Apologies for this being a bit late today; I’d forgotten that I was supposed to be doing the post today. There are a couple of questions below that people can easily clear up, I’m sure…

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*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed, hom=homophone

I found this extremely tough and struggled to get going. Repeatedly misreading 20 down as “hackneyed phrase” didn’t help. However, all the answers made sense to me.

Across
1	Refinery: Re + finery.
5	Eggcup: Cryptic def.
9	Verandah: ER in V and A + h.
10	Sloane: Loan in SE. Clever, if questionable &Lit (do sloane rangers borrow money – aren’t they all rich ?)
12	Roulette Wheel: CD referring to the colours of a roulette wheel. This was my least favourite clue, since I don’t gamble and therefore haven’t the foggiest what colours on a roulette wheel are.
15	Agent: [M]agent[a]. Definition is “cause” in the sense of “agent of change”, I suppose.
16	Balthasar: ALT + has in bar.
17	Outraging: Outing around rag.
19	Lit up: Lip around tu[be].
21	Thought Police: CD. I guessed immediately that Blair was referring to George Orwell (aka Eric Arthur Blair) but, not having read 1984 for about 20 years, I couldn’t remember what his secret police were called. A bit of research on Wikipedia helped me out.
23	Manual: Man + odd letters of unable.
24	Honolulu: honou[r] around lul[l].
26	Shaver: Sh + aver.
27	Self-help: shelf* + “elp” hidden in panel pins.
Down
1,2	Reversal of Fortune: Tune and for placed in the opposite order.
3	Nun: last letters of turn you on + another humourous but questionable &lit.
4	Rialto bridge: (irritable dog)*. The Rialto market is next to the bridge, so I suppose “merchant near here” just about works as a definition.
6	Golden hello: Go around olden hell.
7	Chablis: Cha[p] + blis[s].
8	Phew: H in pew.
11	Twilight Zone: (one with glitz)*.
13	Extrapolate: Exe around trap 0 + l + even letters of cast.
14	Triple Jump: Tripe around l + jump. Def = “something from field” i.e. a field event.
18	Titania: Titan (a moon of Saturn) + I + a. Titania is a moon of Uranus.
20	Tribute: Trite around bu[s].
22	Xmas: X + ma[n] + s.
25	Off: [b]off[in].

A gentle start to 2009.
Nothing here held me up – which is just as well as my accountant tells me I’m supposed to be preparing my tax return right now. I don’t note times but without the usual last few I have to mull over I finished this before the pint. Awarded self another pint of Wychwood Circlemaster as a prize anyway.
Now where did I put those receipts … Read the rest of this entry »