Toughie 3114

Toughie No 3114 by Donnybrook

Hints and Tips by crypticsue

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

Another fun ‘start of the week’ Toughie from Donnybrook with some long anagrams and some splendid bits of wordplay in many of the clues

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Across

1a    Wearied old dons increased strain? (5)
BORED The abbreviation for Old dons (puts on, goes inside) part of a verb meaning to increase a strain of offspring

4a    At home, place for batter and mushroom (8)
INCREASE The ‘usual’ at home and the place on a cricket pitch where the batter stands

10a    Tyneside dining room seating one’s arch-rival? (7)
NEMESIS The abbreviated part of the country where Tyneside is found and a dining room (especially in the military) the latter ‘seating’ an abbreviated way of writing one’s

11a    Open about amount of work experience (7)
UNDERGO Unfasten or open goes about the CGS unit of work

12a    City in Asia backs political party, overcome with rage (10)
FAISALABAD An intense interest (rage) ‘overcomes’ a reversal (backs) of ASIA and an abbreviated political party

13a    Agile informer at last taken in by mole (4)
SPRY The last letter of informeR ‘taken in’ by a mole

15a    Martinet brings nothing round in aspirin dissolved with acid (14)
DISCIPLINARIAN An anagram (dissolved) of ASPIRIN and ACID into which is inserted a reversal (round) of a synonym for nothing

17a    Water feature having unexpected use for instance (7,7)
SURFACE TENSION An anagram (unexpected) of the final three words of the clue

20a    None too bright having drink after parking (4)
PALE A drink goes after the abbreviation for Parking

21a    Discharged from brotherhood for misbehaving? (3,2,5)
OUT OF ORDER The first definition describes what would happen to a monk if he seriously misbehaved

23a    Our setter flipping about labyrinthine clue’s central part (7)
NUCLEUS Here ‘our setter’ refers to the star which sets every evening. It should be reversed and go about an anagram (labyrinthine) of CLUE

24a    This preserves joint record held in work at bakery? (7)
KNEEPAD A type of record ‘held’ in the work a baker would do to make bread

25a    Stalwart Cavalier changing sides at the outset (8)
LOYALIST Change the letter representing one side at the start of a synonym for Cavalier to the opposite side

26a    Soldiers after injurious charge can’t stand (5)
ABHOR The usual abbreviation for Other Ranks of soldiers goes after an abbreviation for a charge of causing injury to someone

Down

1d    Kosher item appropriate to enthral a dog endlessly? (4,4)
BONA FIDE An item that might captivate a dog into which is inserted (to enthral) A (from the clue) and an informal name for a dog without its last letter (endlessly)

2d    Old woman strapped in checks stays (7)
REMAINS An informal name for a mother (old woman) ‘strapped’ in a synonym for checks or restrains

3d    I’d say fists flying fail to hit the mark (10)
DISSATISFYING An anagram (flying) of ID SAY FISTS

5d    Tunnels are designed to accommodate task in computer architecture (6,8)
NEURAL NETWORKS An anagram (designed) of TUNNELS ARE into which is inserted (to accommodate) a task [I do know the image isn’t of this particular architecture but it was nicer than the more accurate illustrations!]

6d    Red-eye grounded — it’s gone missing here and there! (4)
RUDD The even (missing here and there) of gRoUnDeD

7d    Roman commander an old man retaining control (7)
AGRIPPA A (an) and an informal name for a father (old main) ‘retaining’ a verb meaning to take control of

8d    Tree beginning to exfoliate and lean (5)
EBONY The ‘beginning’ to Exfoliate and a synonym for thin (lean)

9d    Places for training curates as souls lost (7,7)
ASSAULT COURSES An anagram (lost) of CURATES AS SOULS

14d    Work goes into newly arranged musical entertainment (5,5)
GRAND OPERA The abbreviation for work ‘goes into’ an anagram (newly) of ARRANGED

16d    Maybe butter in hospital leaving taste less refined (8)
INTRUDER The abbreviation for Hospital ‘leaving’ a small amount of something (a tase), a simple way of saying less refined being added at the end

18d    One French girl covering kilometres without a break (7)
UNLUCKY The French word for one and a girl’s name, the latter covering the abbreviation for Kilometres

19d    Such investigations as bathyscaphe might make? (2-5)
IN-DEPTH A bathyscaphe being used to explore far under the sea

20d    Jury members mercilessly find fault with Picasso’s article? (5)
PANEL To criticise harshly (mercilessly find fault) with the definite article Picasso would have used

22d    Buzz from live lines (4)
BELL Buzz and the solution are informal ways of making a telephone call. Part of a verb meaning to live and two abbreviations for Line