Private Eye/Cyclops 349 – Top this*

Excellent stuff from Cyclops in this issue. A few really tricky clues which I would never get without the crossing letters, but enough that could be solved cold to get going. A couple of the clues are absolutely outstanding and funny. Cracked me up anyway.

Across
8	THERMAL – Def is “Hot air”. AL is Gore, but I am unsure how THERM=”Jollies associated with”? Full clue: Jollies associated with Gore’s hot air (7)
9	APESHIT – APE=”take off” (THIS)* My favourite clue. I thought this, or should I say (shit)*, was an outstanding clue: Take off before this cracks nuts! (7)
10	MIRED – (RIM<)-ED I knew Rebekah Wade would be ED but initially thought the definition would be Skirt and fiddled with ED anagrammed with LOO and CAN etc. When I got that initial checked M it became clear
11	CHICANERY – Chicane = “Turns of course” [To]ry “Nos 1 and 2 going”
12	NEW MEXICO – (ex-con I’m WE)* WE from Private Eye When I only had the final O in place I considered (and rejected) San Marino, but when I got around to thinking of US states the answer and construction became obvious.
13	TEMPO – Temp=”casual” O Nice concise clue: Casual love making speed (5)
14	CHESTNUT BROWN – Chest=”a couple of tits”, Nut=”Freak”, Brown=”PM”
19	MAJOR – MAJOR(CA)
21	EYE’S FRONT – Organ’s Bust – I pencilled in Eye’s Right at first but knew the clue didn’t really fit it.
23	SOCIALIST – SOCIAL-(ITS)*
24	DIPSO – DIPS-O Dips – pickpockets
25	NEST EGG – E.G. (say) inside (GENTS)*
26	EYE-DROP – Magazine-decline

Down
1	STAMINA – ST-A-MIN-A
2	REGROWTH – (ER<) G[rand]=”lots of money” (worth)*
3	SMUDGE – (Used GM)*
4	ELECTIONEERING – (One gin erectile)* Anagrind and fodder were pretty obvious but this word took a while to pop out when fiddling with the letters.
5	MEGASTAR – ME-GAS-(TAR<) Needed all crossing letters to get this (and some! as -E-A-T-R uses such common letters). Full clue: Spears possibly giving Cyclops wind up arse (8) “Spears possibly” looked like an anagram of SPEARS, also “wind up arse” could mean an anag of ARSE or even poss. of WIND UP! The clincher was spotting Cyclops=ME
6	PHLEGM – H[ospital]-Leg=”section” inside PM=Gordon I liked “cherishes” for the inclusion indicator
7	STAYS ON – DD in the Eye manner
9	A BIT OF THE OTHER – (Hot bot I feather)* After failing to get the 1D and 17D first letter deliverers, I then looked at this (1,3,2,3,5) phrase for my first answer, and was not disappointed. The letter count was set-up for “A – in the -” or “A – of the -” and I first thought of “A bit on the side” as an obviously wrong possible, then the answer was clear.
15	STREAKER – CD Earlier considered and rejected SPRINTER
16	WHOPPERS – CD or a kind of DD
17	AMUSING – US inside A MING – Last one I put in as I had trouble reconciling the definition of “rich” to “amusing”
18	STROPPY – Sweeney Todd was a barber, Barbers strop their cut-throat razors
20	JOCOSE – JO-COS-E Uncle JOE Stalin holding COs = companies
22	FIDGET – (F[emale] ged[d]it)* Tosses as in “tosses and turns”. I found this clue tricky: One who tosses female off, geddit? (Not Dee) (6) With only the E in place I did consider WANKER. It took all checking letters before the answer became apparent.

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