Toughie 1297

Toughie No 1297 by Elgar

One small step for Elgar …

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

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

…one giant leap in satisfaction for those of us who like to find a proper Toughie in the middle of the paper.

Solving time would indicate a difficulty rating of about 4.5* but if there was such a thing as a blogging difficulty rating, then that would have scored at least 6* as there are four clues that took an awful lot of muttering and head-scratching before the pennies dropped.  I know there’ll be muttering from the usual suspects, but I really enjoyed myself, and not just because I get to use one of my favourite pictures!

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

8a           Dual identity assumed by poor actor’s prompter (5,4)
IDIOT CARD  An anagram (poor) of ACTOR inserted into two lots (dual identity) of the abbreviation for identity.

10a         Infantryman rolling up full of ‘lubrication’ (5)
POILU  An informal term for a French WWI infantryman is obtained by inserting some lubrication into a reversal (rolling) of UP.

11a         Departs NW Key, like this wordplay: part above the canal (10,5)
DESCENDING COLON    The abbreviation for Departs, the key found at the very  top left of your keyboard (NW Key)  and how you might describe the finish of  ‘this wordplay:’ produces part of the body’s  alimentary canal.  Interestingly, the second word of the solution is a port found just above the entrance to the Panama Canal!

12a         Unceasingly the Barbarian performed out of church (2,3,2)
ON AND ON   Remove the abbreviation for the Church of England from the front of the name of a famous Barbarian and the end of part of  a verb meaning performed .

13a         Writer’s last moving poem is about part-timer (4-3)
SEMI-PRO   An anagram (moving) of POEM IS  plus an R (writeR’s last).

15a         Part of exercise plotting changes (2,3,7-3)
IN THE MELTING-POT   A preposition meaning in (part of) and an exercise on a particular subject, followed by  an anagram (changes) of PLOTTING.

19a         It flies round the edge (7)
LAPWING  A bird (it flies)  – a round of a racetrack and an edge of something.

22a         Basically having a tip cut from number one read on energy (4-3)
PEEP-TOE   Another euphemism for urination (number one) an instruction to turn over a page (read on) and the abbreviation for energy.

24a         Why let them in too? Cast of actors continue in dressing room (2,4,3,6)
ON WITH THE MOTLEY   An anagram (cast) of WHY LET THEM IN TOO  – the phrase relates to a type of dress put on by actors preparing for a performance.

26a         It’s locked in by the gates to the upper floor (5)
ETAGE  Hidden and reversed (to the upper)  in thE GATEs is a French word for a floor of a building.

27a         Fine organisation in 1^st Avenue building ditch, not peculiar (5,2-2)
FUNNY HA-HA   The abbreviation for Fine, the abbreviation (4)  for  the address of an international organisation having its American offices at 405 1^st Avenue, New York, and a type of ditch used in landscaping to create a barrier without disturbing the view.

Down
1, 12d & 24d  Firm blood-line in doubt? I’ve bad news for you (4,2,3,4)
BIRD OF ILL OMEN   An anagram (in doubt) of FIRM BLOOD LINE.

2d           Go to someone’s falling-off the-wagon party? (6)
ATTEND  –   Split 1, 2, 3, this solution might mean one was celebrating  no longer being teetotal.

3d           Sorry for one ‘Giovanni’ entering state of equality with Elgar (6,2)
PARDON ME   A state of equality (quite often used in golf scores), an example (for one) of a  famous ‘Giovanni’ and how Elgar would refer to himself.

4d           Pop in to line up desirable young man (6)
ADONIS   A reversal (to line up) of an American word for fizzy drink (pop) with IN from the clue inserted.

5d           Aldrin, say, launching ‘BUZZ’ (sic)? (8)
SPACEMAN  Buzz  Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon  is an example (say) of this.   ‘BUZZ’  (sic) is his nickNAME  [in] CAPS and reversing (launching) this gives us the  solution.   The real-life astronaut’s nickname was, of course, used for the name of the  character in the famous animated film series.

6d           One’s other half’s reported boost (6)
FILLIP    A lovely homophone clue (reported)  – how the Queen might refer to her husband (One’s other half!)

7, 14 & 25 When old and new collide, these people are sadly next to go (4, 2,3,4)
TURN OF THE YEAR  How you might say someone was next to go, followed by the pronoun meaning ‘those people’ and an anagram (sadly) of ARE.

9d           Second fiddle varying bars (7)
INSTANT    The clue I stared at for the longest because the solution was obvious but how did the wordplay work?   Looking up ‘varying’ in the thesaurus, all became clear.   If you bar an informal word for a fiddle or swindle from another word for varying, you are left with a short period of time (second).

12 See 1
14 See 7

16d         St Paul, perhaps, given mauling by reptiles (8)
EPISTLER    An anagram (giving mauling by) of REPTILES.

17d         Swimmer cramming OU course not worth a great deal (8)
TUPPENNY   Insert into a type of fish  a  degree course involving three different disciplines, usually associated with Oxford University (the OU in the clue).

18d         Rice dish in which one’s found shard of turkey bone (7)
PATELLA     A Spanish rice dish with the initial letter (shard of) Turkey inserted.

20d         ‘I like that pub!’ (Wife takes part in row) (6)
PHWOAR  The abbreviation for pub found on Ordnance Survey maps, the abbreviation for Wife, and  a noun referring to someone who takes part in rowing a boat.

21d         Escape for one up-and-coming gentleman (3,3)
GET OFF –   A reversal (up and coming) of the abbreviation meaning for example (for one) and an informal term for a gentleman.

23d         Perhaps Peter Pan s growing up … good heavens, no! (6)
EPONYM   The name of something derived from a character in it (such as the book  Peter Pan)  –   a reversal of an interjection meaning ‘good heavens’ and an  emphatic informal way of saying no!

24 See 1
25 See 7

Before I stagger back to the easier-to-explain world of the day job, I just have time to thank Elgar for providing us with another great Toughie.     By the way,  I have another ‘favourite’ picture which would perfectly illustrate something to do with  ‘hide and seek’ ……..