Toughie 3710

Toughie No 3710 by Donnybrook

Hints and Tips by crypticsue

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

An enjoyable themed Donnybrook  proper Wednesday Toughie where it probably helped if, like me, you knew the required ‘stuff’

Please let us know what you thought

Across

9a           Piping insulated by copper covering in India (5)
DHOTI An adjective meaning very hot inserted into (insulated by) an abbreviated Detective Inspector (copper)

10a         16 Across writer is with bestial crowd outside court (9)
ISHERWOOD IS (from the clue) and a crowd of beasts, the latter going outside a verb meaning to try to win the affection of (court)

11a         Pain as the German misses problem with train (7)
AILMENT The German definite article ‘misses’ or is removed from a train that has gone off the rails

12a         As we may deduce, capital keeps leading man in order (1,6)
A PRIORI The majority of my Latin knowledge comes from crosswords and this is a term that appears quite regularly.  Capital or first-class ‘keeps’ the head of a religious order

13a         Dance record slows in the middle (5)
DISCO A gramophone record and the middle letter of slOws

14a         Doctor Stone stores a Cremona for Brecht say (9)
DRAMATIST The abbreviations for doctor and stone between which (stores) the name of a superior violin or stringed instrument made in the Italian city of Cremona

16a         Novel of virtue corrected lie by Brontë (7,2,6)
GOODBYE TO BERLIN An adjective meaning virtuous and an anagram (corrected) of LIE BY BRONTE

19a         Boozer in Britain fuddled with ecstasy twice … (9)
INEBRIATE An anagram (fuddled) of BRITAIN with two lots of the abbreviation for Ecstasy

21a         … died a dissolute man: Mr Gadwall? (5)
DRAKE I did know what a gadwall is and even if you don’t the wordplay is very clear.  The abbreviation for Died and a dissolute man

23a         Whip caresses nude in film 16 Across inspired (7)
CABARET A type of whip ‘caresses’ or goes round a synonym for nude

25a         Villain being one for hero, friend to Caesar, J? (7)
ANTONYM The name of a friend of Julius Caesar written in the same way as “Caesar. J” in the clue

27a         Clubs with high quality white earthenware (9)
IRONSTONE Types of golf clubs with a generally high quality or style

28a/2d   Belly was so developed around large 16 Across character (5,6)
SALLY BOWLES An anagram (developed) of BELLY WAS SO into which is inserted the abbreviation for Large

Down

1d           Contributed short retrospective for literary collection (4)
EDDA A Scandinavian collection of ancient mythological and heroic songs, stories and poems, well known to regular solvers of the Quick Crossword.  Truncate a synonym for contributed and then reverse it (retrospective)

2d           See 28 Across

3d           Setter has dessert with dram brought round plane (4-6)
DIVE-BOMBER How our setter would say he has a type of dessert inserted into (brought round) the abbreviation for dram

4d           Short time after ditching university, daughter gets rich (6)
MINTED A short period of time without (after ditching) the abbreviation for University and the abbreviation for Daughter

5d           Where Bowie died, before noon, in a hotel that rocks (3,5)
THE ALAMO The abbreviation for the part of the day before noon inserted into an anagram (that rocks) of A HOTEL

6d           Southern brother seen in Burberry occasionally (4)
BRER The odd letters (occasionally) of BuRbErRy

7d           Settler – one swimming in German city, did you say? (8)
COLONIAL Homophones (did you say) of a German city and a type of fish (one swimming)

8d           Permission to enter a social event: need hand to gain access? (10)
ADMITTANCE A (from the clue) and a social event into which is inserted (to gain access) a slang word for the hand

13d         Big cod is out, no starter, cooked a treat (3,7)
DOG BISCUIT An anagram (cooked) of BIG COD IS oUT – no starter telling you to omit the O in out

15d         Raconteur terribly constipated with pressure lacking (10)
ANECDOTIST An anagram (terribly) of CONSTIpATED without (lacking) the symbol for Pressure

17d         What some airlines do with surplus volume? (8)
OVERBOOK Surplus or excess and a synonym for a volume

18d         Lover dropped lawsuit for blackmail perhaps (8)
EXACTION A former lover (dropped) and a lawsuit

20d         Title accepted by the Spanish Crown Protector? (6)
ENAMEL A title ‘accepted’ by the Spanish definite article

22d         Poet‘s Italian flower lady occasionally plucked (6)
ARNOLD An Italian river (flower) and the odd (occasionally) letters of LaDy (sadly the repetition radar bleeped at the second use of ‘occasionally’ to indicate odd letters)

24d         Queen Cleopatra’s executioner to bow and scrape (4)
RASP The Latin abbreviation for Queen and the reptile that killed Cleopatra.  The ‘bow’ is a reference to the fact that this word can be used in connection with playing a fiddle

26d         Yucatán native is permitted to answer (4)
MAYA As all mothers have been known to say “yes you can but xxx you?” and the abbreviation for Answer