Toughie 906

Toughie No 906 by Warbler

Snakes alive!

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BD Rating – Difficulty * – Enjoyment ****

Once again the Toughie week begins with a puzzle at the lower end of the difficulty scale.

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Across

1a    Annoyed supporters (7,3)
{BRASSED OFF} – those famous female support garments followed by an anagram (rioted) of OF FEDS

6a    Reptile protects its own head at the earliest opportunity (4)
{ASAP} – put a three-letter type of snake round its own initial letter (head)

9a    At the outset Pyrrhus rushed in and murdered Trojan king (5)
{PRIAM} – the initial letters (at the outset) of five words in the clue

10a    Illegally importing drink subsumes attack by government (9)
{SMUGGLING} – a drink of spirits and water sweetened and flavoured around an attack with the intention of robbing and G(overnment)

12a    Local Stoke band loses nothing playing in this type of joint (4-3-6)
{BALL-AND-SOCKET} – an anagram (playing) of LOCAL ST(O)KE BAND without (loses) one of the Os (nothing)

14a    Monitors  draughts in New England? (8)
{CHECKERS} – a double definition – New England being in the United States!

15a    Female frame is more beautiful (6)
{FAIRER} – F(emale) and a frame used for drying clothes

17a    Scandinavian kronor dictate taking a 50/50 split (6)
{NORDIC} – hidden inside the clue – half (50/50 split) inside each of two words in the clue

19a    I abandoned Corfe site’s redevelopment without penalty (4-4)
{SCOT-FREE} – an anagram (redevelopment) of CORFE S(I)TE without (abandoned) the I

21a    Hear chaps are among volunteers in school locality (9,4)
{CATCHMENT AREA} – a verb meaning to hear or understand followed by some chaps and the volunteer soldiers around ARE

24a    Central characters in rally vote cemented ground for cultivation (9)
{ALLOTMENT} – the inner letters (central characters) of three words in the clue

25a    Gold-coloured foreign sea shell (5)
{ORMER} – the heraldic term for gold followed by the French (foreign) for sea

26a    Deserter returned to northern lake (4)
{TARN} – reverse a deserter and follow him with N(orthern)

27a    Shortened timber surrounds long solid small verandah (10)
{BALCONETTE} – a strip of wood (timber) without its final letter (shortened) around (surrounds) L(ong) and a solid geometric shape

Down

1d    Rolls spaghetti bolognese out — note the eggs/oil blending before separation (4)
{BAPS} – an anagram (out) of SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE without (separation) the letters assorted (blending) of NOTE THE EGGS OIL – or, to put it differently, SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE is an anagram of the answer with NOTE THE EGGS OIL

2d    Do I have the capacity to be pleasant? (7)
{AMIABLE} – split as (2,1,4) this could mean do I have the capacity

3d    Wilder work; look the time is changing (4,4,2,3)
{SOME LIKE IT HOT} – this classic film, directed by Billy Wilder, is an anagram (changing) of LOOK THE TIME IS

4d    Troubled sad priest almost gives up hope (8)
{DESPAIRS} – an anagram (troubled) of SAD PRIES(T) without the final letter (almost)

5d    Experienced  cast (5)
{FOUND} – a double definition

7d    Joins together again to turn over very difficult question (7)
{STINKER} – the reversal (to turn over in a down clue) of a verb meaning joins together again

8d    First of punk generation’s act before the Queen is a thriller (4-6)
{PAGE-TURNER} – the initial letter (first) of Punk followed by a three-letter word for a generation, a stage act and the regnal cypher for the Queen

11d    Greeting expanded mg cryptically (4,9)
{GOOD AFTERNOON} – split as (4,5,4) this could describe the position of the word which abbreviates to G with respect to the time of day represented by M(eridiem)

13d    Tory involved in stoical manoeuvring. One attacks traditional ideas (10)
{ICONOCLAST} – a three-letter abbreviation for a Tory inside an anagram (manoeuvring) of STOICAL

16d    Full of rapture heart of austere ascetic is transformed (8)
{ECSTATIC} – an anagram (transformed) of the middle letter (heart) of ausTere and ASCETIC

18d    Crawler. It moves at a fast pace (7)
{RATTLER} – a double definition – the first of which is a type of snake

20d    Further concede inclusion of notice in terms of reference (7)
{READMIT} – insert a two-letter word for a notice inside terms of reference

22d    Dropsy ‘became debilitating’ — internal evidence seen in retrospect (5)
{EDEMA} – the medical name for the disease dropsy is hidden (internal evidence) and reversed (seen in retrospect) inside the clue

23d    Poetry’s not very Gaelic (4)
{ERSE} – start with some lines of poetry and drop (not) the initial V(ery)

A puzzle doesn’t have to be difficult to be enjoyable!