Toughie 3512

Toughie  No 3512 by Elgar

Hints and Tips by crypticsue

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BD Rating – Toughie Difficulty ****/***** – Enjoyment *****

A fine Friday Toughie from Elgar – not quite as much brain-mangling as usual and I enjoyed both the solving and the preparing of the review

Please let us know what you thought

Across

1a           Mr Simpson’s favourite plum pudding (4)
DUFF Homer Simpson’s favourite beer or a boiled plum pudding

3a           Broadcaster’s ironic, not ready for old people (5)
RHINO An archaic slang name for money – a homophone (broadcaster’s) of ironic and an adjective meaning not any

6a           Expert presented with fine clock (4)
FACE The abbreviation for fine and an expert

8a           Jockey can do turn here or nearby (6,3,6)
AROUND THE CORNER An anagram (jockey) of CAN DO TURN HERE OR

9a           Newly sent off techniques for cooking savoury food (6)
QUICHE An anagram (for cooking) of teCHnIQUEs without the letters SENT (newly telling you that they aren’t in that order)

10a         Singer making a single exception has got the knack (8)
BARITONE  A single exception into which is inserted a two-letter word meaning the knack

11a         Warehouse property taken back inside cycling shelter (8)
ENTREPOT ‘Cycle’ the first letter of a canvas shelter to the end of the word and then insert an informal word meaning property taken back

13a         Was staggering about, controlled by MDMA? (6)
REELED About or on the subject of, and a synonym for controlled into which is inserted the letter used to indicate another name for the drug MDMA

15a         Wise old man unveiling a supermarket? (6)
NESTOR A Greek hero at Troy  remarkable for eloquence, wisdom, and long life – unveil or remove the outside letters from an individual shop (supermarket?)

17a         Cat spat on men on Saturday (8)
TOMORROW A male cat and a quarrel (spat), the latter going on or after the abbreviation for Other Ranks of soldiers (men)

19a         For a period in gym perhaps rotation occupies writer (8)
TROLLOPE TO (for a period) and an abbreviation for school games (gym perhaps) into which is inserted a rotation

21a         Bean counter “unnerving”? Just a bit (6)
RUNNER Hidden in just a bit of counteR UNNERving

22a         Feeling less good, admitting crisis during working out? (6-9)
NUMBER-CRUNCHING  Feeling less and the abbreviation for Good ‘admitting) an informal name for a crisis and a preposition meaning during

23a         Live Ring omits overture from its new composer (4)
BERG Live or exist and RinG omitting the ‘overtures’ from Its and New

24a         Small and perfectly formed carnivore (5)
STOAT The abbreviation for Small and an expression meaning perfectly formed (2,1,1)

25a         Squeezes tangerine? Extract thereof (4)
ZEST Hidden in (an extract of) squeeZES Tangerine

Down

1d           Is this entertainer quasi-gender fluid? (4,5)
DRAG QUEEN The solution and IS (from the clue) make an anagram (fluid) of QUASI GENDER

2d           Supplier of bouquets primate wrapped in pink paper (7)
FLORIST A small primate ‘wrapped’ in the informal way we refer to the ‘pink’ newspaper

3d           To begin with, dieticians go in about a vegetable (3,6)
RED PEPPER The first letter (to begin with) of Dieticians inserted between the usual about, on the subject of, an informal word for energy (go) and a preposition meaning for each, a

4d           People start to heal rifts after some time (7)
INHABIT The ‘start’ to Heal splits (rifts) an informal way of saying after some time

5d           Maybe Stretch Limo Man appearing after November? (5)
OSCAR A stretch limo could be described as an oversize type of vehicle.  The man’s name is used to represent the letter appearing after November in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

6d           Pull out in this layette? (5,4)
FIRST GEAR What you’d select before pulling you car out or a description of the clothes worn by a new baby

7d           Inside of church tends to purify (7)
CLEANSE Inclines (tends) inserted into the abbreviation for the Church of England

12d         Jangler, the military newspaper named by Spooner? (9)
RATTLEBAG What the dreaded Reverend might call a newspaper for the military

13d         What was epitomised by vocals of Stipe, Tempo’s top artist (9)
REMBRANDT The trademark of the band (3,5) whose lead singer was Michael Stipe followed by the first letter (top) of Tempo

14d         Direct to the SE? (9)
DOWNRIGHT If you look at a map of England, splitting the solution 4,5 would describe the position of the South East

16d         Like beef Wellington about to be consumed along the way (2,5)
EN CROUTE A cookery term meaning wrapped in pastry and baked (like a Beef Wellington) without (to be consumed) the abbreviation meaning about

17d         Part of regalia specifically attached to old instrument (7)
THEORBO A specific part of the royal regalia (3,3) attached to the abbreviation for Old

18d         Not fully occupying a position on energy scale (7)
RANKINE Almost all of a word meaning occupying a position and the symbol for Energy – an absolute scale of temperature on which the units are the same as those on the Fahrenheit scale

20d         What lorry’s loaded with is upholstery material (5)
ORRIS The inside letters of lORRy (what its loaded with) and IS (from the clue).  Having said ‘surely that’s a root?’ I consulted the BRB and discovered that the solution can also be a kind of gold or silver lace used by upholsterers  in the 18^th century as a binding material