Sunday Toughie 50 (Review)

 Sunday Toughie No 50 by proXimal

Review by Sloop John Bee

+ – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – + – +

This puzzle was published on the 8th of January 2023

 

Across

 

1a Contest jam being very thin (10)
MATCHSTICK: A sporting contest MATCH, and to jam two things together STICK. I prefer my fries chunky, with fluffy insides and crispy outsides but each to his own.

6a Crow and rook trapped by net (4)
BRAG: To net or BAG contains the chess notation for a Rook R. To Crow or BRAG.

10a Don’t go out leaving ultimately comfy spot (5)
STAIN: To not go out or STAY IN, loses the ultimate letter of comfY, to become or spot or stain on the sofa from so much laziness.

11a Clear system of alliances rejecting old great (9)
UNINSTALL: The alliances of workers that are currently striking loses the o for old UNIONS and adds a synonym of great in height TALL. To uninstall programs from a computer system.

12a Really top spies caught by pirate (5,5,3)
KNOCK SPOTS OFF: A phrase meaning to really top or beat handsomely comes from a pirate good that is a poor imitation of the real thing KNOCK OFF, around a synonym of spies SPOTS.

14a Greeting disheartened banking recruit (8)
HIRELING: If you are banking on something you would be RELYING, disheartened removes the Y at the heart and it follows a greeting or HI to be a new recruit or HIRELING.

16a After cycling, well liking crusty dish (6)
GRATIN: The kind of liking that Amazon would like us to do with all online purchases however trivial RATING, “cycles” the G to the front to be GRATIN, a dish with a crusty cheese topping.

18a Drink gallons with no toilet around (6)
OOLONG: G for gallons, NO from the clue and a toilet or LOO are reversed to be a drink of OOLONG tea, Oolong is a traditional semi-oxidized Chinese tea produced through a process including withering the plant under strong sun and oxidation before curling and twisting. Most oolong teas, especially those of fine quality, involve unique tea plant cultivars that are exclusively used for particular varieties.

20a Mighty relic abandoned by priest in weakness (8)
FORCIBLE: Remove the Hebrew priest from R(ELI)C and put it a weakness or penchant. FOIBLE. to be forcible or mighty.

22a Criticisms from countries following fraud of French male (13)
CONDEMNATIONS: A synonym of fraud CON, how a French person would say of DE, The abbreviation for Monsieur, M, followed  by countries or NATIONS. “by country we mean a sovereign state that’s a member of the UN in it’s own right” © R. Osman – Pointless

26a Check covering over copy recording (9)
AUDIOTAPE: A check on the financial records of a business AUDIT covers a cricketty over O, followed by an informal copy or imitation TAPE, to become a means of sound recording AUDIOTAPE.

27a A bad back is not gone (5)
ALIVE: A from the clue and a reversal of something bad or EVIL. ALIVE someone who has not yet crossed the Rubicon.

28a Small spaces not good for drains (4)
SAPS: S for small then some spaces or GAPS without the G for good.

29a Condiment made from ten bananas dropped in supplementary fluid (5,5)
MAPLE SYRUP: A couple of anagram indicators here (bananas, fluid) should lead us to removing the letters of TEN from SUPPLEM(ENT)ARY word and anagrammatise what remains for a condiment that Canadians such as Senf and Falcon may be more familiar with.

Down

1d Header seen across such post would be ‘Top Teacher’ (4)
MAST: The header of a newspaper in the typographical form in which it normally appears is also the top 4 letters of a male teacher. I mislead you (and myself) but if HEAD ER is put around the post from which sails or flags are flown MAST, you would get HEAD-MAST-ER a senior or top teacher in a school.

2d Person following vehicle reversing clipped kerb (7)
TRACKER: A vehicle or CART is reversed TRAC, followed by a KERb that has its last letter clipped off.

3d Celebration close house holds (3,2)
HEN DO: An abbreviation for House HO, contains (holds) to close or END, to be the celebration of a bride’s impending marriage.

4d American working on roads brought up brief with leader (8)
TRUCKING: I am not sure we really need the Americanism indicator here, This synonym of working on the roads has been common parlance here since at least 1981 when a rather rude song by the Not the Nine O’Clock News Comedy Troupe was released. Take a discourteously brief response CURT and reverse it (brought up) TRUC, and append a male leader of a monarchy KING.

5d African native beset by speech impediment (5)
CHIMP: A lurker hidden in the final two words.

7d Again take up study, quietly immersed in books (7)
READOPT: To study or READ, followed by the Old Testament into which a P for a musical instruction to play quietly is immersed. to READOPT or take up again.

8d Elderly female imprisoned by redhead literary villain (10)
GOLDFINGER: OLD for elderly, and F for Female are imprisoned inside a GINGER redhead. I can think of another Ginger literary villain this week but The Bond villain Auric Goldfinger is the one we seek

9d Secret totally exposed: best hotel price (8)
ESOTERIC: This secret adjective is found when the first and last letters (totally exposed) are removed from each word of the rest of the clue.

13d Fun thing to cut odds for gamble in America (5,5)
SHOOT CRAPS: A fun thing or hilarious performance HOOT, cuts into some odds and ends or SCRAPS.

15d Bats all at once scratching a legendary hero (8)
LANCELOT: AN anagram of ALL AT ONCE after one of the A’s is removed (scratching) gives us a legendary hero of King Arthur’s Round Table.

17d Erect bar for all to see north of concrete city (8)
MONTREAL: To erect or get on top of MOUNT loses the film classification “for all to see” U and adds a synonym of concrete REAL for our second Canadianism, the city of MONTREAL.

19d Organised turned over dessert English love (5,2)
LINED UP: An informal dessert PUD E for English, and the tennis score that love suggests NIL are reversed (turned over) to be organised or LINED UP.

21d Garment ruined, that is end of sweater (7)
BUSTIER: Financially ruined or BUST, a Latin that is Id Est or I.E. , and the last letter of sweater R, become a somewhat more revealing garment.

23d Only eagle regularly seen over a horned beast (5)
NYALA: Alternate letters (regularly seen) of the first two words go over A from the clue to be the horned beast a NYALA a spiral-horned antelope native to southern Africa.

24d Stones from ring blow over (5)
OPALS: The letter that looks like a ring O, and the reversal (over) of a blow or SLAP

25d Sound from young bird beginning to appear (4)
PEEP: A nice little all-in-one or maybe just a double definition to finish, the sound a young bird may make is also to appear over the horizon perhaps.