Toughie 765

Toughie No 765 by MynoT

One ‘ell of a puzzle

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

MynoT continues to work his way through the alphabet in this puzzle and has now reached the letter L. It was a fairly gentle solve with the four 13-letter anagrams and the presence of the L’s adding to the gentleness.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.

Across

1a    Men cycle in terribly harsh weather (10)
{INCLEMENCY} An anagram (terribly) of MEN CYCLE IN gives harsh weather

6a    Too much left in breadbasket (4)
{GLUT} A surfeit (too much) = L (left) inside breadbasket (stomach)

9a    Wild eagle consuming a bit of kitten making unintended escape (7)
{LEAKAGE} An anagram (wild) of EAGLE goes round A K (first letter of kitten) to give an unintended escape

10a    Disappointed with bad service and stuffing (3,4)
{LET DOWN} ‘Disappointed’ = a service at tennis which clips the net + stuffing (e.g. for pillows)

12a    Honourable milksops aren’t crooked (13)
{SPORTSMANLIKE} ‘Honourable’ is an anagram (crooked) of MILKSOP’S AREN’T

14a    Accountant’s regular but not acceptable as temporary employee (6)
{CASUAL} An abbreviation denoting an accountant + a word meaning ‘regular’ with a U (acceptable) omitted = a temporary employee

15a    During New Year festival, rent former partner’s TV news service (8)
{TELETEXT} The Vietnamese new year festival (when there was once an offensive) goes round ‘to rent’ and ‘former partner’ to give a TV news service

17a    Overlooks hurt leg and cold in nets (8)
{NEGLECTS} ‘Overlooks’ = an anagram (hurt) of LEG + C (cold) inside NETS

19a    Old king’s a dry one, facing the Italian (6)
{ATTILA} A king of the Huns = A + dry (not drinking alcohol) + I + an Italian word for ‘the’

22a    Sundry allies consume fluid (13)
{MISCELLANEOUS} ‘Sundry’ is an anagram (fluid) of ALLIES CONSUME

24a    One end of pedal missing from heavenly instrument (7)
{CELESTA} Remove I (one) and L (last letter of pedal) from ‘heavenly’ to give a keyboard instrument

25a    Let off sailor to work out (7)
{ABSOLVE} ‘To let off’ = an abbreviation denoting sailor + ‘to work out’

26a    Vegetable sounding like a pea? (4)
{LEEK} A homophone of this vegetable means ‘to pee’

27a    They weigh fencing equipment used by American gardens (10)
{STEELYARDS} Weighing machines = a literary term for a sword + the American term for gardens

Down

1d    Run slowly using horse track, disregarding British habit (4)
{IDLE} ‘To run slowly (like an engine)’ = a path for people riding horses from which BR (British) and a synonym of habit have been removed

2d    Will’s sections being liberal in motives (7)
{CLAUSES} Sections of a will = L (liberal) in motives. I was disappointed that the answer wasn’t a Shakesperean word for sections

3d    Intricacy of astrolabe seen in disorder (13)
{ELABORATENESS} An anagram (in disorder) of ASTROLABE SEEN = intricacy

4d    Chooses wiring without leads to run in conduits (6)
{ELECTS} ‘Chooses’ = wiring from which RIC (first letters of Run In Conduits) has been removed

5d    Newspaper feature by journalist with poles of support (8)
{COLUMNED} A feature in a newspaper + ED (journalist) = ‘with poles of support’

7d    Hero-worship for returning number one is found among the French (7)
{LIONISE} ‘To hero-worship’ = a reversal of NO. I (number one) and IS inside a French word for ‘the’

8d    Peripheral brown flower on lake not new (10)
{TANGENTIAL} ‘Peripheral’ = brown + a flower missing a letter N (new) + L (lake)

11d    Loudest ninety broadcast in a partisan manner (13)
{TENDENTIOUSLY} An anagram (broadcast) of LOUDEST NINETY = ‘in a partisan manner’

13d    Thrifty Italian author with no unfinished book left (10)
{ECONOMICAL} ‘Thrifty’ = the surname of Umberto, the Italian author, + NO + an Old Testament book with the last letter removed + L (left)

16d    Stout holy man with a large imperfection (8)
{STALWART} ‘Stout’ = the usual abbreviation for a holy man + A + L (large) + an imperfection

18d    American soldier’s meeting that French girl in spirit of dance (7)
{GISELLE} The usual abbreviation for an American soldier + ‘S + ‘she’ in French = the title character in an opera whose ghost, after her premature death, protects her lover from the vengeance of a group of evil female spirits (Thanks to Wikipedia for that information)

20d    Narrow urinals smashed (7)
{INSULAR} ‘Narrow’ is an anagram (smashed) of URINALS

21d    Take inspiration at Greater Manchester village (6)
{INHALE} ‘To take inspiration (breathe)’ = IN + a village south-east of Altrincham in Greater Manchester

23d    This could enlarge short boys? (4)
{LENS} A piece of optical apparatus that can magnify things is the plural form of the diminutive form of a boy’s name

A reasonable though somewhat unexciting puzzle. Perhaps it’s time for MynoT to take a break from his journey through the alphabet.