Toughie 3266

Toughie No 3266 by Stick Insect
Hints and Tips by crypticsue
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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty **/*** – Enjoyment ***

Stick Insect provides our Wednesday Toughie where the parsing of a couple of clues took longer than they ought to have done and is the reason for the award of an extra half a star to the difficulty rating

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Across

1a Unreadable code found in deniable engineering (14)
INDECIPHERABLE A secret code is found in an anagram (engineering) of DENIABLE (although it must be said that the solver is only ‘engineering’ the first half of that word)

9a Better adviser dumps half of rubbish in public (7)
TIPSTER Dumps and the second half of rubbish carelessly dropped in a public place

10a Tense putt played around international golf hard (7)
UPTIGHT An anagram (played) of PUTT goes around the abbreviation for International, the letter represented by Golf in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet and the abbreviation for Hard

11a Start turning right, like when joining motorway (4)
GERM A reversal (turning) of the abbreviations for Right and for example (like) followed by the abbreviation for Motorway

12a Independent trade commission essentially provoke laughter – 50 per cent off is impractical (10)
IDEALISTIC The abbreviation for Independent, a trade, the ‘essential’ letters of commISsion and the first half (50% off) of a verb meaning to provoke laughter

14a Recycles puzzles book left out (6)
REUSES Some puzzles without (left out) the abbreviation for Book

15a Sign up rashly to enclose space for birds (8)
PENGUINS An anagram (rashly) of SIGN UP encloses a printer’s word for a space the width of a letter n

17a Ornament rather frames Kipling poem (8)
PRETTIFY An adverb meaning rather ‘frames’ the title of a poem by Kipling

18a Mystery Magazine republished, dismissing literary ends (6)
ENIGMA An anagram (republished) of MAGazINE without (dismissing) the letters at each end of the alphabet

21a Belt actor losing head going after Oscar in atmospheric part (5,5)
OZONE LAYER One of the belts into which the surface of the Earth is divided and an actor without the first letter (losing head) go after the letter represented by Oscar in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

22a Selection of best yeast for swelling (4)
STYE Found in a selection of the third and fourth words of the clue

24a Benevolent socialist family (7)
KINDRED Benevolent and an informal term for a socialist

25a Evening club in Guildford’s opening (7)
IRONING A type of golf club, IN (from the clue) and the opening to Guildford

26a Dog some Europeans in group (6,8)
GERMAN SHEPHERD Some Europeans, fashionable or well up with current trends and a collective noun for a group of animals

Down

1d In time, bore whole number (7)
INTEGER IN (from the clue), the abbreviation for Time and an alternative spelling for a bore or sudden rise of the tide in a river

2d Area of airport idle after change to customs? (9,6)
DEPARTURE LOUNGE Idle or sit about goes after a change of purpose or activity

3d Corby emptied, accepting appeal leads to Birmingham perhaps (4)
CITY The outside letters (emptied) of CorbY ‘accepting’ [sexual] appeal

4d Staff taken in by wages in satire (6)
PARODY A long piece of wood (staff) ‘taken in’ by wages

5d Bird recently died, behaved like a parrot (8)
EMULATED A type of bird, a synonym for recently, and the abbreviation for Died

6d Biting a cord, hospital department follows (10)
ASTRINGENT A (from the clue) a type of cord and an abbreviated hospital department

7d Immediate exit for Labour? It may shock some! (9,6)
LIGHTNING STRIKE A cryptic definition of a walkout by workers or something that can cause a nasty shock

8d Fixes jams (6)
STICKS Fixes with adhesive or jams in the sense of becoming wedged

13d Pen, beginning to drip upon odd instrument (10)
KETTLEDRUM Pen or confine a group of protesters in a small area, the beginning to Drip and a synonym for odd

16d Occasionally sick fellow involves a bit of nursing (3,3,2)
OFF AND ON Sick or out of condition and a university fellow, between which (involves) is inserted A (from the clue) and the first ‘bit’ of Nursing

17d Puts down aims of Republicans, perhaps “make America over” (6)
PLONKS Change the A (America) in the principles or aims that form the programme of a political party such as (perhaps) the Republicans to the cricket abbreviation for Over

19d Gave end away, as the lead in Hamlet did? (7)
AVENGED An anagram (away) of GAVE END

20d Peak of success when cycling, with belief to come first (6)
ZENITH Cycle HIT and put it after (belief to come first) a branch of Buddhism (belief)

23d Surround body of water to the north (4)
LOOP A reversal (to the north) of a body of water