This was hard as Scorpion often is, so well-chosen by the Indy for a Holiday Monday, got there in the end, solving time, 62 mins.
* = anagram
ACROSS
6 SN (bridge partners) AFU Alternate letters in par four
7 Kenny EVERETT ever = eternally E for O in OTT Surface referring to his often controversial behaviour.
9 ADDENDUM add and f irst letter of diner in (menu)*
10 Annie LENNOX final letters of reveal the, news = nn (ie two new’s) OX = no vote
11 STROLL final letters of youngsters didn’t roll = register
13 TOULOUSE TO LO after U = university USE
14 CRISP SIR in PC all reversed. This refers, I think, to Quentin Crisp from the Naked Civil Servant with the whole clue giving the definition and was a very good clue construction
15 GRADE BBC chief R in (aged)*
17 GRENAD(a) tESt
18 YUP PIE I liked this one a lot
20 Humphrey BOGART BO (stink) RAG reversed = tabloid first letter of torment
21 Shane MACGOWAN MA C (caught from cricket) (Wogan)*
23 AS A JOKE K = Cambodia Joe = soldier (US) SA = Salvation Army
24 EXCEL Spreadsheet computer program X CE in outside letters of essential
DOWN
1 CALEDONIAN CANAL Cryptic definition, it runs diagonally across Scotland
2 QUID squid less s
3 TERMITE R = bank of Rhine MIT (with in German) in TEE (from golf ie driving)
4 JEALOUS GUY John Lennon song
5 MEANS OF APPROACH mean = low sofa = seat pro in (chap)*
6 Anwar SADAT hidden reversal Egyptian president, assassinated in 1981
8 TOOTSIE Dustin Hoffman film first = IST and O = first to open going up in TOE (end)
12 LAPIDATION a PI (private investigator = detective) in (lad into)*
14 CORDOBA cor = my party = do AB (seaman) reversed
16 ISHMAEL (Amish)* EL
19 IN ALL N = navy a = accepted in ill =rough
22 CHEZ ache less a plus Z
Thanks, nms.
I did have a crack at this, but only managed about a third of it. All fair, but just too hard for me. As you say, though, it’s a day off for most folk, so a chance to tackle a tough one.
I couldn’t finish this either, very tough. Thanks for the blog NMS
I think the reason for all the proper nouns here is that (at least) seven answers were born on Christmas Day.
…Just a shame he couldn’t get (Alastair) Cook, for topicality, in there at 22d. perhaps, with a couple of small alterations?…
That was a good one, thanks, IanN14 (not for the first time!) for spotting it! The high numbers of names in the grid did strike me as unusual all right but I never thought of that. Have a feeling that, with modern practices in hospitals, it’s a diminishing breed…
Anyone else see adios in row five? Is he trying to tell us something?
Nearly finished this, with some persistence, but had to come here to get the last two. I did wonder about the names, too. Spotting the pangrammatic grid helped with a couple.
Thanks for an instructional blog. They all seem to work very well. Obviously I didn’t.
Got a few but frankly I was struggling with this after using up the aged Aubrey brain on the Indy quiz of the year and the big general knowledge crossword (and maybe having one or two whiskies too many…..).
You know you are dated when Macgowan, Everett and Excel come to mind as “modern references” and it takes a while before you realise that they span about at least 25-40 years ago!
Oh dear. Far too many drams. I meant the FT quiz, of course…….
There’s a Nina, but it’s in the clues, rather than the grid.
Thanks, Eimi, for those who do not still have yesterday’s Indy, the first letters of clues read MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL READERS.
New Year resolution, routinely read first letters of clues, I used to do it in the themed puzzles but then got out of the habit, think Azed did it also in a recent competition puzzle.