Toughie 1525

Toughie No 1525 by Kcit

Hints and tips by crypticsue

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BD Rating – Difficulty ** – Enjoyment ***

As is traditional, Gazza kindly offered me the chance to do an on the day Toughie review while I am on my Christmas/New Year break from work.   This time the email inviting me to do so came with the ‘rule’ that I had to decide before the setter’s name went up on the website.   After checking the list to see who might be  due to make an appearance in the middle of the paper, I said ‘yes please’ and so here I am with my thoughts on this Kcit Toughie.

The crossword didn’t take long to solve and my only hold up was deciding whether my explanation of 1d was what our setter intended.   All my test solving of cryptic crosswords has definitely made me more conscious of the spread  of clue types in each crossword I solve – did anyone else notice that there are ten clues requiring you to remove a letter (in most cases, an initial letter) in order to obtain their solutions??

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

7a           Detained party, I fancy, may appear here (8,6)
IDENTITY PARADE   An anagram (fancy) of DETAINED PARTY I.

9a           Something added about house — something added about house sport — identifies contributor to match (10)
PHOSPHORUS   Insert the abbreviation for house (about house) into something added to a letter, for example, then repeat the process just as the clue does, but this time include the abbreviation for a particular sport, to produce a chemical used in the manufacture of match heads.

11a         One from South America and one North, going to Central America (4)
INCA   The letter that looks like a number one followed by the abbreviations for North and Central America.

12a         Metal point not finished (3)
TIN   Almost all of (not finished) a point on a fork.

13a         Drug carried by town river with treatment to get through cold period (10)
OVERWINTER   Insert the abbreviation for Ecstasy (drug carried) into an anagram (with treatment) of TOWN RIVER.

16a         Contralto mostly abandoned indication on score (4)
CLEF   Another ‘almost all’ clue –   follow the abbreviation for Contralto with the first three letters (mostly)  of a synonym for abandoned.

17a         Look for comfort — recoil of weapon’s broken leg (7)
SNUGGLE   A reversal (recoil) of a weapon’s and an anagram (broken) of LEG.

18a         Best friend consuming a lot of time in pursuit of love (7)
OPTIMAL   The letter used to indicate love (nothing) is followed by an informal friend into which is inserted (consuming) ‘a lot’ of TIMe (from the clue).

20a         Poor farmer — ready for business, but nothing’s shifting (4)
PEON A poor farmer from Spanish speaking America is obtained by moving the O (nothing’s shifting) in a way of saying ready for business.

21a         Platter? Her diet’s wrecked after short space (6,4)
ENTREE DISH    An anagram (wrecked) of HER DIETS goes after the shorter of the two spaces used by printers.

23a         Briefly near abandoning literary style? I am surprised (3)
GEE  An informal interjection expressing surprise is obtained by removing the abbreviation (briefly) for near from a literary style.

24a         Pointedly ignore note included in membership renewal? (4)
SNUB   The abbreviation for note included in a membership fee (renewal?)

25a         Shed light on state in which one finds boy and girl in Dickens (6,4)
LITTLE NELL   A shorter way of saying ‘shed light on’ and a verb meaning to state, the latter having a boy’s name inserted.

28a         Pouring in addition will involve new rainwear (10,4)
WELLINGTON BOOT   A verb meaning pouring and an expression meaning in addition into which is inserted (involving) the abbreviation for new.  The ones in the illustration are the ‘originals’ which can be seen at Walmer Castle here in Kent.

Down

1d           Quits, as it were — really meaning it? (4,1,9)
WITH A VENGEANCE  Before people adopted the American way of using quit to mean resign, quits always (as it were) meant (and still does to me) got even with someone, which is one meaning of the solution in addition to ‘really meaning it’.

2d           Inclines to dismiss a visual aid (4)
LENS   Remove the A (dismiss a) from another way of saying inclines.

3d           Long arrangement of rope? Not hard (4)
ITCH   Remove the H for hard from a type of knot where one rope is connected with another (arrangement of rope).

4d           Repeat: ‘I support imprisoning renegade’ (7)
ITERATE     I (from the clue) and a golfing “support” imprisoning a renegade.

5d           One with job on line receiving hard address (10)
APOSTROPHE   A (one), a job and a line or twist of stout fibre, the latter receiving H (hard).   Thank you to the BRB for explaining that this address is a sudden turning away from the ordinary course of a speech to address some person present or absent.

6d           Part of chain restraining one, angry? Not initially a good idea (10)
BRAINCHILD   This part of a chain is a subsidiary shop, office etc, and you need to insert an I (restraining one), the result then followed with a word for angry with its initial letter removed.

8d           See our debacle in dissolution — about time for this? (6,8)
DECREE ABSOLUTE The first part of the clue cryptically describes the final stages of a divorce –   an anagram (in dissolution) of SEE OUR DEBACLE into which is inserted (about) T for time.

10d         Relieved expression, avoiding hot seat (3)
PEW   Remove the H (avoiding Hot) from an interjection of relief.

14d         Scrap with fashionable fool about British film (6,4)
RAGING BULL   A scrap of material, a shorter way of saying fashionable and an easily duped person (fool) into which is inserted B (about British).

15d         Invoicing without first including pound charge leads to resentment (3,7)
ILL FEELING   Yet another ‘take a letter off’ clue –   remove the first letter from another way of saying invoicing, then insert an L (£) and a charge.

19d         Cheers up, insulated by knowing to ignore a piece of legislation (7)
STATUTE    A reversal (up in a Down clue) of an informal way of saying thank you (cheers) is inserted into an adjective meaning knowing, shrewd or perceptive, once you have (yet again) removed the A at the front (ignore a).

22d         Detective seeing nothing different when turning up? (3)
EYE   This informal term for a detective is, as indicated by the wordplay, a palindrome

26d         No initiation of flash connection (4)
LINK   Remove the first letter (no initiation of) from a flash.

27d         Shelter not getting approval? (4)
NOOK   And a chestnut to finish –   split the solution 2,2 and the ‘not getting approval’ becomes clear.

 

Gnomethang assures me that he will be doing both his scheduled reviews this week which means that I can (fairly confidently) say that this should  be my last review of 2015. I’d like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year, with the hope thatwe all get what we wish for  in 2016.