A quick grid fill with some clever clues and some nice inter-linking. I missed the wordplay in a couple but got the answers okay.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 7,18 | THE CAT’S WHISKERS — (CRESS WITH H(orse) STEAK)* — One definition is “the best” the other hint is a reference to the cat food Whiskas not being the dog’s breakfast?. |
| 8 | JOHANNA — H in JOANNA — Joanna is Cockney rhyming slang for piano. I’ve not checked if Johanna is a vision for Bob D. or D. Thomas. |
| 9 | TWIN — W in TIN = “Cannes” — a clever homophone in the clue rather than the answer. |
| 15,16,17 | DOG’S BREAKFAST — double def. — Pal is a brand of dog food. |
| 20 | STOOL — LOOTS< — this wouldn’t look out of place in the Eye crossword! |
| 21 | GOOSANDER — (ORANGE SOD)* — a goosander is a diving duck related to the smew and merganser. |
| 24 | TRIGGER — ? — (Roy) Roger’s screen partner is Trigger. I’ve not checked where Twice G. fits in. |
| 25 | PYJAMAS — double def. — The cat’s pyjamas are just the thing. |
| Down | |
| 3 | STUBBY — S+TUBBY — a clever little clue. |
| 4 | NOTEBOOK — ETON< + BOOK — Eton is a classic crossword school. |
| 6 | ANEW — cellophANE Wrong — a good surface that almost got me with the question mark interrupting the hiding place. |
| 14 | OUSEL — ? — The European Dipper is also known as the Water Ousel, though the Ousel itself is a very different bird. I haven’t worked out the word play. |
| 16 | BEE-EATER — BEEF-EATER – F(inger) — the third bird and the most colourful of the three, an occasional visitor to Britain. |
| 20 | STRAYS — ST(reet) RAYS — and a reference back to cats that probably don’t enjoy Whiskas. |
14D Timid person is MOUSE and L for Large is big
24A Twice G = GG = Gee-gee = A Horse
I liked that. If hadn’t already got the crossing R I’m sure I’d’ve given Astaire some serious thought.
Twice G. Rogers’ partner on screen (7)
From GU Talk Crosswords we learn that ‘twice G’ = ‘gee-gee’ = ‘horse’ = trigger. Hmm.
Trigger lived from 1932 – 1965, during which time he was a ruddy great big Golden Palomino.
“Visions of Johanna” is a Bob Dylan classic – from the Blonde on Blonde album.
8 Bob Dylan, Visions of Johanna (from album Blonde on Blonde, 1966)
Or what Neil just said!
Doh! I don’t know why I missed the GG reference. I think I convinced myself that the reference was to the double G in TRIGGER. Thanks to all for that.
Thanks also for the Bob Dylan reference. That was just lazy on my part.
OUSEL is (m)OUSE + L = large = big. Don’t know how I missed that one either.
It’s GG in TRIER, ‘n’ all.