I am writing this blog while feeling a touch 4d after Friday evening and Saturday spent having fun with other Sloggers & Betters in York. It was great to see so many people and to meet a few new faces, and a fine time was had by all.
I found this Cyclops rather more challenging than usual (and I didn’t have a hangover when I solved it!) — especially 16a, which held me up for some time — but none the worse for it, with some lovely clues. 25a and 3d stand out, and the anagrams at 8/24 and 13d deserve a special mention.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | PANTO | Love to pursue heavy breathing sort of entertainment! O = love; after PANT = heavy breathing |
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| 9 | NARRATION | Account of events — managed to spin a fair share? RAN = managed, reversed (‘to spin’); RATION = a fair share |
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| 10 | BREAK A LEG | “Bust top class!” — member’s attempt at verbal encouragement BREAK = bust; A = top class; LEG = member. Phrase used to wish a theatrical performer good luck, in an ironic way |
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| 11/2 | DIRTY WORK | Unpleasant duty of sullied Labour DIRTY = sullied; WORK = Labour |
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| 12 | CHEKHOV | Put a tick against broadcast moody writer Sounds like (‘broadcast’) CHECK OFF = put a tick against Anton Chekhov |
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| 14 | LIAISON | Covert affair in Australia is one-sided Hidden in ‘Australia is one-sided’ |
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| 16 | TERSE | His employer’s taken in by the hard going Blunt ER’S = belonging to Queen Elizabeth, Anthony Blunt’s employer; in TE = ‘the’, minus H = hard (‘hard going’). ‘Blunt’ can mean ‘terse’. This was the last one I wrote in — though I was pretty sure of the answer, I was having problems parsing the ERS. A tricky clue. |
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| 20 | OFFENCE | Unsavoury sort of topless scene often taken by PC types OFF = unsavoury; *(cene) = sort of (anagram indicator) ‘scene’ minus its first letter (topless) |
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| 22 | AIR-RAID | Broadcast on Boris’s centre support: it’s a bomb-dropping event AIR = broadcast; on R = Boris’s centre; AID = support |
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| 25 | IRISH STEW | Hot dish from Murdoch and Sun, beset by the awful wife? IRIS Murdoch; S = Sun; surrounded by *(the), with ‘awful’ as the anagram indicator; W = wife |
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| 27 | LIABILITY | Independent infiltrating party, one pissed with ‘the ultimate in Tory burden’ I = independent; in LAB[our] party; I = one; LIT = pissed; Y = the ultimate in Tory. Definition: burden |
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| 28 | LOOSE | What LibDem candidates often do: accepting nothing is immoral LOSE = what LibDem candidates often do; O = nothing. Definition: immoral |
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| Down | |||
| 1/17 | KNEEJERK REACTION | Balls harmed by this typical tabloid-like response to events? An unthinking, predictable reaction is typical of the tabloid press; were a physical kneejerk to be aimed at the male genitals, it might well cause damage |
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| 3 | ENCLAVE | Hitler lover and Nigel Farage’s extreme elements rise, taking Conservative line: “Country besieged by foreigners!” EVA [Braun], NE = Nigel Farage’s extreme elements, all reversed (‘rise’ in a Down clue); taking in C= Conservative, L = line A piece of territory entirely enclosed within foreign territory |
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| 4 | FRAGILE | Slight perpetrated by tabloid in column RAG = tabloid; in FILE = column |
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| 5 | BANDMASTER | One with brass (and more) gets daughter and mothers framed in jest D = daughter; MAS = mothers; in BANTER = jest |
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| 6 | CITRUS | Rustic dancing, it might well bring tears to your eyes *(rustic). Lemon juice in the eye is definitely tear-jerking |
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| 7 | ONLY ONCE | ‘Unique’ alternative Con. candidate’s termination — never again! ONLY = unique; *(con); E = last letter of ‘candidate’ |
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| 8/24 | PUBIC HAIRS | CIA/Bush rip-off, the making of Bush *(CIA Bush rip). Great anagram and pun |
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| 13 | HEDONISTIC | Balls squeezed by tight chinos — it’s voluptuous? ED Balls; in *(chinos it) |
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| 15 | BOOT HILL | Resting-place in which Clinton grabs too blasted hard? BILL Clinton; containing *(too), with ’blasted’ as the anagram indicator; H = hardA cemetery in the American West for fighters who ‘died with their boots on’ |
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| 18 | DEFICIT | Adroit appropriation of old British company, which falls short of what’s required DEFT = adroit; ICI = Imperial Chemical Industries, until 2008, a British chemical company, the largest manufacturer in Britain for much of its history |
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| 19 | MARILYN | Old movie star, mainly pissed, acquiring Oscar finally *(mainly); containing R = last letter of ‘Oscar’Marilyn Monroe |
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| 21 | FRIDAY | Manservant causes row about dead royal ’rising up’ FRAY = row; round DI = dead royal (Diana, Princess of Wales) Man Friday, based on the character in Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe |
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| 23 | DOWSE | Miliband’s tip: “Woes out of hand? Make use of a pointer” D = Miliband’s tip (last letter); *(woes). To look for water with a divining rod |
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| 26/15 | HALF-BAKED | Harebrained as Cook’s far from 100% effort? Double definition: harebrained; undercooked |
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Having been rather busy helping to organise the weekend, I am a bit short of jokes this week. But here’s a link I have been laughing at recently:
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Two Ninnies
Thanks jetdoc! 16 across was also the last one for me. I did not see the ER’S solution despite a lot of head scratching.
Regarding 27 across – I = Independent, I wasn’t aware of that abbreviation. Is there a site or reference you could point me to for abbreviations used in cryptics?
This quite a common one — Chambers gives ‘independence’ and ‘independent’, Franko. Chambers Crossword Dictionary gives abbreviations under the individual words. I am not sure whether there’s anything that lists abbreviations first, followed by what they can represent.
Much appreciated, jetdoc. I’ve got a book token burning a hole in my pocket which will now be usefully employed.
Franko – Wikipedia also has a decent list. A lot of the examples they give are quite obscure, so I wouldn’t bother learning the whole thing, but it’s helpful for looking these sorts of things up.
It’s one of those abbreviations that turn up only or mostly in acronyms, isn’t it? As in ILP (Independent Labour Party) or UDI (Unilateral Declaration of Independence). I don’t know what determines which of them end up individually in Chambers or elsewhere. Most, understandably, seem not to. Cyclops has used it since at least 2008 (#360), so we also have a precedent.