Sunday Toughie No 172 by Zandio
Review by
Sloop John Bee
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This puzzle was published on the 11th May 2025
Across
1a Article 23 directed when oxygen is transfused or withdrawn (10)
ANTISOCIAL: Start with the grammatical article (that goes before a singular noun beginning with a vowel sound) AN, then anagram (directed) your solution to 23a ITALICS, into which has been transfused the chemical symbol of oxygen O. AN ITALICS O becomes withdrawn or ANTISOCIAL
6a Maharajah employs four hotshots (4)
ACES: To be considered a hotshot, a military aviator needs to be credited with shooting down a certain minimum number of enemy aircraft during aerial combat; the exact number of aerial victories required to qualify officially varies. Maharajah employs four of the playing card abbreviations of the hotshot
10a Communist that’s infiltrated company reveals what he believes? (5)
CREDO: The colour associated with communism RED, infiltrates a company’s abbreviation CO
11a Circle line, going through points, fixed (9)
LONGITUDE: A circular line on a globe that passes through both poles. The points are fixed by being the North and South Poles through which all lines of LONGITUDE pass
12a Wrongly imply omega before alpha’s accepted in classical setting (7)
OLYMPIA: The letter that Omega signifies O, goes before an anagram (wrongly) of IMPLY and the letter that Alpha suggests A
13a Lead player, really old, cutting record (7)
SOLOIST: A synonym of really SO, and the abbreviation of old O, cutting into an ordered record LIST
14a Not sprinting after all? (2,3,4,3)
IN THE LONG RUN: I am going to call this a double definition because, “after all?” you don’t sprint your fastest in the marathon if you expect to finish without hitting “The Wall”
18a Easy terms of qualification in Latin, like this from Oxford? (5,7)
BASIC ENGLISH: An arts qualification BA and a Latin “like this” intentionally so written (used after a printed word or phrase) SIC. Oxford may be where one gets the arts qualification, but here I think their dictionary writers have collated the terms of our language ENGLISH
21a Shelters a knight in arms (7)
AWNINGS: The chess notation for a Knight N, goes in the “arms” of a bird WINGS, and follows A from the clue
23a They’re inclined to exaggerate (7)
ITALICS: An all-in-one, which I will decline to hint further. Take the answer you have back to 1a for the partial anagram
24a Premier university in Rome – nun laid out nothing (6,3)
NUMERO UNO: An anagram (laid out) of an abbreviated university U, the Eternal City ROME, and NUN and the letter that looks like nothing O. Something premier in Rome or elsewhere in Italy U ROME NUN O becomes NUMERO UNO
25a Occupied – that is, invaded by students (2,3)
IN USE: A Latin “that is” I.E. is invaded by a political body that represents students, the NUS
26a Shot deer with a twist in the tail (4)
DOSE: A shot of medicine from female deer DOES, but twist the last two letters for a shot or DOSE of medicine
27a Greens botched after hole 7 (10)
MESSENGERS: The “hole” that Stan Laurel often got Oliver Hardy into MESS, is followed by an anagram (botched) of GREENS. The definition is a synonym of COURIERS the answer to 7d
Down
1d Monarch losing crown, sadly it’s dropped off royal yacht perhaps (6)
ANCHOR: An anagram (sadly) of mONARCH when the crowning letter has been dropped
2d Colour roughly the same you used in the past (3-3)
TIE-DYE: A synonym of the same TIED, and a historical form of you YE
3d Town facility giving double parking? (8,6)
SHOPPING CENTRE: The “middle” two letters of the first word are represented by repeated parking symbols. The synonym of the middle is our second word CENTRE, Therefore you will find the facility that has repeated P’s in the centre
4d Being limited by fiscal lag handicapped national leader (9)
CALLAGHAN: This former Prime Minister is lurking (being limited by) between (indicator) and definition
5d Spooks censoring hot relations (5)
AUNTS: A synonym of spooks (H)AUNTS, censors H for hot
7d They guide royal train, save time (8)
COURIERS: A royal train or retinue of followers COURtIERS, without (save) t for time, may guide your parcels from place to place
8d Perfect figure with trebly small clothing offsets being sour (8)
SWEETENS: Three examples of small (two abbreviations S S and an informal term WEE) clothing a figure TEN
9d Substantial bit of data: 24 northbound vehicles regularly visit here (7,7)
FILLING STATION: A synonym of substantial FILLING, an abbreviated bit of numerical data STAT, and a reversal (northbound) of how NUMERO UNO could be contracted NO1 becomes ION
15d Confectioner’s treats, sticky in more ways than one (9)
LOLLIPOPS: They are “sticky” by nature and are usually served on a stick
16d Latest sighting of “bandido” – bandit rampaging around Spain came by (8)
OBTAINED: A letter sighted last in “bandido” O, and an anagram (rampaging) of BANDIT around the IVR code for Spain E. Came by or OBTAINED
17d Without sun, a mistiness may shroud these phenomena (8)
TSUNAMIS: A lurker (may shroud) hidden in the first four words. These phenomena are cataclysms resulting from destructive sea waves caused by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions
19d Very small tick (6)
MINUTE: A double definition that depends on slight changes in pronunciation. Tick often indicates a shorter time, but the phrase “Just a Tick” usually means nearer a MINUTE rather than a second
20d Blockheads single’s top review (6)
ASSESS: Plural blockheads ASSES, followed by the top of single S
22d Maybe horseradish root delivered (5)
SAUCE: A homophone (delivered) of a synonym of the root or origin, SOURCE becomes SAUCE
Compiler
Zandio
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