An enjoyable romp through this until the end when I was struggling over Laura for far too long (if you see what I mean).
Across | |
---|---|
1 | LET GO (L[abourit]E GOT)* |
4 | CHELSEA (LECH)* SEA (drink) |
9 | BUGGER OFF BUGGER (Tap artist – in the phone-tapping sense) OFF (Dicky) It took me a while to see the clue construction after getting the answer from the crossing letters and the definition (Go). Full clue: Go getting tap artist, Dicky (6,3) |
10 | ERUPT E[cstasy] RUPT[ure] |
11/3 | LETTING ONE RIP LETTING ONE (Landlord type of person) RIP (grave message) |
12 | SMASH UP S M A (PUSH)* |
13 | AURA [L]AURA Last one in for me and I reckon this was very hard. I was looking at A_R_ for a long time before the penny dropped. Sorry for the blog title reference to one of the most awful songs from my childhood (far from a charismatic air) http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=z-n8OFueilg Full clue: Name Labour’s leader’s lost charismatic air (4) |
14 | FUDDY-DUDDY [Elmer] FUDD then DUD,D[eparts] inside Y Y (two years) |
18 | BREAST PUMP R[ight] inside BEAST (cow possibly) PUMP (shoe) |
22 | ABYSMAL (A SL[o]B MAY)* Anagrind: screwing |
25 | NO-BALLS Double Def Is this really a single hyphenated word? |
26 | SAHIB (HAS)* I (Cyclops) B[oris] Anagrind: unhinged I took unhinged as an anagram as it cannot sensibly be taken as a reverse indicator |
27 | DISMEMBER DIS (insult) MEMBER (politician) |
28 | SWORN IN WORN (in tatters) inside SIN (anger, possibly) |
29 | TODAY Slight “anagram” of TOADY (brown-noser) The 2-letter swap indicated by “slight shuffling” Ref. the erstwhile newspaper started by Eddy Shah in the 80s |
Down | |
1 | LOBELIA LOB,[ars]E,(AIL)< |
2 | TIGHT-ARSE TIGHT (pissed) ARSE (rat) |
4 | CUFFS Unsure if to define this as a Double Def where “Smack heads” means Cuffs in the “smacks” sense, or a charade with CUFF (Smack) [head]S (head finally) |
5 | EYE CANDY EYE (type of organ) CAN (is able) D[ela]Y (piss reversing out) which again assumes Ale = Piss |
6/19 | SLUSH FUND CD Nice one: Kitty hardly pure as the driven snow (5,4) |
7 | AUTOPSY (PAST YOU)* Anagrind: dashing |
8 | LONG JUMP LONG (extended) JUMP (shag, US-style) Is “jump” particularly american slang? |
15 | DIMINISH MINI (short skirt) inside DISH (totty) |
16 | DOUBLE BED D[epraved] (LOUD BEEB)* Anagrind: plays |
17/24 | OSAMA BIN LADEN (IN LEAD OBAMA’S)* [clinto]N Anagrind: busted |
18 | BRASSES BR[itish] ASSES (charlies) that’s charlies in the sense of fools rather than as slang for boobs or “Charlie’s Angels” which was my initial train of thought (but I got back to the crossword soon enough) |
20 | DESTROY (ED’s)* Anagrind: ballsed up (TORY)* Anagrind: excitement |
21 | OBJECT (JOB)* (Anagrind: lost) and C[aught] inside ET (film) When I solved it I noted this as an excellent clue, so despite the film-ET cliche and having only a tiny hint of rudeness it gets the goldstar as my favourite clue: Lost job (caught in film showing thingy) (6) |
23 | YAHOO (HAY)< OO (balls) |
Beermagnet – your choice of Laura is not the only one – how about Johnny Mercer’s Laura (is the face in the misty light). It seems to me a better fit (not to mention a better song).