Cyclops 469: Going to the dogs
Posted by jetdoc on May 28th, 2012
An entertaining Cyclops puzzle this fortnight, with some clever wordplay. I think the very first clue, 8a, has to be my favourite.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | UNDERDOG | Don’t spy on park shaggers enough to be a likely loser? Dogging is ‘engaging in sexual acts in a public or semi-public place (such as a car park), or watching others doing so’, and if you don’t do enough of it, you must be underdogging. And the clue is a double definition. |
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| 9 | UNTRUE | Archer tale may well be turn off — upset whole bloc of countries *(turn); EU reversed. Jeffrey Archer is known for his somewhat free and easy relationship with the truth. |
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| 11 | WHEAT | It’s corny, the end of Labourite in question E = end of Labourite; in WHAT(?), a question |
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| 12 | THIS WAY UP | Cyclops get stuck into awful pushy twat endlessly seen on the box? I = Cyclops; in *(pushy twa). Seen on packaging boxes, rather than the TV. |
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| 13 | MATTHEW | Familiar ex-Tory MP hack, tense inside: “What, me outed?” T = tense; in *(what me). Refers to Matthew Parris, journalist and former Tory MP, who ‘came out as a homosexual in a late-night debate in the Commons in 1984 but, by his own admission, nobody noticed.’ |
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| 15 | BOASTER | Shaking trouser snake first, our retiring cocky type BOA = snake; *(tser) — anagram of ‘trouser’ minus ‘our’, with ‘shaking’ as the anagram indicator and ‘retiring’ indicating that the ‘our’ drops out. Tricky wordplay here — had I not been blogging it, I would probably have just written the solution in and not bothered too much about how to get there from the clue. |
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| 17 | CROWNING GLORY | Hair, in a funny way, is our Brian’s long-desired high point? Double definition: humorous word for hair; what Prince Charles (aka Brian, in Private Eye) looks forward to, i.e. accession to the throne |
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| 21 | WORKTOP | US counter’s ’Labour’ T-shirt? WORK = labour; TOP = something of which a T-shirt is an example. I am not sure whether ‘worktop’ or ‘counter’ is the US term; Chambers doesn’t say either is. |
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| 22 | TORNADO | Limitless bank returns with Balls’ party — twister! TOR = ‘rot’ reversed; NA = [b]AN[k] reversed (‘limitless means the peripheral letters are removed); DO = party |
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| 24 | NO STRINGS | Unrestricted feature of air guitarist? Air guitar does not involve strings. |
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| 27 | CROWD | Russell gets end away on date for the press Russell CROW[e]; D = date. Definition: press |
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| 28 | LEADER | Hint: Brenda gives head LEAD = Hint; ER = the Queen (Brenda) |
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| 29/25 | SYMPATHY SHAG | Jump, for pity’s sake! Sexual congress (‘jump’) participated in because one feels sorry for the other participant |
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| Down | |||
| 1 | MUGWUMP | Pot starts to wise up politician, a self-important type MUG = pot; WU = starts to wise up; MP = politician. A Native American chief; a person of great importance, or one who thinks himself or herself to be so; someone who keeps politically aloof |
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| 2 | ADVENTURER | Maybe Alice’s coming over topless old German artist ADVENT = coming; [D]URER topless old German artist (Albrecht Dürer). Alice had Adventures in Wonderland. |
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| 3 | CROTCH | Cold bollocks? Check genital area C = Cold; ROT = bollocks; CH = check (in chess) |
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| 5 | SNOWBALL | Drink present in second testicle NOW = present; in S BALL = second testicle Delicious! Not. |
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| 7 | PEEPERS | Mince pies piss off reps PEE = piss; PERS = *(reps), with ‘off’ as the anagram indicator. Cockney rhyming slag for ‘eyes’ |
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| 10 | MISBEGOT | Ill-conceived as Britain’s premier consumed by unbridled egotism B = Britain’s premier; *(egotism) |
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| 14/4 | WHIPPING POST | Punishing location — Nick needs fix and good support whip = Nick (STEAL); PIN = fix; G = good; POST = support |
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| 16/6 | TERRACOTTA ARMY | Chinese figures inscrutably unmoved by the views of the masses I assume that ‘inscrutably unmoved by the views of the masses’ just indicates that the Terracotta Army have stayed inanimate despite being much viewed at exhibitions. |
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| 18 | WATER BED | Appropriate retirement place for a ’wet’? Self-explanatory |
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| 19 | SWINDLE | Man, say, first off, is full of empty talk (Sting) [I]SLE, e.g. Isle of Man; WIND = empty talk. Definition: sting |
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| 20 | DOG DAYS | Ex-political interviewer in boxers, it being a hot time? Robin DAY; in DOGS = boxers. Dog Days (Latin: dies caniculares) are the hottest, most sultry days of summer |
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| 23 | RECIPE | Clegg’s first one to be entertained by corrupt peer — the makings of a fool? C = Clegg’s first; I = one; in *(peer). A recipe could be for Fruit fool. |
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| 26 | STYX | Over which the underworld jams broadcast The underworld is over the River Styx. And it sounds like (‘broadcast’) ‘sticks’ = jams. |
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I might manage to edit this by adding a joke or humorous link, but I can’t think of one now (Sunday afternoon).
… OK, not exactly risqué, but… A photon checked into a hotel, and the porter asked if he would like any help with his luggage. “No thanks,” said the photon, “I’m travelling light.”
… which reminds me: Two ducks checked into a hotel, and phoned room service for some condoms. “Would you like those on your bill?” they were asked.
May 28th, 2012 at 11:38 am
Thanks jetdoc. I found this more than usually funny but then I’m easily amused, even by your colleague’s dreadful jokes.
May 29th, 2012 at 6:59 pm
The inscrutability of the Terracotta Army refers to the hoary old ethnic cliché, doesn’t it?
http://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=inscrutable+Chinaman%2Cinscrutable+Chinese%2Cinscrutable+oriental&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=0&smoothing=0