Sunday Toughie 77 (Review)

Sunday Toughie No 77 by Zandio

Review by Sloop John Bee

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This puzzle was published on the 16th of July 2023

Across

1a Fed up with toast, in absence of right energy food (4,6)
BLUE CHEESE; Start with a colourful synonym of fed up or BLUE, then what you might say when raising a glass to toast (without the r for right) CHEE(r)S and add E for energy


6a Roughly what’s said by drunk trendy (4)
CHIC; One of several roughly’s Circa abbreviated to C, and the involuntary noise made when drunk HIC gives us a trendy or CHIC

9a Common outlaws pinching energy fooid (5,5)
GREEN BEANS; The common land of villages or small settlements GREEN, outlaws or prohibits BANS around E for energy again for some more food

10a Sticky stuff covering small ruler (4)
TSAR; Sticky stuff used on roads or roofs TAR around S for small give us a Russian ruler or TSAR

12a Second agency’s rejected ornate work (6)
MOSAIC; A brief second of time MO, followed by the plural of the American Central Intelligence Agency reversed CIA’S (rejected) to be an ornate piece of tiling

13a Ladies of Nashville? (8)
BATHROOM; How women of Nashville, Tennessee (or elsewhere in the US) refer to the place of relief we call the Ladies. Both BATHROOM and WASHROOM fitted the checkers and Zandio came to the blog to apologise for the inadvertent mistake and allowed either answer to be correct

15a Embedded with techno IT, cello certainly echoed one’s memory (12)
RECOLLECTION; A lurker (embedded with) and reversed too (echoed) in three words in the clue

18a Notes from ladies of Nashville? (7,5)
COUNTRY MUSIC; Notes on a stave… or Music in the style performed in Nashville


21a Dull poem maybe written by a date (8)
WORKADAY; A poem or other “piece” of art WORK, A from the clue and any date of the seven we use each week DAY, lead to something dull, prosaic or unpoetical WORKADAY

22a Kindle missing lead, notice it has electronic connecting (6)
IGNITE; A notice or SIGN missing the head S, IT from the clue and E for electronic (s) IGN IT E or kindle a flame

24a One knight retreats, yielding flag (4)
IRIS; The letter that looks like one, and the reversal (retreats) of the title bestowed on a Knight of the realm SIR, leads us to the Yellow Flag IRIS pictured below

25a Underwater activity, dodging about in delta (4,6)
SKIN DIVING; Dodging school, work or other toil SKIVING, about IN from the clue and the letter that delta suggests D. The underwater activity taking place without wetsuits or other diving equipment

26a Mobsters maybe backing horse with grand (4)
GANG; A horse or NAG is reversed (backing) GAN, plus G for grand

27a Find baker’s processed energy food slicer (5,5)
BREAD KNIFE; An anagram (processed) of FIND BAKER, and an abbreviation E for energy again, – ours has been repaired so many times but it still cleaves the loaf

Down

1d Feature in steamy mag I bought promoted this? (6)
BIGAMY; An all-in-one reverse lurker (feature in…promoted), A magazine that is steamy (or seamy) enough to promote the having of more than one husband or wife at once

2d Nervous complex? (6)
UNEASY; An un-complex double definition

3d Intimate do coming up, if no cuddling time (12)
CONFIDENTIAL; To do or trick CON, a reversal of if FI, and a firm no that is not just a river in Egypt DENIAL, cuddling T for time

4d Garden study shown online? (4)
EDEN; A prefix for online material such as E-mail and a study or DEN give us the original Garden of EDEN

5d Delivery boss ordered sultanas with current packaging? On the contrary (5,5)
SANTA CLAUS;  An anagram (ordered) of SULTANAS with an alternating current or AC, on the contrary allows us to reverse the “packaging” so SULTANAS packages AC

7d Remarkable, that guy’s rise in command (8)
HISTORIC; A possessive belonging to that guy HIS, a rise found on Dartmoor, Derbyshire and Glastonbury amongst others TOR, and an abbreviation for in command IC, something remarkable or HISTORIC

8d Formality from McEnroe sadly variable (8)
CEREMONY; An anagram (from… sadly) of MCENROE and a Variable Y

11d Outrage in Portugal, in busting thousands showing gay colour? (8,4)
SHOCKING PINK; An outrage SHOCK, both in’s from the clue IN IN, the IVR code for Portugal P, and two different abbreviations of thousand G and K, SHOCK the first IN, the first thousand G, P for Portugal, the second IN and the second thousand K give us the gay colour SHOCKING PINK

Hi-fi buffs covet these turntables named after the symbol that homosexuals were obliged to wear in the outrageous Holocaust Death camps

14d ‘Spy involved in developing Korean resistance’ — Observer (4,6)
NOSY PARKER; A sneaky observer who is an anagram (involved in developing) SPY KOREAN and R for Resistance

16d Bully in bandage with a dirty look (8)
SCOWLING; Has Zandio mis-gendered this bovine? I suppose the y allows him to be bull”ish”
Zandio hasn’t misgendered a bull, but bully as a verb means to COW into submission, inserted into a bandage or SLING we have the dirty look SCOWLING


17d One takes in a tot daily (8)
GUARDIAN; A double definition, one being someone who stands in loco-parentis for a child or tot, and a daily rival to the Telegraph

19d Bishop, king and knight, each with one or two pieces? (6)
BIKINI; The chess notation for a Bishop, King and Knight, B K N each with the letter that looks like one give us a two-piece swimsuit or BIKINI

20d Opposed to chicken product, that is me (6)
VEGGIE; An abbreviation of Versus V (being the letter between opposing sides in a sporting contest), the product of a chicken EGG and the Latin abbreviation for Id Est (or that is) IE. I guess Zandio is telling us he doesn’t eat meat all the energy foods in this clue would seem to agree (1a, 9a, and 27a)

23d Old American term for motorist’s abbreviated (4)
INCA; An old Central American is a shortened (abbreviated) term for a motorist in a vehicle IN CA(r)

That’s All Folks!