Toughie No 3029

Toughie No 3029 by Dada

Hints and tips by StephenL

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

Hello everyone from a bright and breezy South Devon coast.

Dada kicks off the Toughie week with a very entertaining puzzle that was spot on for Tuesday.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought.

Across

1a Jam container, brass (10)
BOTTLENECK: Append a synonym of brass in the sense of nerve or chutzpah to a glass container.

6a Smoothness backfiring for philanderer (4)
WOLF: Reverse (backfiring) a synonym of smoothness or fluency.

9a Remove series of illustrations (5)
STRIP: Double definition, for the latter think cartoons perhaps.

10a Drink alone, as a joke (9)
TEASINGLY: If you split the solution (an adverb meaning in a taunting way) 3,6 you’ll see how the wordplay works.

12a Super pepperoni on pizza, say? (7)
TOPPING: Double definition, one a quaint adjective, the other a noun.

13a Assassin rubbing out English in disagreement among Germans? (5)
NINJA: Remove (rubbing out) the abbreviation for English from the German word for No and follow it with the German word for Yes.

15a Traffic no good, I run in reverse on the left (7)
TRADING: Place I from the clue and a reversal of run or shoot to the left of the abbreviations for No and Good.

17a Essentially rice behind turnip, say, covering starter of beef jerky? (7)
ROBOTIC: The middle two letters (essentially) of rICe follow a type of vegetable of which a turnip is an example, into which is inserted the initial letter of Beef.

19a Bob, off to steal first of booty, I’m sure (2,5)
NO DOUBT: Follow a 3-letter synonym of bob (he’s not a person!) with an adverb which could mean off into which is inserted the initial letter of Booty. I know at least one of our contributors will love this song as much as I do.

21a Sewn border is found between edges of cape-like garment (7)
CHEMISE: Insert the sewn edge of a piece of cloth plus IS from the clue into the outer letters of Cape-likE.

22a Picture second contest (5)
MOVIE: An informal word for second in the sense of time and a synonym of fight or struggle

24a Flag enclosed, opened by relative (7)
PENNANT: Insert (opened by) an informal name for a female relative into a synonym of closed in the sense of confined or repressed.

27a Rose to fix screws — strapping issue, say? (3-6)
SIX-FOOTER: Anagram (screws) of the preceding three words. The issue here is in the sense of a son perhaps.

28a Arboreal mammal in eighth hole? (5)
SLOTH: A hole (for coins perhaps) is followed by the eighth letter of the alphabet.

29a Initially noting information, nerds extremely square (4)
NINE: The first letters (initially) of the following four words.

30a Man with wrinkle in pants, step forward (10)
BRIDGEHEAD: Took me a while to see exactly how this works. It’s an insertion of a wrinkle or a crease plus a third person male pronoun into into a synonym of pants in the sense of rubbish. Good clue!

Down

1d Social clout (4)
BASH: Double definition, the less obvious an informal word for a social event.

2d Justice, perhaps, lawgiver and scoundrel served up to save time (5,4)
TAROT CARD: Justice here is a definition by example (perhaps). We need to reverse (served up) an Ancient Greek lawgiver into which is inserted the abbreviation for Time and a 3-letter scoundrel. Apparently the word draconian is derived from the lawgiver.

3d Revel in being miles ahead during Grand Prix, say? (3,2)
LAP UP: A Grand Prix is usually a race of several circuits of a track. If you are one circuit ahead you could be described as this.

4d Less than a tad drunk by wino, thin grog (7)
NOTHING: Hidden in the clue as indicated by “drunk by”.

5d Sender of invoice, perhaps, for horse (7)
CHARGER: This horse could whimsically be described as someone sending a bill for services rendered or goods supplied.

7d Spleen, say, in newspaper? (5)
ORGAN: A pretty straightforward double definition I think, the newspaper usually being one that promotes a political cause.

8d Winger found contract in pamphlet (10)
FLYCATCHER: An insertion of synonym of contract as a verb in the sense one might a disease into a short pamphlet.

11d Low being low, not entirely high (7)
IGNOBLE: Anagram (high) of BEING plus LO(w).

14d Working inside narrow part of vessel, a boy builder (10)
STONEMASON: Insert a 2-letter synonym of working into a narrow part of a vessel or plant and append A from the clue and a male child.

16d Mineral: barrel I lifted awaiting delivery (2,5)
IN UTERO: Start with a 3-letter mineral, add a 3-letter barrel and I from the clue and reverse (lifted in a down clue) the lot. The delivery may occur in a maternity ward.

18d End of August in theory worked out — as this? (6-3)
THIRTY ONE: Anagram (worked out) of final letter of AugusT plus IN THEORY.

20d Bartender: one sampling wine, for example, round front of pub (7)
TAPSTER: Insert the initial letter of Pub into someone who samples wine (or any other food or drink)

21d Focused, coin placed on roulette choice (7)
CENTRED: An (American) coin and a colour on a roulette wheel.

23d Fierce woman, old lover turning up in Bordeaux? (5)
VIXEN: An insertion of a reversal (turning up) of our usual 2-letter former lover in a French word for something of which Bordeaux is an example.

25d Path where remains carried by porter (5)
AISLE: I think this is a loose synonym of remains or dwells inside (carried by) a drink of which porter is an example.

26d Country cousin originally duped (4)
CHAD: The first letter of Cousin and a verb that could mean cheated or duped.

Thanks Dada, I’ve chosen 13&30a plus 18d as my medal winners. Which ones were on your podium?