A bit of a mixed bag, this one, I thought. A handful of real 1 Acrosses, but a few charades that seemed to lack inventiveness. Still, I enjoyed it. Rampant sex and Shakespeare – something for everyone, really.
ACROSS
1. BEAUTIES Beau [boyfriend] + ties [connections]
5. RESCUE Rue [regret] surrounding esc [the ‘Escape’ key on a computer keyboard]
10. GINSENG Anagram of in eggs + n(utrition) to give the herbal root
11. LEADING Pleading with its head cut off – i.e. executed, although this seems like a bit of a leap to me
12. EXAMS Anagram of sex surrounding am [i.e. ante meridian, in the morning]
13. GRAPEVINE Double definition – the origin of wine, and as in I Heard It Through The…
14. PROMISED LAND Promised [undertook] + land [touch down, as a plane or helicopter might] to give the promised land of Exodus and Deuteronomy
18. WATERING HOLE Anagram of lowering heat
21. RECOVERED Re(volvers) [i.e. ‘a couple of’ letters from revolvers] + covered [insured]
23. IRONY Iron [press] + (sa)y to give a (largely American English) synomym for sarcasm
24. INSULIN Insul(t) [offend] + in [at home] to give the hormone that regulates glucose
25. CHARIOT Chat [talk] surrounding Rio [venue for carnival – a welcome variation on the oft-used ‘port’]
26. GEYSER Anagram of g(ood) eyes (viewe)r
27. ISLANDER I [one] + slander [cast aspersions] to give one who might be from the British Isles, for example
DOWN
1. BIG BEN Big [great] + ben(t) [tendency, finishing early] to give the bell that strikes the hour in the Palace of Westminster
2. ANNEAL Anne [former queen] + a(nswer) + l(ose)
3. TREASURER Treasure [prize] + r(ight) – bit of a clunker, this one, I thought
4. ENGAGEMENT RING A lovely simple double definition: engagement [battle] + ring [call] to give the ulimate sign of commitment
6. EVADE Hidden in reverse (i.e. when ‘upped’) inside weightED AVErage
7. CRITICAL Critic [fault-finder] + a + l(ine)
8. EGGHEADS Egg [encourage, as in ‘egg on’] + heads [principals]
9. CLEARS THE DECKS Clears [profits – as in ‘we cleared £100,000 this financial year’ – perhaps a bit of a stretch] + anagram of sketched
15. DALAI LAMA Reversal of lad + AI [first-class, or A1] + L [student, or Learner] + a MA [Master of Arts] to give the exiled spiritual leader of Tibet
16. SWARMING S(orro)w + arming [providing with weaponry]
17. STICKS BY Stick [staff] + s(econd) + by [sounds like buy or purchase] to give a more colloquial version of stands by
19. COPIED Coped [managed] surrounding I [one]
20. OYSTER Double definition, referring to the shade of pink (I’d never heard of it – oyster to me would mean whitish-grey – but it seems you can buy duvet covers, nail polish and tile-grouting in it, so I won’t argue) and to Shakespeare’s The Merry Wives of Windsor (‘Why, then the world’s mine oyster,’ says Pistol, ‘which I with sword will open’]
22. VALVE Vale [valley] surrounding v(isitors) to give something that regulates flow
I found this pretty straightforward, though I had to check ANNEAL which was a new word to me. My favourite clue was probably ISLANDER.
Thanks for your great blog, Ringo, and for an enjoyable puzzle, Orense.