Sunday Toughie No 74 by Zandio
Review by Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 25th of June 2023
Across
1a Bit of bridge that’s stretchy (6)
RUBBER; Part of the cardgame Bridge, rather than a span
4a An author’s attributes (8)
ASCRIBES; A for an and what authors do, Ascribes attributes, imputes or assigns to
10a Consider odds for duo’s win maybe ten to one — blast! (9)
COUNTDOWN; A synonym of consider COUNT, and odd letters of DuO‘s WiN in the clue
Zandio has only given you ten but I’ll give you 30 seconds to find the answer, here’s a timer
11a Twenty per cent disheartened about lake pollution (5)
FILTH; Twenty percent as a fraction FIFTH, swaps the F at its heart with L for lake
12a Finger sandwiches reverted to whatever’s available (3,4)
POTLUCK; To finger the strings on a musical instrument PLUCK, sandwiches a reversal of TO
13a Series of letters from subscriber I answered in Spanish? (7)
IBERIAN; A lurker (Series of letters from)
14a Times invested in electronic skill from the East particularly (5)
EXTRA; A reversal (from the east) in an across clue of a skill ART. follows an abbreviation of electronic E, and the letter that signifies the mathematical Times X. a particularly superior commodity
15a Queen’s piercing version of ‘Imagine’ — headache! (8)
MIGRAINE; A latin abbreviation for a Queen Regina become R pierces an anagram of imagine to give us a severe headache
18a Change a bit of English fruitcake, sent back after superior starter (4-4)
FINE-TUNE; To alter slightly, E for English and a slightly mad fruitcake NUT, are reversed after another superior or FINE commodity
20a Stand, taking weight off heel (5)
EASEL; A heel or WEASEL loses W for weight
23a Lack of water in diet — that is becoming unhealthy (7)
DROUGHT; Swap the Latin Id Est from diet with an unsmooth or ROUGH feeling of being unhealthy
25a People boarding, tricksters giving a tenth of the amount upfront (7)
LODGERS; Tricksters or DODGERS swaps their first (upfront) Roman numeral D = 500 for another L = 50 a tenth of the amount
26a Duck seen kissing rook — did swallow talk? (5)
ORATE; The letter that looks like the score indicated by duck O, the letter that designates a rook at chess R, and did swallow or ATE
27a Host of castle whose outside is inside (9)
INNKEEPER; The outside of a castle or KEEP, is in a synonym of inside INNER
28a Very French, getting beat in invasion (8)
TRESPASS; The French word for very TRES, and to beat or PASS in a race
29a Swears about missing a highlight (6)
STRESS; Swears or declares positively ASSERTS, is reversed and loses an initial letter to STRESS, highlight or emphasise
Down
1d Went over and put a new top on (8)
RECAPPED; Summarised a story or put another lid on a biro perhaps
2d ‘Raunchy tango leads to sex,’ one tweets (4,3)
BLUE TIT; Raunchy or BLUE, T for tango and informal sex or IT
3d Company promote robot ultimately to replace Charlie (9)
ENTOURAGE; To promote or ENCOURAGE swaps C for Charlie with the ultimate letter of roboT, to be a company or ENTOURAGE of players perhaps
5d Evil ruler believing in fear (7,7)
SINKING FEELING; An evil or SIN, a monarch KING, and a sense of believing FEELING. The sinking feeling when you are in fear
6d It’s loud, used in anger? (5)
RIFLE; A musical loud Forte or F is used in a synonym of anger RILE. A rifle is loud and may be used in anger
7d Reckoning no one will turn over large amount (7)
BILLION; A reversal of NO and the letter that looks like 1, and another abbreviation of William as a name
8d Statuesque woman takes drive, welcoming husband with kiss (6)
SPHINX; A jaunt in a car or bike SPIN welcomes H for husband and the letter you use for a kiss on romantic correspondence X. Sphinx A statuesque head of a woman and the body of a lioness
9d There could be no tsunami here in America! (5,9)
ROCKY MOUNTAINS; This area in America is at an altitude where no tsunami can reach, it is also an anagram of no tsunami that follows the anagram indicator absent from the clue. I must try and remember what Gazza said that this is a reverse anagram
16d Cheers up, inserting old penny in gents, twice getting change (9)
AMENDMENT; A short thank you or Cheers is reversed (up) TA becomes AT, and contains two gents or MEN, and a pre-decimal penny D, follow the instructions and assemble the Lego to have a change or AMENDMENT
17d Unusual arrangements to cure loss? (8)
CLOSURES; An anagram of CURE LOSS, I can’t see a separate definition so it may be an all-in-one/&lit What happens to businesses if losses persist
19d Primitive era of heavy metal … (4,3)
IRON AGE; The primitive era when we first learned how to smelt the heavy metal iron
21d … metal with energy where piano’s drowned, building up to a high point (7)
STEEPLE; Another metal STEEL contains a musical P for piano. The pic I included as a bonus hint was actually Chesterfield Cathedral with its distinctive twisted Spire which although a steeple is of slight variance in that Spires are obliged to taper to a point The Steeple can take other forms as long as it is a high point above the main edifice
22d Expert sampled chapati or Danish rolls (6)
ADROIT; A reverse lurker indicated by sampled – rolls hidden in the rest of the clue
24d Walk ended with heavens opening (3,2)
GEE UP; We want a synonym of Heavens as an expression of surprise GEE, and a synonym of ended or over UP, the whole being what you may say to a horse to make it walk on
That’s All Folks!