Toughie No 1107 by Warbler
What the Dickens?
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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***
After last Tuesday’s mixup, normality returns with an easy straightforward puzzle. As befitting the date there is a seasonal flavour to the two long across clues.
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Across
1a Scholar crams it almost all ingeniously into novel (1,9,5)
{A CHRISTMAS CAROL} – the wordplay here seems to have one letter too many – it’s an anagram (ingeniously) of SCHOLAR CRAMS IT A(LL) but almost suggests that the final element should be AL(L)
8a Black bird‘s prey (5)
{RAVEN} – the name of this large black bird can also be a verb meaning to prey
9a Around start of holidays imps are transformed into perfect angels (8)
{SERAPHIM} – the initial letter (start) of Holidays inside an anagram (transformed) of IMPS ARE
11a City and lake in clover? (7)
{LUCERNE} – two definitions (or maybe three!) – a city that stands on a lake of the same name and another name for the purple medick, a plant resembling clover
12a Happiness cut short by house’s rejection (5-2)
{HEAVE-HO} – a word meaning happiness or bliss without its final letter (cut short) followed by HO(ouse)
13a Virile sort of chief, shunning public notice (2-3)
{HE-MAN} – a chief or leader without (shunning) AD (advertisement / public notice}
15a Destroyed padre’s name almost & character (9)
{AMPERSAND} – an anagram (destroyed) of PADRE’S NAM(E) without the final letter (almost0 – did you spot the significance of & in the clue?
17a Fish pasty temptation (9)
{WHITEBAIT} – an adjective meaning pasty or wan followed by a temptation (of the kind that might tempt a fish)
20a Initially char leaves everything as new (5)
{CLEAN} – the initial letters of five words in the clue
21a Judge delayed raise expenditure (7)
{REFLATE} – a judge or assessor followed by an adjective meaning delayed or overdue
23a Closely examine torn label after end of the year (7)
{EYEBALL} – an anagram (torn) of LABEL after the final letter (end) of thE and Y(ear)
25a At sea Maria, going aft, caught a large squid (8)
{CALAMARI} – an anagram (at sea) of MARIA follows (going aft) C(aught) A L(arge)
26a The Spanish fish is cut off (5)
{ELIDE} – the Spanish definite article followed by a fish closely related to the chub gives a verb meaning to cut off a syllable in verse
27a Sober geezer once reformed as protagonist in 1A (8,7)
{EBENEZER SCROOGE} – an anagram (re-formed) of SOBER GEEZER ONCE
Down
1d Rainy spells bringing forth flowers in May proverbially (5,7)
{APRIL SHOWERS} – according to the proverb these rainy spells bring forth May flowers
2d In Latin this edition of the Bible brings chaos (5)
{HAVOC} – the Latin for this (can you ever forget learning hic, haec …?) around the abbreviation for the Authorised Version of the Bible
3d Lack of education in English can go right if corrected (9)
{IGNORANCE} – an anagram (corrected) of IN E(nglish) CAN GO R(ight)
4d Small piece of mosaic being inserted into mobile art (7)
{TESSERA} – a word meaning being or existence inside an anagram (mobile) of ART
5d Dirigible looks trendy (7)
{AIRSHIP} – a charade of some looks or bearings and an adjective meaning trendy
6d Frank film director‘s salute to origins of realistic acting (5)
{CAPRA} – the surname of the director of It’s a Wonderful Life is derived from a verb meaning to salute by raising an item of headwear followed by the initial letters (origins) of Realistic Acting
7d Repeat new ariette about the Queen (9)
{REITERATE} – an anagram (new) of ARIETTE around the Queen’s regnal cipher
10d Travel league to lair and plunder Argonauts’ target (6,6)
{GOLDEN FLEECE} – a charade of a two-letter verb meaning to travel, L(eague), a lair and a verb meaning to plunder or rob
14d Criminal mafia men run powerful computer (9)
{MAINFRAME} – I’ve worked on a few of these in my time! – an anagram (criminal) of MAFIA MEN R(un)
16d Capone, for one, causing uproar always (9)
{RACKETEER} – a charade of an uproar and a poetic word for always
18d Hail storm’s prevailing (7)
{AVERAGE} – a Latin greeting (hail) followed by a verb meaning to storm or fume
19d Absolutely worst person possible is ridiculously pettish (3,4)
{THE PITS} – how John McEnroe addressed the umpire, spectators and reporters at Wimbledon is an anagram (ridiculously) of PETTISH
22d Quickly stripping away top three parts of shell (5)
{APACE} – start with thick hard shell of the crab, tortoise, turtle, etc. and drop (stripping away) CAR (top three parts)
24d American soldier rises to meet old friend (5)
{AMIGO} – AM(erican) followed by the reversal (rises in a down clue) of an (American) soldier and O(ld)
ARVE Error: need id and provider |
Merry Christmas to all. If everything goes to plan I’ll be back with the Saturday Hints, if not it could be sooner!
The easiest Toughie ever but when it is by the lovely Warbler and it is Christmas-themed, who cares!
I was too busy ove- multi-tasking to notice the extra L!
Happy Christmas and thanks to BD and Warbler too.
A very Merry Christmas to you, Dave, and all of your contributors. Your comments are always appreciated.
Must have been easy, the first toughie I’ve completed without needing hints, Thanks to Warbler and to Big Dave for the review.
Thanks to Warbler and to Big Dave for the review and hint. A very nice themed puzzle, the setters are being very kind this Christmas Eve. My third ever Toughie completion. Favourite was 26a which was a new word for me. Last in was22d. Me rry Christmas and a happy New year to all.
Nice gentle fare for a Christmas Eve, coincidentally I’m watching at this moment the film mentioned in 6d, thanks to Warbler and to Big Dave for the review.
May I take this opportunity in wishing each and everyone associated with this wonderful site a Happy and peaceful Christmas.
Miffypops has once again joined The Toughie Club or should it be The Not So Toughie Club. Hello to everybody here. An enjoyable solve done whilst working. A Merry Christmas to one and all.
Fabulous puzzle, thanks to Warbler and Big Dave, I hope you get your well deservred break.
Fortunately a gentle one today (what with all the background noise in our household). Many thanks to Warbler for a year of fine puzzles, and a very big thank you to Big Dave, to whom it must be said, if I’d never found this site, I’d still be treading water on the back-page puzzles! Happy Christmas to one and all, although I am sure I will poke my nose in sometime tomorrow
A couple in the SW corner, 21a and 22d where the only two that caused any delay in what, to us, was a very pleasant solve.
Thanks Warbler and BD.
Merry Christmas.
Waltzer through this quicker than the cryptic…………………..Oh boy, doubt very much being able to say that again. Thank you Warbler, it was good fun and BD for the review
Merry Christmas one and all
Surely a bit too easy to be a Toughie, even on Xmas eve? Apart from that, 1.5*/***
My third Xmas-themed crossword in 2 days. A bit like turkey dinners in the run-up to Xmas – very enjoyable, but after a while you look forward to something different. This deserved more than one plaudit, however.
Thank you so much Warbler, Like CSue who cares if your Toughies are regarded as easy, they are always 5 star enjoyment imho. Bring on more please.
Couldn’t have put it better! Thanks Warbler and a Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Can’t stay to chat as pommette wants to put the sprouts on, after all we are an hour ahead of you guys
Many thanks, Warbler, for this most pleasurable puzzle.
Have a most enjoyable break.
And many thanks to Big Dave for excellent hints and delightful illustrations. And very big thanks, Big Dave, for this wonderful blog.
Very happy Christmas to you all.
Thanks for a lovely puzzle and delightful blog. Merry Christmas one and all. V x
A lovely wee Christmas toughie, a bit on the easy side but very enjoyable. Many thanks to Warbler and Big Dave and a very Merry Christmas to everyone connected with the best crossword blog in the UK.
A delightful (as always) puzzle from Warbler for which many thanks ,
The merriest of Christmases to all involved with the blog ,As I have said before it really is quite remarkable .
Keep happy .
Finally got round to this on Christmas night after all the hullabaloo was over and I could sit down quietly with an Xmas malt. I agree with all those before me. Not too tough and thoroughly enjoyable – and not overly festive, thank goodness. Happy days (and nights) to you all