Sunday Toughie No 170 by proXimal
Review by Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 27th of April 2025
Across
1a Cereal tart comes apart according to Spooner (4,6)
BRAN FLAKES: A type of tart FLAN, and to come apart BREAKS, is treated to be a type of breakfast cereal that is full of fibre
6a Sanction lab tests in prime locations (4)
ABET: 1 is no longer considered to be prime; A prime number is a whole number with exactly two factors: one and itself. The number one has only one factor and a prime number must have precisely two factors. Only having one factor is why one is not a prime number. A synonym of to sanction can therefore be found in prime locations (2,3,5,7) of lAB tEsTs.
9a Shake off alien with short run outside (3,4)
GET OVER: A synonym of to run the country GOVERN, is shortened G-OVER, it goes outside our usual film alien ET
10a Trainee is bad smell source, reportedly (7)
RECRUIT: A homophone (reportedly) of a bad smell of Scots and N English origin REEK, and a source, cause, basis, foundation or occasion of anything ROOT. REEK ROOT becomes RECRUIT
12a Parisian you introduced to knight, queen and king said to be worrying people (7,6)
NERVOUS WRECKS: Some major Lego™ here, start with the chess notation for a knight N, then our late queens regnal cipher ER, introduce how a formal Parisian may say you VOUS, and finally a homophone (said) of a Latin King REX becomes WRECKS
14a Dull chapter precedes resounding conclusion to story (6)
CLOUDY: The abbreviation of chapter C, a synonym of resounding LOUD, and the conclusion to story Y
15a Gold only gathered in middle of Somali tombs (8)
MAUSOLEA: The chemical symbol of gold AU and a synonym of only SOLE, are gathered in the middle letters of Somali M – A
17a Name of female special constable trained without fancy concepts (8)
ISABELLA: An anagram (trained) of special constable but only after another anagram (fancy) of concepts has been removed SPEC IAL CON S T ABLE leaves IALSABLE The fodder for the female name ISABELLA
19a Maybe lament from one wanting tanning stick (6)
IMPALE: Split (2,4) or more pedantically (1’1, 4) I’M PALE this could be a lament that one lacked a tan. To stick or IMPALE
22a Declaims, with scorn, about recent “masterpiece” (6,7)
MODERN CLASSIC: An anagram (about) of DECLAIMS and SCORN
24a Rubbish around front of cottage that man had burnt (7)
TORCHED: Take some rubbish ROT, and turn it around TOR, then the front of cottage C, and finally a contraction of that man had HED
25a Around four gold mines completely stripped rock-forming mineral (7)
OLIVINE: Strip the outer letters from gold mines OL INE, and put what you have left around a Roman four IV
26a Seashore bar originally outrageous project (4)
CAST: To project an anglers lure out to sea by removing the original letter of outrageous from the seashore
27a Keeps covering yard with field plants (10)
HYDRANGEAS: A synonym of keeps HAS, contains an abbreviation of yard YD, and a field or speciality RANGE
Down
1d Animated creature annoys insects (4)
BUGS: A triple definition (if you include the 1998 Disney Pixar animation A BUGS life, you get an ant that is useful for the next clue, but proXimal was probably thinking of the animated rabbit Bugs Bunny)
2d Worker on current Taylor Swift tour accommodates old boy with actor (7,8)
ANTONIO BANDERAS: More Lego™ here, start with the worker (that was the subject of the film above)ANT, add ON from the clue, the physics abbreviation of current I, the abbreviation of old boy OB, a synonym of with AND, finish with the title of the title of the recent Taylor Swift tour ERAS
3d Frenzied US agent arresting continually (7)
FEVERED: An abbreviation of an American agent that works across state borders FED, arrests a synonym of continually EVER
4d Cooler song playing after number one in charts (6)
AIRCON: A song or tune AIR, the number one in charts C, and a synonym of playing bring this abbreviated cooler
5d Tense amid raising certain vessel of ancient civilisation (8)
ETRUSCAN: The abbreviation of tense T, is a reversal (rising) of certain SURE becomes E(T)RUS, and a vessel CAN. Someone or thing from an ancient state in Italy north of the Tiber
7d Arrest in depressed Black Sea area reduced type of offences (4-6,5)
BLUE-COLLAR CRIME: A synonym of depressed or sad BLUE, an informal term for arrest COLLAR, and a disputed area of The Black Sea CRIMEa, that has been reduced by one letter. Offences committed by manual workers
8d Corrupt state is out to get renegade priest (5,5)
TITUS OATES: That this is an anagram (corrupt) of STATE IS OUT, is reasonably clear. Whether the renegade priest is within your ken is another matter
11d Fright to cycle causing concerns (5)
CARES: To frighten or SCARE, cycles its first letter to the end CARES
13d Separatist is to replace English in plan (10)
SCHISMATIC: A (9) letter synonym of plan SCHEMATIC, swaps E for English with IS from the clue for someone who favours a breach in unity of a church or similar organisation
16d Los Angeles detectives engaged in work calmly (8)
PLACIDLY: To work ones trade PLY, contains the abbreviation of Los Angeles LA and some British detectives CID
18d Ground near the harbours (5)
EARTH: A lurker (harbours) Hidden between definition and (indicator)
20d Neglect when leader’s abandoned job (7)
MISSION: A synonym of neglect OMISSION, when it loses its leading letter becomes a job or MISSION
21d Oddly knew this hard task might be unworkable (6)
LABOUR: Our second compound anagram. The hard task can be found in an anagram of U NW OR K ABL E when an anagram (oddly) of KNEW has been removed
23d Kid heard river (4)
TEES: A homophone (heard) of to kid. To TEASE becomes the river TEES
Compiler
proXimal
That’s all Folks…