Toughie 953

Toughie No 953 by Notabilis

The Master at work!

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

Notabilis is one of a handful of Toughie setters who consistently produce five-star puzzles.

Please leave a comment telling us what you thought. You can also add your assessment by selecting from one to five stars at the bottom of the post.

Across

1a    Breaking with courtesy, in France it’s a harsh regime (6,5)
{POLICE STATE} – inside (breaking) an adjective meaning with courtesy put the French for it’s/it is and the A from the clue

7a    Sweep often accompanies me, describing chimneys (5)
{SOOTY} – two definitions – Sweep’s glove-puppet friend and an adjective that describes chimneys

8a    Gold single mother keeps in vault (9)
{MAUSOLEUM} – the chemical symbol for gold and a four-letter word meaning single inside a three-letter word for mother

10a    Spray crumbs with common stuffing ingredient (7)
{CORSAGE} – a three-letter exclamation meaning crumbs! followed by a common ingredient, along with onion, of stuffing

11a    Commended about protecting island of those not expecting divine intervention (7)
{DEISTIC} – a verb meaning commended reversed (about) around (protecting) IS(land)

12a    Stage reportedly ‘owned’ by Ms Dunaway? (5)
{PHASE} – sounds like (reportedly) a word meaning belonging to Ms Dunaway

13a    One’s abstract expressionism’s beginning without detail (9)
{IMPRECISE} – the abbreviated form of one’s / “one is” in the first person followed by an abstract or summary and the initial letter (beginning) of Expressionism

16a    Change financial inspection, regularly substituting workers (9)
{AMENDMENT} – start with a financial inspection and replace each of the even letters (regularly substituting) with a three-letter word for workers

18a    Fur one wants on marine mammal (5)
{MINKE} – a popular fur is followed by (ON)E without the ON

19a    Matching kit is a triumph in review of international match (7)
{TWINSET} – a triumph or victory inside the reversal (review) of an international cricket or rugby match

22a    What gutter removes when crossing road behind pub (7)
{INNARDS} – a two-letter word meaning when around (crossing) R(oa)D preceded by a pub

23a    Cold wrought iron to reinforce stiff framework (9)
{CRINOLINE} – C(old) followed by an anagram (wrought) of IRON and a verb meaning to reinforce or strengthen gives a stiff framework worn to make a long skirt stand out

24a    Angel backing the vintage drama (5)
{HONEY} – reverse (backing) an old-fashioned form of “the” and a Japanese drama

25a    Cafe meal’s an unpalatable offence (11)
{MALFEASANCE} – an anagram (unpalatable) of CAFE MEAL’S AN

Down

1d    Make young corporal upset, worried about sappers (9)
{PROCREATE} – this verb meaning to produce offspring is derived from the reversal (upset) of CORP(oral) and a verb meaning worried or nagged around the Royal Engineers (sappers)

2d    Show segment uploaded from al-Jazeera by al-Jazeera (3,4)
{LAY BARE] – this phrasal verb meaning to show or disclose is hidden (segment … from) and reversed (uploaded) inside the clue

3d    British ruler voided community decoration policy (9)
{CYMBELINE} – CommunitY without its inner letters (voided) followed by a decoration or award and a policy or ideology

4d    Skip last couple of bits of pulpy, wet seafood (5)
{SQUID} – drop (skip) the final two letters (last couple of bits) from an adjective meaning wet and pulpy

5d    Sweat from generation spanning working lives (7)
{AGONISE} – a generation around a two-letter word meaning working and a verb meaning lives

6d    Master with hidden pawn to bring into play (5)
{EXERT} – a master or professional without (hidden) the chess notation for Pawn

7d    This can copy indiscriminately like a crawler (11)
{SYCOPHANTIC} – an anagram (indiscriminately) of THIS CAN COPY

9d    Moisture distribution shown by meteorological scales? (8,3)
{MACKEREL SKY} – a cryptic definition of a cloud formation that resembles the scales of a fish

14d    In double-bottomed baked goods, dilute concentrated substance (9)
{PITHINESS} – start with some baked goods, repeat the final letter (double-bottomed) and then insert a verb meaning to dilute

15d    Not being educated and not into acing first of exams somehow (9)
{IGNORANCE} – a word meaning “and not” inside an anagram (somehow) of ACING and the initial letter (first) of Exams

17d    Dissembled to cover military actions, lifting rifle (7)
{DESPOIL} – a verb meaning dissembled or cheated around (to cover) some military actions,all reversed (lifting)

18d    Bowman‘s list of options reduced suspicion (7)
{MENUHIN} – this famous bowman or violinist comes from a charade of a list of options followed by a suspicion without its final letter (reduced)

20d    In dialect, it’s one mode to start with (5)
{IDIOM} – the initial letters (to start with) of five words in the clue

21d    Bunk with a strong smell after time (5)
{TRIPE} – an adjective meaning with a strong smell, often applied to a cheese, follows T(ime)

Happy Easter to all our readers.