Big Dave's Crossword Blog

Toughie No 829 by Giovanni

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

I slogged my way through this and the only feeling I had when I’d finished was the relief. Crypticsue and I will be duetting tomorrow as Tilsit’s return from holiday has been delayed by illness.

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Across

1a    Dating seemed inappropriate with the prospect of attraction gone (12)
{DEMAGNETISED} – an anagram (inappropriate) of DATING SEEMED gives an word meaning with the prospect of attraction to a horseshoe-shaped piece of metal gone

9a    Spooner’s to go to bed the worse for drink? Excellent! (3-6)
{TOP-FLIGHT} – swap the initial consonant Spooner-style and this could mean to go to bed the worse for drink, but it actually means excellent – in my book there are two types of Spoonerism, good and bad: this one is not good

10a    Legal claim? Abandon it if powerless (5)
{DROIT} – a verb meaning to abandon and it without the P (powerless)

11a    Rebel beginning to cheer, confused type (6)
{HIPPIE} – this rebel from the sixties comes from a charade of the first part of an exhortation to cheer and some confused printer’s type

12a    Cloth being pulled round by bad person — shortly it results in strangulation (8)
{GARROTTE} – reverse a piece of cloth and follow it with most of (shortly) a bad person to get an instrument of execution by strangulation

13a    Money anguish as some might say (6)
{DOLLAR} – this US money sounds like (as some might say) a poetic word for anguish

15a    Stop awkward load crashing into platform (8)
{DEADLOCK} – an anagram (awkward) of LOAD inside (crashing into) a platform like the ones that some people paint blue and have in their back gardens

18a    Grumbles from a hundred country folk threatened by saboteurs? (8)
{CHUNTERS} – a verb meaning grumbles comes from the Roman numeral for a hundred followed by country folk with nothing better to do who are threatened by saboteurs with nothing better to do

19a    Group together to get rid of bishop, creating fuss (6)
{RACKET} – start with a verb meaning to group together and drop (get rid of) the B(ishop)

21a    A tedious occupation in eggs — one’s driven mad with this? (4,4)
{ROAD RAGE} – put the A from the clue and a tedious occupation inside some fish eggs

23a    Ingenious rule to get small-minded about (6)
{PRETTY} – put R(ule) inside (to get … about) an adjective meaning small-minded

26a    Note unrevised after it’s gone over (5)
{MINIM} – this musical note is a palindrome (unrevised after it’s gone over)

27a    Defends home volunteers being brought into Scottish farm (9)
{MAINTAINS} – put a two-letter word meaning home and the volunteer soldiers inside a Scottish farm – the farm was new to me, but easy to work out from the answer and then look up in Chambers

28a    Characters going wild in London cheer a singer-songwriter (7,5)
{LEONARD COHEN} – an anagram (characters going wild) of LONDON CHEER A

Down

1d    Duke was uncomfortable being deposed (7)
{DITCHED} – D(uke) followed by a word meaning was uncomfortable

2d    Dispose of what’s to be sold dishonestly after a short time? (3,2)
{MOP UP} – if you are metaphorically sold one of these then it is a bad deal – precede it with a short period of time (2)

3d    Impudence associated with Russian ruler having time to jaunt (9)
{GALLIVANT} – a four-letter word meaning impudence is followed by a terrible Russian ruler and T(ime)

4d    Good English used by the person who needs it is an advantage (4)
{EDGE} – put G(ood) and E(nglish) after the abbreviation for someone who corrects the English of others (the person who needs it)

5d    Intern at work getting source of company information? (8)
{INTRANET} – an anagram (work) of INTERN AT

6d    Bush? Bush GHW rather than GW (5)
{ELDER} – this bush whose berries are used to make wine describes the age relationship of GHW Bush to GW Bush – the Americans usually use the word senior

7d    Skilful manoeuvring of old couple in parting of the ways (8)
{FOOTWORK} – put O(ld) and the number that makes a couple inside where a road splits (parting of the ways)

Especially for Pommers!

8d    Band makes second journey across Austria (6)
{STREAK} – S(econd) and a long journey around the IVR code for Austria

14d    Road around America descending to northern city (8)
{LAUSANNE} – a country road around the three-letter abbreviation for America and N(orthern)

16d    Mark to take last breath finding fault audibly? (9)
{DIACRITIC} – this mark attached to a letter to indicate modified sound sounds like (audibly) a phrase meaning to take one’s last breath while finding fault (3,1,6)

17d    Guide turning up in the morning, protector of treasure going about (8)
{DRAGOMAN} – this interpreter or guide in Eastern countries is derived by putting the reversal (turning up) the two-letter abbreviation for morning inside a mythical protector of treasure

18d    Plate in Italian city church placed high up (6)
{CHROME} – a verb meaning to plate with a stainless metal is derived from an Italian city preceded by (placed high up in a down clue) CH(urch )

20d    Enzyme makes journeys inside by the sound of it (7)
{TRYPSIN} – this enzyme secreted by the pancreas sounds like makes journeys inside (5.2)

22d    Herb that is buried under stuff (5)
{RAMIE} – the Latin abbreviation for this is after (buried under in a down clue) a verb meaning to stuff

24d    Sensualist finally gets excited when it’s revealed? (5)
{THIGH} – the final letter of sensualisT followed by an adjective meaning excited gives what could excite the sensualist when it is revealed

Especially for Gazza!

25d    Last stand made by teetotaller avoiding pint? (4)
{BIER} – this stand for carrying a dead person to the grave is derived by dropping the TT (teetotaller) from some tasty ale

Tough, but lacking those penny-drop moments.