instituted in 1902 and awarded for eminence in any field, is abbreviated to the middle letters of hOMe

14d    Fish taken by chaps in fishy set — it shows a steep decline? (10)
{ESCARPMENT} A fish + chaps inside an anagram (fishy) of SET gives the precipitous side of a hill

17d    Source of fear in game boy played on rear of train (8)
{BOGEYMAN} A source of fear (used to frighten children) is an anagram (played) of GAME BOY + N (last letter of train)

19d    Measurement certainly taken up with degree in fashion (7)
{YARDAGE} A measurement of distance is made up of a reversal of “certainly” + D (degree) inside fashion

21d    Begin, perhaps, biblical work facing artist and priest (7)
{ISRAELI} Begin is the statesman Menachem Begin. Use an abbreviation for a book of the Old Testament + an abbreviation for an artist + an Old Testament priest

22d    Put a stop to some rush so bike got held up (6)
{KIBOSH} “Put a stop to” is hidden in reverse in rusH SO BIKe

25d    Hero in court frustrated without peripheral characters (4)
{ASHE} The name of a one-time Wimbledon champion (hero in court) is the middle 4 letters of a 6-letter word meaning “frustrated”

There are some nice touches but overall I was somewhat disappointed. Maybe I just wasn’t in the right frame of mind.