Sunday Toughie 95 (Hints)

Sunday Toughie No 95

by Robyn

 

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

 

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Robyn has brought us a fine toughie today with a slightly unbalanced 16a and 13d clues and I have hinted halfish

I liked 14d as he fits into one of my four c’s (crosswords, coffee, cheese and cycling) I was fooled by his claims of innocence myself but still admire his chutzpah

I will take Mama Bee out for a scone and coffee but will return later if you need any extra nudges

Here we go…

As it is a Prize puzzle I can only hint at a few and hope that will give you the checkers and inspiration to go further. I’ll be back just after the closing date with the full blog. Don’t forget to follow BD’s instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!

I hope I don’t have to redact any comments but I am new at this and don’t want to rock the boat. If in doubt, I’ll rub it out! I think that sentence is a bit redundant. You have all been so helpful in sorting out prior parsing failures, and I am sure I will need similar help again.

Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also” Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious. Don’t forget the Mine of useful information that Big Dave and his son Richard so meticulously prepared for us.

A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions. Some hints follow: Remember the site rules and play nicely.

   

Across

1a American state? I’m not sure it’s the solution (6)
Start with one of the usual American abbreviations, then an abbreviation of a state in a different country and finish with a hesitant interjection and you have the solution

9a People like Diana having husband with a Parisian hairdo (10)
People like Diana the Goddess rather than Diana the Princess

12a Improve in French and in German I must be about right (6)
A French in and a German I about an abbreviation

15a Sinner has new lapse? It’s what’s expected, at the end of the day (8)
The original sinner and a new abbreviation, go before a lapse, when the serpent tempted her into eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil

18a Maybe he and I whizz round, hosted by sisters (8)
A definition by example – A whizz, so good at something he could earn a living, and the sisters in a religious order around the round letter

21a Teller of tales is trouble for the head in school (6)
An abbreviation for school around the follicular trouble that a nurse (usually called Nora in my day) sought

26a Lead university starts calling for all-round education (10)
Start with an abbreviation then a chemical symbol, then the noise that signifies you are calling someone

28a After polite refusal, Tranmere’s wingers write down the score (6)
An informal refusal and the winging letters of the football club write down a musical score perhaps

 

Down

2d Country bordered by Argentina/Uruguay (5)
A slightly obscure country lurks within (bordered by) the remainder of the clue

3d Person making Sally hot, weary-looking and taciturn (9)
Sally as a humourous remark or retort, an abbreviation and a synonym of weary-looking

6d Did that man look embarrassed, kitted out with rings? (8)
Split (3,2,3) it could be the question posed in the first five words of the clue – (8) would be kitted out with rings that help secure fastenings

8d Addition to sentence of criminal bagging loot, oddly, behind house (9)
A house connected to one other, followed by one of our usual criminals bags the odd letters of loot to indicate that the sentence continues ;

14d Violently force disgraced cyclist to cycle around (9)
A disgraced cyclist whose seven victories at the Tour de France have been struck from the records for doping “cycles” three letters of his surname

16d

24d Hemingway perhaps ignoring European artist (5)
Hemingway ignores his second E for European

           

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The 20d Band with a fine song

That’s All Folks…