Toughie 639

Toughie No 639 by Beam

Hints and tips by Big Dave

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

Beam, aka Ray T, is one of the setters whose puzzles I always look forward to solving. This one was about the same difficulty as some of his back-page puzzles, but enjoyable nonetheless.

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Across

1a    Swift race? (12)
{LILLIPUTIANS} – a cryptic definition of one of the races in Dean Jonathan Swift’s novel Gulliver’s Travels – the required capitalisation of Swift is concealed by placing it first in the clue!

9a    Ness attack trailing Untouchables’ last patsy (9)
{SCAPEGOAT} – a ness or headland is followed by a phrasal verb meaning to attack (2,2) and preceded by the final (last( letter of UntouchableS to get a patsy

10a    Pass endlessly speedy animal (5)
{OKAPI} – a word meaning to pass (2) is followed by an adjective meaning speedy without its initial and final letters (endlessly) to get a Central African animal related to the giraffe

11a    Genesis songs played in public first (6)
{OUTSET} – to get this genesis or origin put the list of items performed at a concert after a word meaning in public – here the capitalisation conceals the fact that this has nothing to do with the group Genesis

12a    Time one’s in team without back put on (8)
{TELEVISE} – start with T(ime) and then put I’S (one’s) inside most of (without back) a football or cricket team to get a word meaning to put on or broadcast

13a    Catch teammate returned missing run (6)
{ENTRAP} – this word meaning to catch or snare is created by reversing a teammate without the final R(un)

15a    Harrow used for crop, perhaps (8)
{DISTRESS} – this verb meaning to harrow or upset could, perhaps, mean to crop the hair

18a    Grand companion, a dog with change of heart (8)
{PALATIAL} – a word meaning grand or splendid is derived from a companion, A from the clue and finally a verb meaning to dog with the middle letters swapped (change of heart)

19a    Insect, female, not finished eating insect (6)
{MANTIS} – this insect, famous because the female of the species bites off the male’s head during mating, is derived from an unmarried female without her final letter (not finished) around (eating) a different insect

21a    Back Eurovision’s first Scandinavians covering Queen song (8)
{SERENADE} – reverse the initial letter (first) of Eurovision and some Scandinavians around (covering) Elizabeth Regina (Queen) to get a song traditionally played under a lady’s window by a suitor – one of Beam’s “signature” clues!

23a    Dam fool freak! (6)
{WEIRDO} – a charade of a dam and a verb meaning to fool or cheat gives this freak

26a    Chose to get drunk putting work first (5)
{OPTED} – this verb meaning chose or selected is created by putting the drunk from How I Met Your Mother after a musical work – I’m not entirely happy with this explanation: let me know if you can do better by taking a word meaning drunk or imbibed and moving the musical work to the front – thanks to Gazza (by email) and Franco for that one

27a    Fantastic person finished basking in reflected glory? (9)
{NARCISSUS} – a cryptic definition of the beautiful youth from Greek Mythology who rejected the nymph Echo and fell in love with his own reflection in a pool

28a    To reign terribly following Victorian old ancestor (12)
{PRIMOGENITOR} – an anagram (terribly) of TO REIGN follows Victorian or prudish and O(ld) to get an ancestor, especially the earliest ancestor of a people

Down

1d    In retrospect, Kate Moss illuminated, keeping svelte (7)
{LISSOME} – hidden (in) and reversed (retrospect) inside the clue is an adjective meaning svelte or lithe

2d    Flea, half fit, jumped (5)
{LEAPT} – a charade of the middle half of fLEa and a word meaning fit or suitable gives a word meaning jumped

3d    Vulgar crease, top to bottom say, on worker (9)
{INELEGANT} – this word meaning vulgar is derived from a crease, after moving the initial letter (top in a down clue) to the end (bottom) followed by the abbreviation of the Latin say/for example and finally a worker insect

4d    Following bend on river, source of Nile (4)
{UPON} – a word meaning following or over is a charade of a bend in a drain-trap, an Italian river and the initial letter (source) of Nile

5d    Dauntless popular detective with fresh upset (8)
{INTREPID} – this word meaning dauntless comes from a word meaning popular (2) followed by a detective and a word meaning fresh or impudent, both reversed

6d    Snare duck held by beak (5)
{NOOSE} – this snare comes from O (duck in cricket) inside a beak or snout

7d    Provided in ‘Hair’, first topless show (8)
{MANIFEST} – put a two-letter word meaning provided or “on condition that” inside the long hair on the back of the neck of a horse or lion then add (I)ST (first without the initial letter / topless) to get a word meaning to show or exhibit

8d    Some people taking plunge? (6)
{DIVERS} – this word meaning some or various is also people taking plunge

14d    Endure rubbish English taking part right to end (8)
{TOLERATE} – this verb meaning to endure or put up with is built up from a word meaning rubbish or junk followed by E(nglish) and then a part in a play is inserted (taking) after moving the initial R(ight) to the end

16d    McKellen perhaps, after Hamlet’s end, went mad (9)
{TRAGEDIAN} – start with the first name of the actor McKellen and put it after the final letter (end) of HamleT and a verb meaning went mad – the definition is an actor in a play like Hamlet

17d    Praise addict initially almost insensible from narcotic (8)
{LAUDANUM} – a charade of to praise, the initial letter of Addict and almost all of a word meaning insensible gives this opium-based narcotic

18d    Father on Sabbath reading holy books up (6)
{PASTOR} – the whole of this all-in-one clue defines the answer – to get there start with a shortened form of father, then S(abbath) and finaaly reverse (up) R (reading as in the three Rs) and a collection of holy books in the bible

20d    Godfather from Sopranos broadcast, not American (7)
{SPONSOR} – this godfather or patron is an anagram (broadcast) of SOPR(A)NOS without the A (not American)

22d    Stood up pinching girl’s bottom (5)
{NADIR} – take a word meaning stood, as in stood in an election, reverse it (up) and then insert (pinching) a shortened form of a girl’s name to get a word meaning the bottom or lowest point

24d    Others without answer took test again (5)
{RESAT} – put a word meaning the others around (without) A(nswer) to get a verb meaning took the test again

25d    Killjoy is intermittently sporting (4)
{PRIG} – this killjoy comes from the even letters (intermittently) of the final word in the clue

No silly phrases, no unfriendly grid, no yodaspeak – what a difference a week makes in Toughieland!