Some amusing clues from Neo today.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | AIR HOSTESS *(IS AS OTHERS) |
| 7 | PAVE P + AVE (prayer) |
| 9 | LYRA L (close to “lethal”) + *(RAY) |
| 10 | SECULARIST *(LETS ICARUS) |
| 11 | FLY-TIP SLY FLY (smart) TIP (advice) |
| 12 | ABSOLUTE cd referring to Jack Absolute from Sheridan’s play The Rivals |
| 13 | SCROFULA *(SO CAREFUL minus E [Spain]) |
| 15 | GORE GO + RE (on) referring to former US VP Al Gore |
| 17 | ASTI hidden in SebASTIano |
| 19 | IDEOLOGY I DO LOG (Neo makes record) around E (drugs) + Y (“youth” leader) |
| 22 | RATAPLAN RAT[e] A PLAN (almost consider an idea) |
| 23 | YELLOW dd; referring to the fact that a yellow ball is worth two points when potted in snooker |
| 25 | CINCINNATI CINC (Commander-in-Chief) INN (pub) AT I (at 1 pm, i.e., lunchtime) I glided past this the first time through, but as Richard points out, Cincinnati is a city, not a state. |
| 26 | CAGE dd, referring to avant garde composer John Cage |
| 27 | STAY T (time) in SAY (for example) |
| 28 | MAKING LOVE dd A bit risque! The second definition refers to tennis, of course |
| Down | |
| 2 | IDYLLIC *(CDI LILY) |
| 3 | HEART EARTH (planet) with H moved to the front |
| 4 | SISYPHUS cd; the presence of “in” prevents this clue from quite working for me |
| 5 | EXCLAMATION MARK cd |
| 6 | SPLASH dd |
| 7 | PARALEGAL PAR (usual) ALE (beer) GAL (girl) |
| 8 | VISITOR V (5) IS IT (could it be) OR; a visitor is one who might STAY (27 across) over |
| 14 | OLIGARCHY *(HOLY CIGAR) |
| 16 | PEPYSIAN *(PANSY PIE) |
| 18 | SEAGIRT RIG (oil platform) reversed in SEAT (position) |
| 20 | GEORGE V G (good) + reversal of VEG (greens etc.) ROE (caviar possibly) |
| 21 | PLENUM [peo]PLE (people half seen) + N.U.M. (miners) |
| 24 | LOCAL dd; a “local” is a local anesthetic or “number” |
Hi Agentzero
11a may not be a term used in your part of the world but it is FLY-TIP.
Can you explain “State” in 25a?
Gaufrid,
You’re quite right: the word was unfamiliar to me, and I assumed that “smart” would be SLY. (“Sly-tip” makes sense, in a way.) Corrected above.
Richard, you’re quite right as well. Once I had the wordplay, I never looked back to notice that Neo had “state” rather than “city.” I don’t think there is any justification for “state.”