Sunday Toughie No 17 by proXimal
Review by Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 22nd of May 2022
Across
7a Protective covering around slate unit (8)
CARAPACE: We start with one of crossword lands usuals, around as an approximation CA for Circa, add the slating you may receive across the knuckles perhaps RAP, and a playing card that represents a unit ACE. CARAPACE the protective covering of a crab, tortoise or turtle.
9a Argue when against following school subject (6)
REASON: When gives us AS, against gives us ON, and they are following the school subject RE for religious education. To REASON or argue a topic.
10a Misrepresent fine opinion (6)
BELIEF: To misrepresent BELIE, plus F for fine, gives us a BELIEF or opinion.
11a Shy if to circulate with all in showy manner (8)
FLASHILY: An anagram of (to circulate with) SHY IF and ALL, A showy manner or FLASHILY
12a Biscuit tin clutched by European on alcohol (11,3)
GINGERBREAD MAN: Tin here is a synonym of money, we need a different synonym of money BREAD, it is clutched by a European GER_MAN, and on tells us that GER_BREAD_MAN all follows an alcoholic drink GIN. GINGERBREAD MAN, an eminently dunk able biscuit.
15a Rapidly turn legs cycling (4)
SPIN: I think the blog discussed “cycling” clues recently. Today a synonym of legs PINS, cycles the last letter to the front to satisfy the definition.
17a Probe deep sensation in organ (5)
SOUND: A double definition, The sensation that the ears collect, is also the means of probing the depth of water.
19a Office auditor’s owed drink (4)
DUTY: Two homophones here, what one owed is DUE, and the drink is TEA, together they sound like DUTY the responsibilities of office.
20a Learner right to be detained by teacher, tutee wrecked college room (7,7)
LECTURE THEATRE: Wrecked is an anagram indicator, and college room is the definition. The hard part is finding the right fodder, The first two words are abbreviated L and R, and the master pupil relationship, in the clue TEACHER TUTEE, the rest.
23a Mother being tender removing son’s dressing (8)
MANURING: One of our usual mothers (or half how I refer to mine, dearest Mama Bee) and a tender profession (without the S for son.) You should have a dressing more suitable for your roses rather than your salads. Coincidentally Mama Bee’s profession before my sisters and I came along was Nursing so the S for son was extracted from Mama Bee and her profession!
25a Where one may have found Native American design (6)
INTENT: Ones design or INTENTion when split 2,4 is where one may have found Native Americans, although they probably called them Wigwam or Teepee.
27a Raised edge of baked product, turnover for example (6)
FLANGE: Eg. For example is reversed (turnover) and follows a baked FLAN. FLANGE a projecting or raised edge or flank.
28a Odd impressions after rascal’s stripped making you blush (8)
ROSINESS: Odd is the indicator here and impressions the fodder, but that has too many letters for our grid, so we must strip the rascal IMP, from the fodder and jumble the rest to satisfy the definition
Down
1d Succeed having very much energy (4)
FARE: An excessive (very much) distance perhaps FAR, and some energy E. Definition 1 in the BRB for an intransitive verb To get on or succeed
2d Involving relatives in periodical production (6)
MAKING: Our relatives or KIN go into an abbreviated periodical or MAGazine. MAKING a synonym of production.
3d Rocks in water are effectively traps (4)
REEF: A lurker hidden in words 4 and 5.
4d Man from Genesis, artist set up craft group (6)
ARMADA: Not the first man to leave the prog-rock group Genesis, but the first man in the Book of Genesis ADAM, add an artist who displays at the Royal Academy RA, and set them both up. For a group of craft ARMADA, the most famous of which set sail from Lisbon in 1588.
5d Female in Germany worked out (8)
FATHOMED: Not a Fraulein but just an abbreviated female F, two words that mean in AT HOME and the IVR code for Germany D. I FATHOMED that this was the answer when I recalled that Samuel L Clemens got his pen name from the sounding (see 17a) of the water beneath paddle steamers.
6d Vote on it gone awry — to protect a queen bee, perhaps (10)
POLLINATOR: I am eponymously obliged to hint at clues that have bees in. Start with a 4-letter synonym of vote POLL, ON IT has gone awry and it contains (to protect) A from the clue, finish with one letter for a queen, R for Regina. Perhaps indicates that there are other things that provide this important service other than Bees, but I claim them as the most important.
8d Doctor away in South America raised grants (7)
AFFORDS: One of the abbreviations that doctors use DR, a synonym of away OFF, are put in two letters that stand for South America SA. (S_DR_OFF_A) They are raised (up in a down clue) The Telegraph AFFORDS or Grants you the licence to bung this in from checkers alone.
13d Run through hiding place catching sailor that’s elusive (10)
IMPALPABLE: To Run through or IMPALE hides an abbreviation for place PL and catches an Able seaman. IMPALPABLE, elusive and not capable of being comprehended or grasped.
14d Move from uncovered point (5)
ROUSE: My last one in I spent a lot of time uncovering points of the compass here I settled on sOUTh in Re for about or point ROUTE but the computer said no! after much thought I realised that fROm is the word that is uncovered RO, followed by a synonym of point as in “what’s the point/USE” Giving us ROUSE, which was my cue to Rouse myself from the keyboard and go to bed before rousing again to write the hinty blog.
16d Trick to lift short singer Tina in musical piece (8)
NOCTURNE: A trick CON, is reversed ( to lift in a down clue) followed by most of Anna Mae Bullocks stage surname TURNEr.
18d Erected sheet of canvas bore flowers (7)
DAHLIAS: A sheet of canvas that a sloop, cutter or 4d will have SAIL, and a synonym of bore HAD, all reversed (erected in a down clue) for some rather pretty flowers.
21d Follower of more than one team agreed (6)
UNITED: An ever-changing roster of football teams have the suffix UNITED, and I don’t want to bother checking football league tables to be definitive but there are certainly more than one. We are in agreement or UNITED in that I hope.
22d Limiting fanatic, separatists uprising adapt (6)
ATTUNE: These separatists are an acronym for the Basque independence movement E.T.A, around a fanatic NUT, and all reversed (uprising). ATTUNE To adapt the pitch of a musical instrument perhaps.
24d Adult coming up in appropriate dress (4)
GARB: A bit more moving of letters here, not quite cycling, but a synonym for appropriate, in the sense of to seize or grasp suddenly GRAB, has the letter that Adult represents raised (coming up in a down clue) for GARB, ones dress or attire.
26d Ear removed from grave is tangled mess (4)
NEST: A synonym of grave as in serious EARNEST, loses an ear to become the tangled mess that Boris often sports on his head.
That’s All Folks see you again on Sunday.