Satisfying to knock off for the Christmas holidays with a nice round number – and a nice puzzle, too. Not a huge challenge but all very neat; some really lovely surfaces, too. Thank-you, Flimsy – and, to all setters, bloggers and readers, a very merry Christmas!
| Across | ||
| 1 | HOCUS-POCUS | HP mixed with couscous and tripe (5-5) |
| Anagram of HP couscous | ||
| 7 | RICH | Having many possessions from mother I cherish (4) |
| Hidden in motheR I CHerish | ||
| 9 | HEBE | Plant the bed, trimming the edges (4) |
| (T)he be(d) | ||
| 10 | PHOTOGRAPH | Oprah got upset with Prince – he’s beginning to snap (10) |
| Anagram of oprah got P [Prince] h(e’s) | ||
| 11 | HANDEL | Round of applause – the Spanish composer (6) |
| Hand [round of applause] el [Spanish for ‘the’] | ||
| 12 | DOGTEETH | Canines kill and get the bats (8) |
| Do [kill] anagram of get the | ||
| 13 | HONOLULU | American port made from honey initially overwhelmed pop star (8) |
| Hon [honey] O(verwhelmed) Lulu [popstar] | ||
| 15 | RASH | Queen remains headstrong (4) |
| R [regina, queen] ash [remains] | ||
| 17 | HUNT | Racing driver heading off to crash (4) |
| (S)hunt [crash] to give the racing driver James | ||
| 19 | KNEE-HIGH | Stockings might be smelly after keen exercising (4-4) |
| Anagram of keenhigh [smelly] | ||
| 22 | HEREUNTO | Until now, pounds – then euro? (8) |
| Anagram of then euro | ||
| 23 | RAVISH | Seduce 6 out of 15? On the contrary (6) |
| VI [6] within rash [see 15ac.] | ||
| 25 | HEREDITARY | In this place book about tenor’s passed down (10) |
| Here [in this place] t [tenor] within diary [book] | ||
| 26 | NOAH | Boat-builder starts to nail on all hatches (4) |
| Initial letters of Nail On All Hatches | ||
| 27 | HERD | Heartlessly caught group of animals (4) |
| He(a)rd [caught] | ||
| 28 | UNDERNEATH | Lower by the authority of Welsh town? (10) |
| Under [by the authority of] Neath [Welsh town] | ||
| Down | ||
| 2 | OREGANO | Tool holding earth over plant (7) |
| E [earth] within organ [tool] O [over] | ||
| 3 | UPEND | Topple leader in Uganda and await judgment (5) |
| U(ganda) pend [await judgment] | ||
| 4 | POPULOUS | Full of people – those not distinguished by rank, we hear (8) |
| Sounds like populace [those not distinguished by rank] | ||
| 5 | CLOUD-CUCKOO-LAND | Fantastic place to come down to follow obscure bird (5-6-4) |
| Cloud [obscure] cuckoo [bird] land [come down] | ||
| 6 | STODGE | Heavy food unfortunately – so get trapped wind in the end (6) |
| (Win)d within anagram of so get | ||
| 7 | RARE EARTH | Element scarce on planet (4,5) |
| Rare [scarce] earth [planet] | ||
| 8 | CAPOTES | American writer put on small cloaks (7) |
| Capote [Truman, the American writer] s [small] | ||
| 14 | ON THE MEND | Need month off for returning to health (2,3,4) |
| Anagram of need month | ||
| 16 | BETRAYER | First of the fish squeezed by stout snake (8) |
| T(he) ray [fish] within beer [stout] | ||
| 18 | UKELELE | Musical instrument’s left by bottom of guillotine after nobleman’s beheaded by the French (7) |
| (D)uke [nobleman] le [‘the’ in French] l [left] (guillotin)e | ||
| 20 | GESTALT | Latest reforms following government pattern (7) |
| G anagram of latest | ||
| 21 | IN SITU | Putin is unfortunate to lose power in position (2,4) |
| Anagram of putin is minus P [power] | ||
| 24 | VENUE | Place adult ignored in street (5) |
| Avenue [street] minus A [adult] | ||
Thanks Ringo and Flimsy.
There are lots of aitches.
I thought there were lots of “U”s but FLIMSY missed one for, though the abbreviation is uke, the correct spelling is ukulele. Maybe British dictionaries accept ukelele and i am wrong. I got that one (18) “right” but still couldn’t finish it. Don’t know Mr. Hunt (17). I am very happy when I miss five or fewer. Today I’m on cloud nine.
Capita @2: I think (or, at least, hope) you will enjoy the entry in Chambers 2008: ukelele a common spelling of ukulele.
P.S. A good thing I previewed this comment before submitting, because I originally typed “ukulele” both times.
There are aitches down the left and right side of the grid, as well as big ones made of the black bits.
I really loved this one, only stymied by 16d.It was a lovely lift after the DT offering.Thank you Flimsy and Ringo.
Thank you Pelham Barton. I hope Chambers is online and I can check it next time before I taint British honour.
It was almost impossible to make the awful joke. This apparatus kept on getting rid of the u. U again!