Sunday Toughie No 122 by
Robyn
Review by Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 26th of May 2024
Across
1a Want a house in Berks town? Peer excitedly inside (5,5)
SLEEP ROUGH: What you may have to do if you want/lack a house, A Berkshire town SLOUGH, contains an anagram of peer EEPR SL(EEPR)OUGH
6a Stick a lot of chocolate on an ice cream (4)
FLAK: Most of the stick of chocolate we garnish ice cream with in a “99” FLAKE becomes FLAK
9a Oil producer‘s central oil supply (10)
CITRONELLA: An anagram of CENTRAL OIL, A S Asian grass that yields a yellow lemon scented oil used in perfumery and insect repellents
10a Letters from abroad, and when they should arrive? (4)
ETAS: The plural of the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet ETA, when split 1.1.1’1 is a rough idea of when to expect something to arrive. An acronym for Estimated Time of Arrival’S
12a Scammer leaving Germany, or an address there (4)
FRAU: A scammer or FRAUD, leaves the IVR code for Germany – D and in doing so becomes the form of address for a married German woman FRAU
13a Indicator of power of record: a beat that’s audible (9)
LOGARITHM: A mathematical indicator of power. The record of a ships movement LOG, and a homophone (audible) of a musical beat RHYTHM becomes RITHM
15a Nothing left on file is nonsense (8)
FOLDEROL: A file containing documents FOLDER, with the letter that looks like nothing O, and the abbreviation for left L Nonsense or FOLDEROL
16a Cool white wine needing to settle? (2,4)
IN HOCK: A synonym of cool IN, a variety of German white wine HOCK, and I still need to settle my wine merchant’s bill
18a Mass murderer’s confession put in the wrong place (6)
MISLAY: The abbreviation of mass M, and a phrase when confessing to murder I SLAY, to put in the wrong place MISLAY
20a What you might do to a hard drive after ROM fails (8)
REFORMAT: An anagram (fails) of AFTER ROM – Oh I am going to call this an all-in-one &lit as REFORMAT is what one may have to do to a computer if part of it fails
23a Jailing male criminal I console – this breaks up his sentence (9)
SEMICOLON: An anagram (criminal) of I CONSOLE with M for male jailed within. A SEMICOLON is a punctuation mark (‘;’) used to connect independent clauses; indicates a closer relation than does a period
24a Nice way to turn over dough in a patisserie? (4)
EURO: Another &lit. The “dough” you may use to purchase macarons and other sweet treats from a patisserie in places such as Nice, or somewhat simpler a reversal of a way in Nice RUE becomes EUR followed by a crickety over O (Thanks Gazza) The dough in a patisserie would be a EURO and the RUE in Nice and the O for over would be the wordplay but the whole is a gem
26a Bit of pot smoker from Italy brought back (4)
ANTE: That which “smokes” over Sicily Mount ETNA is reversed to be ANTE, the fixed stake put in the poker pot to get the game going
27a English oaf welcoming soft soap (10)
EASTENDERS: A synonym of soft TENDER, goes between E for English and an oaf likened to a grey, long-eared animal of the genus Equus ASS – E(AS(TENDER)S) a Soap Opera I have never knowingly watched
28a A head pain after cycling around (4)
EACH: A slight pain or ACHE cycles one letter to the front to be a head or per capita EACH
29a Result of the seeding process at Wimbledon? (5,5)
GRASS COURT: What grows in SW19 when seeds of RYEGRASS are scattered particularly in Wimbledon
Down
1d You might wear this belt (4)
SOCK: A double definition, something worn or an informal punch
2d From ancient era, legionnaires possibly gutsy (7)
ENTERAL: A lurker (from) relating to, within or by way of the intestine or gut ENTERAL
3d Swagger round Oman’s capital with King Edward? One stands out (12)
PROTUBERANCE: To swagger ostentatiously PRANCE, around the capital of Oman O and the edible swelling of a King Edward for example TUBER – a PR(O)(TUBER)ANCE stands out
4d Miss Denmark’s back with more than 50 rings on (8)
OVERLOOK: A synonym of more than OVER, a Roman 50 L, and more than one of the letters that look like rings OO, and don’t miss the back of Denmark K To miss or OVER(L)(OO)K
5d Regularly glum detainees here? (6)
GULAGS: Regular letters of glum G U, and some slang convicts LAGS – Political prisons and forced labour camps in the Soviet Union GULAGS
7d Frozen air? Bird shelters in building material (3,2,2)
LET IT GO: A song from the animated film Frozen, a small passerine bird TIT, in a trademarked toy building material LEGO
8d Porter’s work showing a pecking order? (4,2,4)
KISS ME KATE: A Cole Porter work based on a Shakespeare play (The Taming of the Shrew), an order to “peck” given to the titular character
11d Case of travellers carrying smuggled cocaine off across the waters (12)
TRANSOCEANIC: The case letters of travellers TS, carrying a synonym of smuggled RAN, followed by an anagram (off) of COCAINE
14d Adult eats female dog’s dinner, flouting party’s rules (3-7)
OFF-MESSAGE: A two-word phrase synonymous with being adult OF AGE, contains an abbreviation of female F, and a dog’s dinner MESS To deliberately flout party rules by ignoring messages
17d Recent deliveries sent on a van in Essex, possibly (8)
NEONATES: An anagram of SENT ON A and the van or leading letter of Essex – The deliveries are usually done with the assistance of a midwife. NEONATES being the Latin for newborns
19d Corporal thus swallows a peeled red fruit (7)
SOMATIC: An adjective for the body or Corpus of an animal or plant, A Latin thus SIC,swallows a red fruit TOMATO, that has had its outer letters peeled away S(OMAT)IC
21d Brandy with French drink for performer who said nothing (7)
MARCEAU: A rough Brandy made from the grape skin and other refuse from winemaking MARC, and a French word for a less intoxicating drink EAU, combine to be a performer who said nothing, the mime artist Marcel MARCEAU
22d Star in Hollywood area upset by tense atmosphere (6)
ALTAIR: A reversal of the city of which Hollywood is a suburb LA becomes AL, an abbreviation of tense T, and an atmosphere or AIR. The brightest star in the constellation Aquila ALTAIR
25d Listen to this part of letter by virtuous person (4)
PSST: Part of a letter added after the main text PS, and an abbreviated virtuous person Saint becomes ST. I think this is at least the third or fourth time this has cropped up recently but without vowels, it is a gift to setters