Toughie 1185

Toughie No 1185 by Sparks

Hints and tips by Fred and Ginger

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

Greetings from the Calder Valley! Sparks has stormed in today with a puzzle that is an enjoyable solve and not too taxing.

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  Hints by Fred (Tilsit)

6a    Hold gift given by sourpuss around middle of Easter (6,4)
{BOSTON CRAB} The name for a wrestling hold is revealed by taking something that means a gift or advantage and placing it round ST (middle of Easter). Add a word meaning a sourpuss to get the name of the hold.

 

8a    Randomly look at small core of labour force? (4)
{SURF} A word referring to aimlessly wandering round the internet is S (small) + the middle bit of the phrase LABOUR FORCE.

9a    Traveller rings round half the force after stuff is returned (5,4)
{MARCO POLO} Reverse a word meaning stuff or pack and then add two O’s (rings) with 50% of the name of the law enforcers inside.

11a    Boss who controls one’s will? Not half (4)
{EXEC} Half of a word for someone who organises a will is the short name given to the sort of person who runs a company.

12a    The whole line cut into ductile metal (3)
{ALL} Inside the chemical symbol for a metal with the qualities of ductility goes L (line) to give something that means the whole.

13a    Trace place in digs where bill can be left? (9)
{SIGNBOARD} The name of somewhere to put a bill or a notice is found by taking a word for a trace or indication of something and add the name for to place someone in accommodation (think “Bed and ___”)

16a    King of sorts, Elvis regularly needs no backing (4)
{LION} The name for the King (of the Jungle) is revealed by taking LI (regular bits of ELVIS) and add ON (no backing).

 

17a    Rave organised preceding new announcement about gallery (7)
{VERANDA} The name for a gallery or part of a house is found by rearranging RAVE (organised) and adding N (new) + the reverse (about) of AD (announcement).

18a    Leave one in grey cutting grass (7)
{HOLIDAY} Take a word that refers to a type of grass and insert an adjective that tends to describe someone who is grey and put I (one) inside to give a break or leave.

20a    Artist leaving flask where 23 10 22 (4)
{CAFÉ} The name for a flask, often associated with wine, needs to lose RA (artist) to give an eating establishment (confirmed by the answers to 23 10 and 22)

21a    Victor may get one girl to accept experienced master (4,5)
{GOLD MEDAL} What the victor of a competition often wins is found by taking a slang word for a girl and inserting a word for experienced and the abbreviation for a Master (of Education).

23a    Eulogy intermittently put about by solver? (3)
{YOU} The alternate letters of EULOGY reversed give how the setter addresses the solver.

24a    Singer eager to make a comeback (4)
{DIVA}    The name for a singer is the reverse of one that means keen or eager. Here’s one of the finest.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYl8GRJGnBY&feature=kp

25a    Fire is prevented by this spray penetrating most of dry cable’s sheath (9)
{ARMISTICE} Nice clue. I originally had ASBESTINE in here but a prompt from a very nice man helped me. The word for a fine spray goes inside most of a word for dry (last letter missing) and CE the outer letters, sheath, of CABLE). This gives you the name for something that stops wartime firing. Nice misleading definition.

29a    Note in pad, a spelling aid (4)
{WAND} Put N (note) inside something referring to a pad to give something that helps young Mr Potter with his spelling.

 

30a    Alternatively, pundits or I get upset (10)
{DISRUPTION} An anagram (alternatively) of PUNDITS OR I gives a word for upset.

Apologies for the delay with the Downs, Tilsit had to go out and I was also late back today so couldn’t cover for him until now,  but have put on my dancing shoes once again to hastily prepare the Down hints.

Down Hints by Ginger

1d           Quickly shift unruly kids, possibly by end of term (4)
{ZOOM}   Unruly kids might possibly behave like a collection of animals (3) which should be followed by the end of terM.

2d           10 — time to interrupt teacher? (4)
{STIR} Another slang word for 10d –   Insert T(time) into the way you should address a male teacher.

3d           Dope belonging to half of class (4)
{INFO}   Dope is a slang term for intelligence, the abbreviated form of which is obtained by a preposition meaning belonging to and the first two letters of a four-letter school class.

4d           Bird entering door to landing (7)
{ORTOLAN} A kind of bunting is hidden in doOR TO LANding.

5d           Fighting men introduced to part of para’s training? (4-3-3)
{FREE-FOR-ALL}   A fighting contest open to anybody – the abbreviation for regular soldiers (men) inserted into the first part of a parachute drop.

7d           Carpet bombing’s beginning — load deployed in space (9)
{BROADLOOM}   The beginning of Bombing, and an anagram (deployed) of LOAD inserted into a space.

8d           Having put on tie, shift grip (9)
{SPELLBIND} A shift or period of work followed by a verb meaning to tie.

10d         First signs of cheap and nasty sack from abroad (3)
{CAN} Sack and the solution are other slang words for prisons  – the first letters (signs) of Cheap And Nasty.

13d         Extremely selfish and silly, getting up to worry over mischief (10)
{SHENANIGAN}   The ‘extreme’ letters of SelfisH followed by a reversal (getting up in a down clue) of a a synonym for silly or pointless and a verb meaning to worry.

14d         Weighty cart, having been jacked up, remains here (9)
{GRAVEYARD}   Weighty or serious followed by a reversal (jacked up) of a type of cart.

15d         Minding one’s business? (9)
{BODYGUARD}   A cryptic definition of someone who minds important people.

19d         Falters in, say, withdrawn spot (7)
{GLIMPSE} Falters or walks unevenly inserted into a reversal (withdrawn) of the abbreviation meaning for example.

22d         Prime bits of hearty feed (3)
{EAT} The letters in ‘prime’ number positions 2, 3 and 5, in hEArTy.

26d         About to stop whole film? (4)
{SCUM}   A nasty film floating on liquid –   the Latin abbreviation for about inserted into the whole of something.

27d         Trace    letter from abroad (4)
{IOTA}   A tiny amount of something has the same name as a Greek letter of the alphabet.

28d         Black yet brown? Oddly not (4
{EBON}   The odd letters of yEt BrOwN.

Thanks to Sparks for an enjoyable, and definitely far more straightfoward than yesterday’s Toughie.    I particularly liked the deceptive ‘fire’ in 25a.