There seemed to me to be a lot of question mark ended clues this time, at least they were the ones I had most trouble with, probably just me then. In truth this was solid stuff from the one-eyed one.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 8 | LABOURING – LABOUR,I,N,G |
| 9 | FA CUP – [wi]F[e],A,CUP(=single supporter) Shouldn’t this be (1,1,3) rather than (2,3) ? |
| 11 | GREEK – R inside GEEK as in “Phil the Greek” |
| 12 | DOORSTEPS – (STOP SOD ER)* Anagrind: “moving” First to go in |
| 13 | FERRARI – (RARE)* inside FRI Anagrind: “get screwed” I had the wordplay but had to try each “weekday” twice before stumbling on the correct “goer” |
| 15 | ETHICAL – T from [pinoche]T inside (A CHILE)* Anagrind: “buggered” |
| 17 | DOING A U-TURN – (RUN INTO A DUG)* Unfortunately, the phrase has a rather obvious letter count for the definition. Anagrind: “out” |
| 21 | TEAR GAS – DD |
| 23 | THE POPE – POP inside THEE (“you once”) Can someone explain how we get POP from CRACK. The only relationship I can think of is the onomatopoeic “Snap, Crackle and Pop” |
| 24 | HAPPY HOUR – HAPPY (dwarf) H OUR |
| 26 | ADOLF – A[way],Do,LeFt Last one to go in – How embarrassing. Mr Hilter did not spring to mind until the checking F appeared. Somehow he goes beyond being defined as a mere “Dictator” |
| 28 | NUTTY – DD Nice one. Full clue: Bananas like testicles? (5) |
| 29 | PISS-TAKER – K[ay] inside (PASTRIES)* Anagrind: “fancy” |
| Down | |
| 1 | SLAG OFF – S,LAG OFF |
| 2 | OBOE – O inside O,BE Nice to see something other than Gong=OBE. Scope for working a reference to “Pink” in there |
| 3 | MUCKRAKING – (UK CR[edit])* in MAKING. Anagrind: “collapse” |
| 4 | PIDDLING – Double Def PEER (def.) as a verb |
| 5 | IGNORE – I[ndependent] then N inside GORE Blank (def.) as a verb. Needed all the crossing letters for this |
| 6 | UFOS – (OF)< inside US (as in the “country”) Initially wondered how the Foreign Office (FO) were defined by “violators”. Full clue: Country split by backing of violators of its air space? (4) |
| 7 | APOSTLE – POST inside ALE |
| 10 | CRESCENDO – (R[ight] SCENE)* DO Anagrind: “ugly” |
| 14 | RED CARPET – DC (the Det. Con. kind of copper) inside REAR PET. Favourite Clue (smutty surface wins again): Copper shoved in butt by Darling – all part of the VIP treatment (3,6) |
| 16 | HOUSE PARTY – Charade of Commons and Faction. I’m sure a house party can be held in urban areas too – Oh there’s a question mark at the end – so the def. is only an example, probably – so that’s all right then (?): Commons faction gathering in the country (5,5) |
| 18 | UPTHRUST – DD – I think. As a scientist I understand the seismic reference, but what about the first half of the clue? – Oh there’s a question mark at the end – so the def. is only an example, probably – so that’s all right then (?): Part of the sex act that causes the earth to move? (8) |
| 19 | ETCHING – [r]ETCHING |
| 20 | PERFORM – PER[v] FORM Trickiest clue in my estimation. With only -E—R- I spent time trying to force FEATURE (from “appearance”) to fit: Be a luvvie: dirty old man, very off appearance (7) |
| 22 | SLOPPY – LOP inside SPY For a while I was trying to force SYRUPY to fit |
| 25 | YO-YO – ho ho |
| 27 | OIKS – (SI[c]KO)* Anagrind: “snapped” |
Beermagnet,
Having a ‘pop’ at someone can be making a ‘crack’ at their expense. A bit tenuous but possible.
My take it on it was in the sense of “having a go” at something, in the sense of giving something a try. I’m pretty sure “having a pop” and “having a crack” are synonymous in this sense.
Thanks. I enjoyed that one. Only ones I couldn’t get were THE POPE (would never have thought of ‘thee’), PIDDLING (never known it used in that way) and PERFORM (just could not get my head round that clue).