Sunday Toughie No 191 by Zandio
Review by
Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 21st September 2025
Across
1a Student laboratories in clear over little thing getting hit repeatedly (6,4)
TENNIS BALL: Our usual student L, the abbreviated laboratories they may study in LABS, IN from the clue and the clear profit made NET, are all reversed (over). L LABS IN NET becomes TENNIS BALL.
6a Five in the morning, softly one makes come-to-bed eyes? (4)
VAMP: A Roman five V, the time before noon AM, and a musical softly P.
10a Centre of Germany wreathed in fog (5)
MIDST: The IVR code for Germany D, is wreathed in a light fog MIST.
11a Head of Treasury to introduce redesigned cheque in system (9)
TECHNIQUE: The leading letter of Treasury T, and an anagram (redesigned) of CHEQUE IN. When was the last time you wrote a cheque?
12a Watch what waitress does when faced with job, wanting tip (7)
OBSERVE: What a waitress does SERVE, follows (J)OB without its tip.
13a Digital coverage – air intoxicating stuff for the audience (7)
TOENAIL: A couple of homophones here, the character of a sound or air TONE, and an intoxicating beverage ALE. They protect half of your digits TONE ALE becomes TOENAIL.
14a Moth-eaten clothes worn by former editor (3-9)
OLD-FASHIONED: A usual former OLD, and abbreviated editor ED, contains some clothes or FASHION.
18a Vision about happening in the Bible you record (14) (7-5)
SEVENTY-EIGHT: I wondered if the (14) in the puzzle was a boob, being the previous clue number, but it is an important part of the definition. Your vision SIGHT, involves a happening EVENT, and an archaic form of you used in the Bible YE. An old-fashioned record S(EVENT)(YE) IGHT
21a Premature getting stripped – liberated boob shown in paper? (7)
ERRATUM: An anagram (liberated) of what remains of p)REMATUR(e when stripped of its outer letters.
23a Harrow Times covering soldiers in two ways (7)
TORMENT: Two abbreviations of time T-T, go about two types of soldiers Other Ranks OR and MEN.
24a On paper, one may have an all-star substitute (5-4)
SWEAR-WORD: **** me! this was a clever &lit.
25a Ahead of match, refuse holder prizes won in this game (5)
BINGO: I struggled to find the synonym of match until I co-ordinated it with together GO; it follows a refuse holder BIN. The penny-drop moment was followed, in short order, by me shouting out the answer.
26a Flower grew (4)
ROSE: A double definition, where this time the flower is actually a flower instead of a river.
27a It appears self-evident – as we also see it in Amritsar (4,6)
CITY CENTRE: The metropolitan status of large places like Amritsar CITY, and AmrITsar itself both contain IT in the CENTRE.
Down
1d Repeatedly held up test for vehicle that makes a knocking sound (3-3)
TOM-TOM: Repeated tests for motor vehicles MOT-MOT, are reversed.
2d Nuts I’d set free? (6)
NUDIST: An anagram (set free) of NUTS I’D
3d Italian club jet, maybe try to secure a space? (14)
INTERPLANETARY: Lego™ time- An abbreviated Italian football club INTER Milan, a jet aircraft PLANE, and TRY from the clue, into which A has been secured.
4d One with wings spread put on speed (9)
BUTTERFLY: A spread put on toast BUTTER, and a synonym of speed FLY – BUTTERFLY a flower with wings.
5d Loaded originally with one ton in Rome – one ton is permissible (5)
LICIT: The original letter of loaded L, the letters that Romans use for one I, one hundred C, and the letter that looks like one I, and the abbreviation of a ton T. LICIT or permissible.
7d Make familiar sweet you should have after a cold (8)
ACQUAINT: A and an abbreviation of cold C, are followed by a synonym of sweet QUAINT.
8d Rule out hearing set by yours truly in advance? (8)
PRECLUDE: Yours truly is Zandio, a homophone of a phrase that indicates that Zandio had written parts of this crossword before filling the grid. PRE-CLUDE becomes PRECLUDE
9d EL BAR EHPICEDNI? That’s flipping well disguised (14)
INDECIPHERABLE: A very well disguised reversal (that’s flipping) I can’t call it a lurker as it is not concealed within a longer group of words. I did wonder if it was related to epicene – those who have their sexual characteristics disguised, but alas, no.
15d Cockney isn’t wearing smalls – diary oddly specified it’s an annual event (6,3)
SAINTS DAY: How a Cockney says isn’t AINT, wearing two S for smalls S(AINT)S, and odd letters of diary DAY.
16d Insurance official double-crosses salesman, raising a certain amount (8)
ASSESSOR: This is a reverse (raising) lurker (a certain amount) in double-cROSSES SAlesman. I think the hyphen is there to avoid double being an extraneous word in the fodder.
17d Foreign deliveries in batches, mostly straightforward (8)
OVERSEAS: A collection of several groups of six cricket deliveries OVERS, and most of a synonym of straightforward EAS(y).
19d Part of recipe, an utterly essential satay ingredient (6)
PEANUT: A straightforward lurker (part of) the following three words.
20d Moat he swims in (2,4)
AT HOME: An anagram (swims) of MOAT HE.
22d Legendary Red Ian Rush initially swapped for one down under (5)
MAORI: The legendary leader who led China to communism MAO, and a reversal (swapped) of the equally, if not more so, Legendary Ian Rush’s initials.
Compiler
Zandio
That’s All Folks…