Sunday Toughie 186 (Hints)

Sunday Toughie No 186

by Zandio

 

Hints and Tips by Sloop John Bee

 

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Almost forgot a pre-amble, An even 14a and 14d clues and I have hinted half. I hope you find the checkers to finish.

I will provide a bonus nudge if needed, not that I expect you will. This tripped off the laptop in a rather brisk fashion.

Here We Go…

As it is a Prize puzzle I can only hint at a few and hope that will give you the checkers and inspiration to go further. I’ll be back just after the closing date with the full blog. Don’t forget to follow BD’s instructions in RED at the bottom of the hints!

I hope I don’t have to redact any comments but I am not so new at this and don’t want to rock the boat. If in doubt, I’ll rub it out! I think that sentence is a bit redundant. You have all been so helpful in sorting out prior parsing failures, and I am sure I will need similar help again.

Most of the terms used in these hints are explained in the Glossary and examples are available by clicking on the entry under “See also” Where the hint describes a construct as “usual” this means that more help can be found in The Usual Suspects, which gives a number of the elements commonly used in the wordplay. Another useful page is Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing, which features words with meanings that are not always immediately obvious. Don’t forget the Mine of useful information that Big Dave and his son Richard so meticulously prepared for us.

A full review of this puzzle will be published after the closing date for submissions. Some hints follow: Remember the site rules and play nicely

Across

1a          Mini, well oiled (6)
A double definition to start, an informal small and slightly drunk.

11a       … 200 drawn in by our band’s happening (9)
Our from the clue and a band, contains two Roman hundreds.

12a       One whose partner’s rarely out of line, except when displaying scepticism, perhaps (7)
A rather nice cryptic definition of a facial feature that is usually in line with its partner, except when showing scepticism.

14a       Item, e.g. that’s not used in polite company (4-6,4)
Although we start with a definition by example (Item e.g.), others that share the same number of characters are vulgar words not to be used in polite company.

21a       Reminder of yours truly stuck with twin until following November (7)
Yours truly or a name I call myself, is repeated (with twin), the letter that the code word suggests and a preposition for until.

24a       There’s snow all over this crescent – can’t it spread around? (9)
A crescent-shaped part of a circle in an anagram (spread around) of CAN’T IT.

27a       Heavens teeming, almost as in a fable? (6)
An interjection of surprise for Heavens and most of a synonym of a teeming multitude.
Maybe as fabled as the prize for successful completion of the puzzle (according to Steve C)

 

Down

1d         Compromise type of jazz, with energy absent (5-3)
A type of jazz music, e for energy and absent or away.

2d         Sex Pistol getting comeuppance about fix, ending in complete infamy (9)
The forename of probably the most infamous member of the Sex Pistols, is reversed (getting comeuppance in a down clue), one of our usual abouts, to fix or place and the ending of complete.

5d         Five immigration agents parking before occupying US office? (4-10)
A Roman five, federal agents involved in immigration and customs enforcement, the letter that indicates parking and a noun for occupying. The current incumbent has just been holidaying in Scotland, playing golf exceptionally badly.

 

6d         Outfit offering the highest service (7)
Members of an outfit that provide service to passengers in flight.

16d       Some penned vitriolic ire to setter for flipping cryptic (8)
A lurker (some penned) that is reversed (for flipping) hidden between the (indicators).

18d       Time to be buried in joy, tearful at the end? (7)
An all-in-one &lit. A period of time buried between some joy and the end of tearful.

A classic but too obvious to not be under a spoiler.

22d       Engine’s lost oxygen repeatedly, regularly dropping in electronic gauge (5)
An engine loses both symbols for oxygen and replaces them with e for electronic.

 

Compiler

Zandio

 

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A band with a 20d (occasionally)

 

That’s All Folks…