Toughie 3376

Toughie  No 3376 by Elgar

Hints and Tips by crypticsue

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

I got up  early this morning as I knew I had an Elgar Toughie to solve and blog.  If I had known how extremely difficult it was going to be to solve, parse and hint, I probably would have got up even earlier.

Please let us know what you thought

Across

1a           Channel No 7, say? (6)
GUTTER The seventh letter of the Alphabet and a verb meaning to say

4a           Pushy type, Oscar, gets slightly pushier, putting one out (8)
OBTRUDER The letter represented by Oscar in the NATO Phonetic Alphabet and a two-word phrase meaning slightly pushier without the Roman numeral for one

9a           One vigorous woman for each chap with cross to bear! (6)
AMAZON For each chap (1,3) into which is inserted (to bear) a cross between a yak and a cow

10a         Decline bank issue (8)
DOWNTURN A bank of sand thrown up by the sea and a synonym of issue

12a/13a Quartet’s second offering creates upset, it’s fair to admit (4,5)
EAST COKER The second part (offering) of TS Eliot’s Four Quartets – an anagram (upset) of CREATES into which is inserted (to admit) an informal way of saying it’s fair

13a         See 12 Across

14a/23a At security door of your apartment, don’t forget this excitement! (4,4)
FLAT SPIN What you may need to open the security lock of your apartment (5,3)

17a         Like e.g. 3 27, but not 31, having cut a dash? (12)
UNHYPHENATED The solution to 3,27 could be described as this but not the solution to 31a as it has two of these punctuation marks

20a         Please kings with gifts, crowd buzzing (3,5,4)
THE MAGIC WORD Given how many small children I must have asked “what’s the solution”, I should have seen this a lot earlier – The Biblical gift-bearing kings and an anagram (buzzing) of CROWD

23a         See 14 Across

24a/25a  Add to bubbling cauldron minute shellfish (5,4)
ROUND CLAM The abbreviation for Minute added to an anagram (bubbling) of CAULDRON

25a         See 24 Across

28a         Knight, on way through plot, charged with tart theft? (8)
BEKNAVED The abbreviation for Knight and the way through a church inserted into a garden plot – called like the nursery rhyme character who stole the tarts

29a         What do you know about Appia, Dolorosa and Labicana? (6)
TRIVIA A combining form denoting three and the Roman word for road which usually precedes all three examples given in the clue

30a         Brutal, like the post-1934 New York Yankees? (8)
RUTHLESS 1934 was the last year this baseball player played for the New York Yankees, so after that year they could be said to be without his surname

31a         Something unique in newspaper’s editorial (1-3-2)
A-PER-SE Hidden in the last two words of the clue, the BRB defines this phrase as something unique

Down

 

1d           A crammed grid maybe bringing pleasure? (8)
GRATEFUL This sounds like a very crammed grid or framework

2d/22d  With conspiracy theorist as hostage, five times he has lost it (5,3,6)
THAT’S THE TICKET One of those that’s the solution, how does it work clues.  There are five abbreviations for Time into or around which are inserted HAS and HE (from the clue) and the surname of a sports broadcaster turned conspiracy theorist

3d/27d Macmillan, Cameron and Johnson out of it; Truss wouldn’t wear it (4,4)
ETON CROP A 1920’s short ladies’ hairstyle similar to those worn by boys attending Eton (as did all three Prime Ministers listed in the clue).  I presume that Liz Truss wouldn’t wear it as she claims to be the first Prime Minister to attend a comprehensive school.

5d           With recoil, show contempt for compiler on the prowl (12)
BOOMERANGING A sound expressing contempt, how our compiler might refer to himself and, on the prowl, or moving freely

6d/16d  Separate reserves call for the receiver (4-5)
RING-FENCE To call (on the telephone) and someone who receives and disposes of stolen goods (receiver)

7d/18d One nub followed by another perhaps more reason than usual to get a 22 (6,8)
DOUBLE ROLLOVER I finally ‘saw’ what was going on here but how to explain it?  The second word of the solution (split 4,4)  tells you what to do with NUB in the clue (ie reverse it).  If it was followed by another, you might have two of them (the first word of the solution)

8d           Divers aren’t carrying a woman (6)
RENATA An anagram (divers) of ARENT into which is inserted (carrying) A (from the clue)

11d         With crestfallen brass in house lies new couple (12)
HONEYMOONERS A more formal word than brass for coin or currency has its first letter (crest) fallen to the end of the word.  It should then be inserted into an abbreviated house and followed by some big lies

15d/26d Doctor put everyone on cut bananas (2,3,4)
UP THE WALL An anagram (doctor) of PUT and everyone (3) into which is inserted a verb meaning to cut with blows

16d         See 6 Down

18d         See 7 Down

19d         Right to avoid the Spanish fleet coming up over southern water (5,3)
ADAMS ALE A reversal (coming up) of the Spanish definite article and a fleet of ships without the R (right to avoid) into which is inserted the abbreviation for Southern

21d         Continues without change on Circle but not Met Line (6)
ISOBAR Continues without change, the letter shaped like a circle and a preposition meaning but not – Met being an abbreviation for meteorology

22d         See 2 Down

26d         See 15 Down

27d         See 3 Down