Toughie 1160

Toughie No 1160 by Warbler

She was afraid to come out of the locker!

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

A lovely Toughie from the equally lovely Warbler. 6 down / 11 across had me puzzling and was my last one in, as well as my favourite.

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Across

1a    Before objection fire old music maker (7)
{SACKBUT} – an objection preceded by a verb meaning to fire or dismiss

5a    In Marseilles fish soup is not cooked without using tarragon initially (7)
{POISSON} – the French (In Marseilles) for a fish is an anagram (cooked) of SO(U)P IS NO(T) without the initial letters of Using Tarragon

9a    Sun digging into things like this leads to wild insinuations Telegraph has to challenge (5,6,4)
{CROSS SWORDS WITH} – S(un) inside the puzzles of which you are currently looking at an example and followed by the initial letters of (leads to) four words in the clue

10a    I play classical  game (4)
{LUDO} – two definitions – the Latin for I play and a board game

11a    See 6 down

12a    Display of British power (4)
{POMP} – an Australian word for the British followed by P(ower)

15a    Crude swear-word sounded harshly loud (7)
{RAUCOUS} – sounds like an adjective meaning crude followed by a swear-word

16a    Superficial knowledge of second affair (7)
{SMATTER} – S9econd) followed by an affair

17a    Knight blocking a women’s campaign’s dead embarrassing (7)
{AWKWARD} – K(night) inside the A from the clue, W(omen), a military campaign and D(ead)

19a    Hides away in narrow empty tunnels (7)
{CLOSETS} – a verb meaning to narrow or lessen followed by TunnelS without its inner letters (empty)

21a    Pace of left-winger? (4)
{TROT} – two definitions – a pace between walking and running and a person with extreme left-wing views

22a    Take top off after paunch is reduced with exercising (5)
{UNCAP} – an anagram (with exercising) of most of (reduced) PAUNC(H)

23a    Name? Hilary for one (4)
{TERM} – two definitions – a name or title and period of time of which Hilary is an example, along with Michaelmas and trinity

26a    Farce as animated pics lack modesty (9,6)
{SLAPSTICK COMEDY} – an anagram (animated) of PICS LACK MODESTY

27a    They’re exposed as Greek character is beset by trembling fit (7)
{NUDISTS} – a Greek character followed by IS inside a trembling fit brought on by imbibing too much alcohol

28a    Told about former dynasty’s leader (7)
{RELATED} – a two-letter word meaning about followed by an adjective meaning former, usually used for someone who died recently, and the initial letter (leader) of Dynasty

Down

1d    Lay in a fish to be served up and eaten by sister (7)
{SECULAR} – this adjective meaning lay or temporal is derived by inserting the A from the clue and another name for the pike inside (eaten by) the abbreviation for S(iste)R

2d    Impossible dream in which brash intruder’s captured by tribe and died (5-6-4)
{CLOUD-CUCKOO-LAND} – an adjective meaning brash and a bird that intrudes into the nest of another inside (captured by) a tribe and followed by D(ied)

3d    Low  standard (4)
{BASE} – two definitions

4d    Dwellers in Stowe perhaps? (7)
{TOWNIES} – a semi all-in-one clue which is an anagram (perhaps) of IN STOWE – dwellers could suffice as the definition, but it reads better as a semi all-in-one

5d    Stirrups needing adjustment with only one right for fastidious types (7)
{PURISTS} – an anagram (needing adjustment) of STIR(R)UPS with only one of the R(ight)s

6d & 11a    Little description in a Sixties musical costume drama? (4-5)
{ITSY-BITSY} – the description of a swimming costume in a hit song from the sixties about the drama of wearing said costume

ARVE Error: need id and provider

7d    Vital transport that took Lawrence aboard? (4,2,3,6)
{SHIP OF THE DESERT} – a cryptic definition of the informal phrase for the form of transport used by Lawrence of Arabia

8d    Poor, poor Henry loses track. He doesn’t stand a chance (2-5)
{NO-HOPER} – an anagram (poor) of POOR HEN(RY) without (loses) the RY (railway / track)

13d    Interpretation of 14 is fishy (5)
{MORAY} – an anagram (interpretation) of the answer to 14 down gives a type of fish

14d    Johnson, say, manipulated 13 (5)
{MAYOR} – the position held by, say, Boris Johnson is an anagram (manipulated) of 13 across – an interesting pair of related clues which border on being indirect anagrams

17d    Technician‘s right one needed in upcoming space agency (7)
{ARTISAN} – R(igh)T and I (one) inside the reversal of the US space agency

18d    These couples dine and ski with abandon (7)
{DINKIES} – the childless couples can afford to dine and ski – they are an anagram (abandon) of DINE SKI

19d    Joke by the Queen? That’s exceptional (7)
{CRACKER} – a joke followed by the Queen’s regnal cipher

20d    Arranged some day to get a dog (7)
{SAMOYED} – an anagram (arranged) of SOME DAY

24d    Man’s aims regularly the same (2,2)
{AS IS} – the even letters (regularly) of the first two words in the clue

25d    Trifle for dessert (4)
{FOOL} – two definitions – a verb and a noun

Along with Micawber and Kcit last Wednesday / Thursday, all three of this week’s Toughie setters were at last Saturday’s Listener Dinner.