Bridge House 2 by Prolixic

Bridge House 2

by Prolixic

Reviewed by Snowman

A pdf of the puzzle is available here  Bridge House 2

Thanks to Prolixic for this, the second of two puzzles he created for this year’s Birthday Bash, along with appreciation for the time he devotes to the crossword community generally such as creating an excellent guide to the construction of cryptic crossword clues (which is available to download from CrypticCrosswords.net) and reviewing Rookie Corner every week. Thanks also to SJB for organising the bash and blogging the prize Toughie every Sunday.

I thought this was tricky, perhaps in the Toughie class, but there are plenty of back pager level clues to get you going. Well worth a go.

I have provided hints below. There are a couple of references to Wiktionary, which should be treated with suitable caution.

SJB’s Notes. Thanks for the thanks and for doing the blog for this Snowman. I was getting worried about my “job” as Sunday Toughie blogger, as you not only spotted the fourth definition in 10a, you also parsed 25a better than my early efforts.  I am not sure if you could call it a Nina, but there are several references to the blog (6a), the nature of the celebration (20d) and a couple that reference the age of Big Dave’s Blog (11a,15a and maybe 26d). If there are more than those, I hope Prolixic can explain.
Italics, pics and vids are mine!

Across

1a          Picked up European train to frontier post (10)
CHECKPOINT:              A homophone of a word describing a native or citizen of a country to the north of Austria plus a synonym of train as in to train a gun. What about the ‘to’? The BRB defines ‘to’ as both ‘for’ and ‘of’ and so it links the wordplay with the definition (as in wordplay ‘for’ definition).

6a          Diary’s left in Slough (4)
BLOG: The usual abbreviation for left is inserted into a synonym of slough or marsh (the capitalisation of slough is a red herring)                         

10a       Request peace in family arrangement (5)
ORDER: I took this to be a quadruple definition. Whilst those scrutinising Chambers Dictionary might have something to say, all four underlined words are in Chambers Thesaurus under the definition.

11a       K-Pop group noticed touring gig (9)
SEVENTEEN: A four letter synonym of noticed or spotted goes around (touring) something that a gig or concert generically is.                      

12a       Excel’s safe by and large?  I don’t know (7)
SURPASS: All but the last letter (by and large) of a four letter synonym of safe as in certain plus what someone on Mastermind might say when they don’t know the answer
                    
14a       One British friend’s returning for courses (7)
SYLLABI: The reversal of all of: the usual letter representing one, the usual letter representing British and a friend who is the opposite of an enemy

15a       Figure a poet changed in new version (12)
HEPTADECAGON: An anagram (in new version) of A POET CHANGED

21a       Shock by putting on Brylcream? (12)
HAIRDRESSING: Add what a shock might be when growing from someone’s head to (by) a synonym of putting on clothes giving what Brylcream is by example (hence the question mark)

25a       For theatrics, he prepared this feather (7)
OSTRICH: An anagram (prepared) of FOR THEATRICS HE results in the answer (‘this’) plus FEATHER. Getting to the answer is easier if you deduct FEATHER from the source words.

27a       Community girl held back in base (7)
VILLAGE: Base as in wicked or depraved contains the reversal (held back) of a three letter informal word for girl

29a       Tunic Odin whipped up for enthronement (9)
INDUCTION: An anagram (whipped up) of TUNIC ODIN.

30a       Principal coach (5)
PRIME: A double definition. The first is related to chief or main. The second is the sense of to prepare or cram before something. (11a is a 30a number?)

31a       Sunday newspaper features retired singer (4)
ENYA: The answer is hidden (features) in reverse (retired) in the first two words

32a       Holds casket containing heart of Michael Fish (5,5)
NURSE SHARK: A synonym of holds like fosters (a grievance, say), plus a casket that was in one of the Indiana Jones films, and between the two (containing) is inserted the middle letter of MicHael

Down

1d         Select advertised dog treats (6)
CHOOSE: I took it that advertised is indicating a homophone here (and Chambers Thesaurus includes synonyms such as announced and broadcast for advertised), so we are looking for a word that rhymes with dog treats that might help with dental health

2d         Ancestors from Emerald Isle confused after losing e-mail (6)
ELDERS: An anagram of EMERALD ISLE minus the letters in E-MAIL

3d         Antipodean flier hosts soldiers in Asian peninsula (5)
KOREA:  The antipodean bird (flier) being a type of Parrot in New Zealand contains (hosts) one of the usual suspects for soldiers (abbreviation for Other Ranks)

4d         Something used by flower arrangers’ group (5)
OASIS: A double definition. The Manchester group has recently undertaken a reunion tour, the flower arrangers might use a proprietary rigid foam called this

5d         New ways to build sections of churches (5)
NAVES: The usual abbreviation for new plus the pluralised abbreviation of a synonym for a way that is normally confined to minor roads in residential areas in England

7d         Bruce maybe has to measure position on sheltered side of ship (3,5)
LEE GAUGE: The surname of the star of the 1973 film Enter the Dragon followed by a synonym of to measure or quantify. The definition is not a term I had come across and while the definition is faithful to the BRB, I wondered when it would be used. According to Wiktionary the definition is the position of a sailing vessel leeward of another in battle, often restricting manoeuvrability and gunnery.

8d         Scotsman’s wearing men’s bloomers (8)
GENTIANS: A synonym for men’s (don’t forget the ‘s’), being an abbreviation of men of refined character, containing (wearing) a usual suspect for Scotsman (being a first name)

9d         Church member‘s pious article omits start of Easter (8)
ANGLICAN: To possess qualities of gentleness and purity or be like, say, a Cherubim, minus E (omit the start of Easter), plus a form of the indefinite article

13d       Step up to see fool (3)
SAP: A synonym for step especially used in ballet (e.g. *** de Basque) reversed (up)

16d       Weird craving covered by the Spanish medic (8)
ELDRITCH: A craving that is something in another sense you might want to scratch is preceded by (covered by in a down clue) Spanish for ‘the’ and an abbreviation for doctor. According to the Wiktionary website the word was reintroduced into popular literature by the writings of H. P. Lovecraft.

17d       Support leaders of the electrical engineers (3)
TEE: An acrostic (leaders of) the initials of the final three words

18d       Police officer’s hell (3)
DIS: A double definition. The police officer is a Detective Inspector (and add the possessive ‘s’) while the synonym for Hell appeared in antiquity and features in Dante’s Inferno

19d       Award teaching about cool chemical (8)
CHLORINE: The abbreviation for an award (Companion of Honour) plus a four letter synonym of learning in which is inserted (about) a two letter synonym of cool or fashionable

20d       Celebration of a hit Byrd composed (8)
BIRTHDAY: An anagram of A HIT BYRD

22d       Jam makers supporting independent Maori people (3)
IWI: I didn’t know the Women’s Institute is known for jam (and Jerusalem), but it turns out it is. The abbreviation for the Women’s Institute is preceded by the abbreviation for Independent (supporting in a down clue)

23d       Film of expat in Australia (6)
PATINA: A word hidden in the last three words

24d       Dress of editor blocking stream (6)
BEDECK: A synonym of stream into which is inserted (blocking) the abbreviation for editor

26d       King’s University following timeless Asian poem (5)
HAIKU: Abbreviations for King and University follow a native or inhabitant of a Kingdom in SE Asia minus the abbreviation for Time

Black and white boxes,
Clues dance across and down now,
Ink fills up the grid. 

(is this another reference to the seventeenth birthday of the blog – a 26d has 11a syllables)

27d       Geordie aboard vehicle standing up to reveal heavenly body (5)
VENUS: The reversal of all of: the abbreviation for the location of Newcastle inside (aboard) the three letter abbreviation for a type of car designed with strong off-road capabilities

28d       Disease of essentially depressed Manx cat (5)
LUPUS: The two middle letters of a four letter synonym of depressed or fed up are followed by a four letter synonym for a cat (e.g. when wearing boots) with the final letter removed (the Manx cat has no tail).