Some nice clues from Cyclops this week, with the usual scattering of scurrilous and misleading surface reading. I completed it in the course a a not-very-long bus journey, which indicates that it wasn’t especially difficult, but it was challenging enough.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | SHRIVEL | Lose erection when writer Lionel finally changes political allegiance? Lionel Shriver, the journalist and author, with her right (R) wing changed to a left (L) wing |
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| 7 | CORSICA | Company car is makeshift home to a little Napoleon CO = company; *(car is), with ’makeshift’ as the anagram indicator. Napoléon Bonaparte was born in Corsica. |
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| 10 | ENTHUSIAST | Dicky sat us in the buff *(sat us in the), with ’dicky’ as the anagram indicator. Definition: buff. Nice wordplay, with misleading surface reading |
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| 11/23 | CALM DOWN | Before dear old sexist Michael Winner made it popular The catchphrase “Calm down, dear” is associated with Michael Winner; David Cameron was accused of sexism in the House of Commons for using it to address Angela Eagle MP. |
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| 12 | COFFIN | Barking, audibly so, to lose big money box COFFING sounds like (‘audibly’) ‘coughing’ (barking); remove G (£1000, big money), to get this box, which is the definition |
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| 14 | IMPROPER | “Vulgar, one is something on the stage” — Brenda IM = I am or, as some people such as the Queen, say ‘one is’; PROP = something on the stage; ER = Brenda, Private Eyes name for the Queen |
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| 15 | ELIZABETHAN | The Nazi able to be broadcast, being related to Brenda *(The Nazi able). Referring to either Queen Elizabeth |
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| 19 | OUTBURST | Overtly gay crack produces a tantrum OUT = overtly gay; BURST = crack (hmm, not sure about that…) |
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| 21 | INCH | Creep from Virgin chain Hidden in ‘Virgin chain’ |
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| 22 | HOOK AND EYE | Evil Captain with rogue DNA has to ogle a bit of suspender Captain Hook, enemy of Peter Pan; *(DNA); EYE = ogle Hook and eye closures are a method of fastening garments together and are commonly used on bras and other items of underwear, including suspender belts; but suspenders themselves are not hook-and-eye. |
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| 24 | FLANEUR | One enters a flowery name for an idler AN = one; in FLEUR = a flowery name |
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| 25 | NO SWEAT | Negative Labour won’t be a problem NO = negative; SWEAT = Labour. Phrase meaning “It won’t be a problem [to do that]” |
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| Down | |||
| 1 | PHANTOM | Breathe heavily when around hot ’pussy’, that’s the spirit Unfortunately, this doesn’t quite work — Cyclops seems to have been carried away by the surface reading. The intended wordplay, with ‘spirit’ as the definition, is: PANT = breathe heavily; around H = hot; TOM = pussy. But it gives one T too many. |
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| 2/20a | HIGH SCHOOL | In which to study pissed artists’ group HIGH = pissed; SCHOOL = artists’ group (used for a group of artists with certain elements of style in common) |
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| 3 | LESSON | In an advanced state of undress? That’ll teach you! LESS ON = wearing fewer garments |
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| 4 | SOFT SPOT | Flabby second paunch evokes affection SOFT = flabby; S = second; POT = paunch. An affectionate feeling for someone or something… or the soft spot you have for them might be your compost heap. |
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| 5 | PSYCHOPATH | Unstable sort of bizarrely happy Scot eating high-fibre starter *(happy Scot), with ‘bizarrely’ as the anagram indicator; containing H = first letter of ‘high-fibre’ |
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| 8 | CALLER | One who challenges bluff Clegg’s initial line in real vacillation? C = legg’s initial; L = line; in *(real), with ‘vacillation’ as an anagram indicator which some purists won’t like, but I don’t mind at all. The phrase ‘to call someone’s bluff‘ originated in the game of poker, where it means ‘to make an opponent show their hand in order to reveal that its value is weaker than their heavy betting suggests’; by extension, it can mean ‘to challenge someone to carry out a stated intention, in the expectation of being able to expose it as a pretence’. |
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| 9 | PANIC BUTTON | Depressed in a crisis, but can point nuts? *(but can point), with ‘nuts’ as the anagram indicator. I really like the definition in this clue — a panic button is something you could press in the event of a crisis — but the wordplay seems a tiny bit forced |
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| 13 | FALL BEHIND | Lag, season arse FALL = the American word for the season autumn; BEHIND = arse |
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| 16 | ZERO HOUR | Ouzo with Herr Bent when the operation starts *(Ouzo Herr), with ‘bent’ as the anagram indicator |
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| 17 | FUNNEL | Sport with royal mistress getting end away, as could be seen on ship FUN = sport; NEL = royal mistress NELL Gwyn, missing her final L (getting end away) |
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| 18 | COPY CAT | Unoriginal hack’s article on whip COPY = the text of a journalist‘s article; CAT = whip (e.g. cat o’nine tails) |
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| 20 | SEASON | Spring as one discharges after sex initiated? *(as one), with ‘discharges’ as the anagram indicator; after S = initial letter of ‘sex’. Definition: spring |
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white
white
I leave you with this link:
21 Letters to Viz
Thanks jetdoc! Completed, but could not parse a few solutions. I was also thrown by 1 (d) phantom, which does seem to double count the T as you’ve suggested.
Re 8 (d) line = L is that a common abbreviation and is it because lower case of letter ‘L’ is just a straight line?
It’s fairly commonly used in crosswords, Franko. Chambers gives the lower-case letter as an abbreviation of ‘line’.
I got shrivel but never heard of shriver.
I’m always confused by one in crosswords . I think the Times insists it is I -but is a or an fair game elsewhere? Regardless flanuer was a total unknown -did others know it?
I had to google “writer Lionel” which produced Shriver who I hadn’t heard of her either. I vaguely recollected that there was a word ‘flaneur’ in French but wasn’t sure if it existed in English and what it meant exactly, but thought it was ne’er do well – OED came to the rescue. Can’t help on one, I’m afraid.