Toughie 556

Toughie No 556 by Notabilis

Hints and tips by Gazza

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

Today we have another really good puzzle from Notabilis – it’s turning out to be a fine Toughie week so far. It’s no mean feat to provide a challenging and entertaining puzzle without needing to resort to a single obscure word or phrase. Let’s have your views in a comment.

Across Clues

6a  Rat’s special hurtful article laid into old city (5,3,5)
{SPILL THE BEANS} – this is an idiomatic phrase meaning to divulge information, i.e. to be an informer and rat on one’s colleagues. Start with an abbreviation for special, add an adjective meaning hurtful and finish by laying an indefinite article inside an ancient city (you can take your pick between old cities with this name in Egypt and Greece).

8a  Means to turn right in panic (6)
{LATHER} – an informal word for the sort of panic that you may get into is made from a machine for turning followed by R(ight).

9a  Military Cross received by hard-line, versatile unit? (4,4)
{STEM CELL} – this is part of an organism which can develop into specialised units and eventually be used to build different bodily organs. Put the abbreviation for Military Cross inside an adjective used to mean hard, then finish with L(ine).

10a  English fleet wanting shelter for amphibian (3)
{EFT} – wanting here is being used in the sense of missing, so miss out a word for shelter from E(nglish) FLEET to leave a junior newt.

11a  Carefully protect soft sound amid racket (6)
{COCOON} – put a soft sound (that of a dove, perhaps) inside another word for racket or scam.

12a  Escape as soon as knight enters lodge (8)
{ENSCONCE} – we want a verb meaning to lodge or settle. Start with an abbreviation for escape (as used on a keyboard) and add a conjunction meaning as soon as. Finally insert the chess notation for knight.

14a  Length must overcome any resistance in bolt cutter (7)
{SCALPEL} – start with an informal verb to bolt or flee, then replace (overcome) both (indicated by any in the clue) occurrences of R(esistance) with L(ength) to end up with something used to cut.

16a  Sweet and flowing in poetic source (7)
{FONDANT} – put an anagram (flowing) of AND inside a word used in poetry to mean source or origin.

20a  Keeping hospital place, a conscious person who was protected from fire (8)
{ABEDNEGO} – this is the name of one of the men delivered from the fiery furnace in the Old Testament. Put the unit used to define the size of a hospital inside an indefinite article and the word used in psychoanalysis to describe the conscious or thinking part of an individual.

23a  Nut right next to heart of a tree (6)
{ANORAK} – start with an indefinite article and a type of tree and put R(ight) next to the tree’s middle letter to make an obsessive person (nut).

24a  Company focused on stock performance (3)
{REP} – the abbreviation for a company with a stock of artistic works to perform.

25a  Everything lacking variation, perhaps lacking depth (8)
{UNIVERSE} – start with a word which doesn’t actually exist (hence the “perhaps”) but which, if it did, would mean lacking variation. Now remove the D(epth) to leave the whole of existence (everything).

26a  Stone left in place in the end (6)
{LASTLY} – insert the abbreviation for stone (i.e. 14 lbs) and L(eft) inside a verb meaning to place.

27a  Tory chatter on changes with conflicting effect? (2,3,8)
{TO THE CONTRARY} – an anagram (changes) of TORY CHATTER ON.

Down Clues

1d  One unused to early retirement? (5,3)
{NIGHT OWL} – retirement here means going to bed.

2d  Historic city boundary encloses nobleman briefly (8)
{FLORENCE} – put a boundary around a nobleman without his final D (briefly) to make an historic Italian city.

3d  Bring down constant speed (7)
{CHASTEN} – a verb meaning to subdue or humble (bring down) is the constant standing for the speed of light followed by a verb to speed.

4d  Crosses border somewhat to the north, to keep occupying (6)
{OBSESS} – a verb meaning to occupy someone’s thoughts continually is hidden (somewhat) and reversed (to the north, in a down clue).

5d  Almost graceless old wrangler (6)
{GAUCHO} – remove the final E (almost) from an adjective meaning clumsy or graceless and add O(ld) to make a South American cowboy or wrangler.

6d  Society who can’t abide wavering opposition leaders (6,7)
{SHADOW CABINET} – start with S(ociety) and follow this with an anagram (wavering) of WHO CAN’T ABIDE to make the collective name for the opposition leaders. How many of those pictured can you name? Could you do much better with the other lot?

7d  Most of deposition I transfer legally covers everything for electronics area (7,6)
{SILICON VALLEY} – this is the name given to an area in California where many of today’s household names in electronics started out and which is now used as a shorthand term for America’s high-tech companies. Start with all but the final T of a word meaning a sedimentary deposit, then add I and a verb meaning to transfer the title of something (a house, for example) with a synonym for everything inside.

13d  Rattan pruned in bog (3)
{CAN} – remove the final E (pruned) from a type of walking-stick or punishment implement (rattan) to leave a slang American word for something for which we may use the slang word bog (not to be confused with blog!).

15d  What’s oddly missed in quip taken the wrong way? (3)
{PUN} – this is a semi-all-in-one. Remove the odd letters of IN QUIP then reverse (taken the wrong way) what you have left.

17d  Nothing to lie in, dozing maybe achieved without effort (2,1,5)
{ON A PLATE} – this is a description of something that’s handed to you without your having to do any work for it (achieved without effort). Start with O (nothing) and follow with a phrase (3,4) which could mean to sleep on past your get-up time (lie in, dozing).

18d  Miserable, sad and moody way the world ends? (8)
{DOOMSDAY} – an anagram (miserable) of SAD and MOODY.

19d  Lack of interest in economic expansion is possible indication of overdraft (7)
{BOREDOM} – inside an economic expansion there’s the colour associated with an overdraft.

21d  Apply to undo suffrage? (6)
{DEVOTE} – a verb meaning to dedicate or apply oneself totally could also (with a question mark) mean to remove the right to participate in the democratic process.

22d  European arrives to tour New England in rewarding venture (6)
{EARNER} – a nice little rewarding venture is built from E(uropean) and the abbreviation for arrives (as seen on a train timetable) around the abbreviation for New England.

The clues I liked today included 14a, 13d and 17d but my favourite was 15d. Let us know what you liked in a comment.