9 across: Express disapproval of sweet-sounding retro artefact? (9)
This one’s amusing and it might have been put into DA Gold if the crossword overall wasn’t so tough. Here, though, we’ve got express disapproval = boo, sweet = meringue and sweet sounding = merang giving express disapproval of sweet-sounding = boomerang = retro artefact, and that last step, boomerang = retro artefact, is both funny and nutty.
7 down: High-class kiss blown in hearing? (3, 6)
I got this out because of cross clues, but that does not mean this one ain’t nasty. Here, kiss blown = skis, in = cool and in hearing = chool, giving kiss blown in hearing? = ski school = high-class (as in the class is at a high altitude).
Update: Although the following clue was originally considered nasty, TH put me on the right track in the comments and it’s now here for historical purposes only:
24 across: Scotch distiller pared technique linked to moisture (5)
I’m not completely sure how this one works, but it’s super nasty. Wikipedia tells me that Dewar was a Scottish chemist, or, as DA would have it, a Scotch distiller. How anyone else was meant to know that is beyond me, though. Moisture = dew, but I can’t explain the ar.
Dewar’s is also a type of whisky, which makes “Scotch” distiller a bit more bearable. Is there a word for technique that contains “AR”? A word that could be pared back to “AR”? I’m kinda glad I missed this one.
I think the word might be ART.
9 across and 7 down are both worthy of DA Gold in my opinion. I also got 7 down only because of the cross clues and the brilliant direct clue. But the wordplay tickles my fancy too, now that I understand it.
I was thinking 9 across and 7 down would have been DA Gold most other weeks, but the crossword was too difficult — for me at least — and I wanted to exact some kind of revenge.
And dewar will now be removed from the Nasty section.
Guys, The Dewar (it was invented by the chemist mentioned) is a flask for storing very cold liquids. You local doctor has his liquid nitrogen for burning off cancers delivered in a Dewar which drips moisture because it is so cold!!!
I think the word might be ART.9 across and 7 down are both worhty of DA Gold in my opinion. I also got 7 down only because of the cross clues and the brilliant direct clue. But the wordplay tickles my fancy too, now that I understand it.