Toughie 1157

Toughie No 1157 by Firefly

Wot no Elgar!

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BD Rating – Difficulty *** – Enjoyment **

While not particularly difficult, I thought that several of the clues were unsatisfactory, albeit easy to guess. Certainly not up to the standard we have come to expect on a Friday.

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Across

1a & 4a    Stunner seen on Eurostar maybe engenders unwavering concentration? (6,6)
{TUNNEL VISION} – this “stunner” could possibly be seen while under the English Channel

4a    See 1 Across

9a    They say indistinct sign creates uncertainties (8)
{VAGARIES} – a syllable that sounds like (they say) an adjective meaning indistinct followed by a sign of the zodiac

10a    Chain mariners operated is metres (nine, initially) short (6)
{SIERRA} – this chain of mountains is an anagram (operated) of (M)ARI(N)ERS without (short) M(etres) and the initial letter of Nine

11a    Charge borne by the Telegraph? (4)
{ONUS} – split as (2,2) this could mean borne by the Telegraph – perhaps they are buying a round of drinks!

12a    Surface tension’s beginning to supply current to barrage (10)
{TARMACADAM} – the initial letter (beginning) of Tension followed by a verb meaning to supply weapons, Alternating Current and a barrage

13a    Diva’s denture’s broken — that’s not broadcast (12)
{UNADVERTISED} – an anagram (broken) of DIVA’S DENTURE

16a    Jack could be required to make merry! (5,3,4)
{RAISE THE ROOF} – it’s possible that a jack could be needed for this

20a    Bright idea given support by institute — gold medal for a start (10)
{BRAINSTORM} – a support garment followed by INST(itute), the heraldic term for gold and the initial letter (start) of Medal

21a    Repeated enquiries from backers in Gulf, Syria, Iraq and Emirates (4)
{FAQS} – the final letters (backers) of four words in the clue

22a    Heep, briefly found in barrel, gets hiding (6)
{BURIAL] – most of (briefly) the first name of Charles Dickens’ Mr Heep inside B(arre)L

23a    Waiting, having docked earlier (8)
{PREPARED} – split as (3-5) this could mean docked or trimmed earlier

24a & 25a    Mask reality of chain reaction (6,6)
{DOMINO EFFECT} – a charade of an old-fashioned mask covering the upper half of the face and a word meaning reality

25a    See 24 Across

Down

1d & 19d    One on Salisbury Plain, for example, has curious giant ring encircling (8,6)
{TRAINING GROUND} – an anagram (curious) of GIANT RING followed by a word meaning encircling

2d    Characters (regularly under arrest) make approaches (5)
{NEARS} – the even characters of two words in the clue

3d    Maybe Paul’s in Palestine under siege? A number missing (7)
{EPISTLE} – an anagram (under siege) of P(A)LESTI(N)E without (missing) the A from the clue and N(umber)

5d    Lodges among hedges, we hear? (7)
{INSTALS} – split as (2,5) this could be a word meaning among and what sounds like (we hear) a verb meaning hedges or prevaricates

6d    Kind of European figure skater? (9)
{ICELANDER} – is this really a figure skater if split (3,6)? Ok, after a jump the skater must be this, but it seems very weak to me

7d & 15d    William’s acquisition — Quran — connotes start of Mohammed’s movement (6,8)
{NORMAN CONQUEST} – an anagram (movement) of QURAN CONNOTES and the initial letter (start) of Mohammed

8d    Stripe spoilt colour scheme — an afterthought? The feeling’s mutual! (6,2,5)
{ESPRIT DE CORPS} – an anagram (spoilt) of STRIPE followed by a colour scheme and an afterthought at the end of a letter

14d    Speciation theory right — success lies in restraint (9)
{DARWINISM} – R(ight) and a success IS (lies) in a restraint which holds back water – I’m not happy about the way that “IS” is included in the wordplay

15d    See 7 Down

17d    Hormone in agitated solution too complex to extract (7)
{INSULIN} – IN followed by an anagram (agitated) of S(O)LU(T)I(O)N from which the assorted letters (complex) of TOO have been dropped (to extract)

18d    Fantastic Flemish Master? (7)
{HIMSELF} – an anagram (fantastic) of FLEMISH

19d    See 1 Down

21d    Structure of DEFRA meaningless (5)
{FRAME} – hidden (of) inside the clue

Unless there is more to some of the clues than I have been able to find this is a disappointing end to the week.