Toughie 1198

Toughie No 1198 by Warbler

Hints and tips by Toro

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

[ Today I am pleased to introduce a gamekeeper turned poacher. You might know Toro from his puzzles in the NTSPP series and now he is trying his hand at blogging. An excellent debut. BD ]

A first outing for me as a blogger, and am I dreaming, or is that a personal message to me from Warbler in the form of 5d? (Well, not just to me of course). A lovely witty bit of setter-solver dialogue there, and I also enjoyed the imagery of 9a and the ingenuity of 17d.

Otherwise more straightforward than I had expected, so I’ll plump for ** for difficulty and *** for enjoyment. Perhaps BD’s breaking me in gently…

But never mind all that – you know the Toughie better than I do. What did you think?

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

1a    For some time wonder about rise being cut (6)
{AWHILE} – A word for wonder or amazement goes around a word for a rise or elevated land minus its final letter (being cut)

5a    Dickens character runs into problem with it (8)
{CRATCHIT} – …from A Christmas Carol. The one-letter abbreviation for runs in cricket goes into a word for a problem or snag, followed by IT from the clue

9a    I just shuffled behind odd characters to join up for martial art (3-5)
{JIU-JITSU} – An anagram (shuffled) of IJUST comes after the odd letters of (odd characters to) JoInUp

10a    Language not quite relevant (6)
{GERMAN} – A word meaning relevant or pertinent, minus its final letter (not quite)

11a    Croc wallowing in black oil that’s obscured greens (8)
{BROCCOLI} – An anagram (wallowing) of CROC goes between the one-letter abbreviation for black and an anagram (obscured) of OIL

12a    Argument about hollow life is unconvincing (6)
{FEEBLE} – A word for argument or disagreement is reversed (about) and followed by the outer letters (hollow) of LifE.

13a    Nitrogen and oxygen, e.g., make the weather (8)
{ELEMENTS} – …when thought of in harsh and vivid terms. What nitrogen and oxygen are examples of in chemistry.

15a    Old artist returns without son (4)
{AGED} – Reverse the name of a famous French artist after dropping the one-letter abbreviation for son.

17a    A wide track turning to one side (4)
{AWRY} – The A from the clue plus the one-letter abbreviation for a wide in cricket and the two-letter abbreviation for what trains run on.

19a    Rigid small boat in Loire, good for going around river (8)
{STUBBORN} – The one-letter abbreviation for small, followed by a three-letter colloquial word for a boat, then by the French (in Loire) for ‘good’ into which the one-letter abbreviation for river is inserted.

20a    MP gets the bird! (6)
{REDCAP} – A term for an MP (not a parliamentarian but a member of the Royal Military Police) is also a country name for a goldfinch that no-one’s used for hundreds of years. (Cue flood of contradictions?!)

21a    Flower, say, planted in imaginary land (8)
{LILLIPUT} – Two syllables that sound like (say) a type of flower, plus a word for ‘planted’ or placed.

22a    Frank is caught with papers (6)
{CANDID} – The one-letter abbreviation for ‘caught’ in cricket, then a synonym for ‘with’, and then an abbreviation for ‘papers’ used for personal identification.

23a    Tees  backs up (8)
{SUPPORTS} – A double definition that is both what golf tees function as, and a word meaning ‘backs up’ or reinforces. The surface suggests the River Tees becoming clogged.

24a    Cherished abstract housed in Oxford University. Quite the opposite! (8)
{PRECIOUS} – not an abstract housed in Oxford University, but quite the opposite – the abbreviation for Oxford University goes inside (housed in) a word for an abstract or summary.

25a    Make stew from leg bone? There’s no time (6)
{PAELLA} – Remove T (‘no time’) from the name of a bone in the leg (the kneecap).

Down

2d    Initially when Harriet is running jewellery makes a vibratory noise (8)
{WHIRRING} – The first letters of (initially) ‘When Harriet Is Running’ followed by an item of jewellery

3d    Inspired one judge to get into decent novel (8)
{INJECTED} – The Roman numeral one, followed by an anagram (‘novel’) of DECENT containing an abbreviation for judge. (I can’t readily think of a sentence in which definition and solution could be swapped with equivalent meaning, can you?)

4d    Sociable former girlfriend’s some treasure! Right? (9)
{EXTROVERT} – A word for a former lover is followed by a word that has come to mean a find or hoard of treasure, and the two-letter abbreviation for ‘right’ (in parliamentary address especially).

5d    You’re probably one of these brave critics with lust almost for upsetting (15)
{CRUCIVERBALISTS} – An anagram (for upsetting) of BRAVE CRITICS and LUS (lust almost) gives a word for crossword enthusiasts – and in particular (if the definition extends to the whole clue) those cowardly, spiteful bloggers and reviewers. (A plaintive reminder to us that setters have feelings too!)

6d    Greek hero accordingly besieges eastern borders of Syracuse (7)
{THESEUS} – A word for ‘accordingly’ or ‘so’ goes round (besieges) the abbreviation for East(ern) and the outer letters (borders) of SyracusE.

7d    Drink in mixture (4-4)
{HOME-BREW} – A type of alcoholic drink (referring to where and how it was made) is a charade of a word for ‘in’ (as opposed to being out of the house) and a word for a mixture or infusion.

8d    Number refuse to accept Catholic inclination (8)
{TENDENCY} – A particular number (written out as a word) followed by a synonym of ‘to refuse (someone something)’ taking in a one-letter abbreviation for ‘Catholic’.

14d    Spooner’s dog advice cheers (6-3)
{TOODLE-PIP} – A breed of dog followed by a word for a bit of advice, when Spoonerised, give a phrase meaning ‘cheers’ or goodbye.

15d    Designed pan shot through with carbon, gold and copper as receptacle for fruit (5-3)
{ACORN-CUP} – An anagram (‘designed’) of PAN is interspersed at different points (‘shot through’) with, in turn, the chemical symbol for carbon, the two-letter heraldic word for gold and the chemical symbol for copper.

16d    Proof of empty dialogue in show (8)
{EVIDENCE} – The outer letters of (empty) DialoguE go inside a verb meaning ‘to show’ (as in to exhibit certain traits or characteristics).

17d    Could it prevent a sort of tainted love being embraced? (8)
{ANTIDOTE} – An anagram of (sort of) TAINTED containing the letter denoted by ‘love’. (The solution is a cure for poisoning that punningly suggests a prophylactic against infatuation.)

18d    Objection put in afterwards, mounting argument against (8)
{REBUTTAL} – A word for an objection or caveat goes inside a reversal of (mounting) a word for ‘afterwards’ or ‘subsequently’, to give a word meaning a counterargument or claim to the contrary.

19d    African people sail with storms when temperature’s dropped (7)
{SWAHILI} – An anagram (storms) of SAIL WITH after dropping the one-letter abbreviation for temperature.

Same time next week? Meanwhile, please do share your thoughts on today’s Toughie below.