Ha!
“23, 17, 26, 2, 21a, 14, 11, 13, 18, 16, 21d, 3, 1d, 24” gives WEEWEE, SHOWERED, EERIE, DISMAY, YORE, DAIS, BEAM, ARIAN, BRIGHTON, MAYORAL, YORKIST, MYRRH, THISBE, WIGHT
We wish you deary this our dear readers: “May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white”.
Just fantastic! Thanks Gaff.
Merry Christmas to you all.
| Across | ||
| 1 | TIDEMARK |
It’s turned back at nameless country’s border (8)
IT is reversd (turned back) then DEnMARK (country) missing N (nameless)
|
| 5 | AT ODDS |
A third of directors did seem initially in disagreement (2,4)
A Third Of Directors Did Seem (initial letters of)
|
| 9 | INSTRUCT |
In December, force abolished first team coach (8)
INST (this month, December) RUC (former police force) Team (first letter of)
|
| 10 | AMORAL |
Bacchanal extremes leave royal residence valueless (6)
bAlMORAL (royal residence) missing BacchanaL (extremes of)
|
| 12 | BOATHOUSE |
Scarf you see reduced in craft store (9)
BOA (scarf) THOU (you) SEe (reduced)
|
| 13 | ARIAN |
Sign member has strain at noon (5)
ARIA (strain) at N (noon)
|
| 14 | DAIS |
Bloomer – short platform (4)
DAISy (bloomer, short)
|
| 16 | MAYORAL |
Teresa could be speaking of office (7)
Teresa MAY and ORAL (speaking)
|
| 19 | HARBOUR |
Keep time to retain supporter’s backing (7)
HOUR (time) retains BRA (supporter) reversed
|
| 21 | YORE |
Past Times solver’s announced (4)
sounds like (announced) “your” (solvers)
|
| 24 | WIGHT |
Island’s importance egg-head’s missing (5)
WeIGHT (importance) missing E (head of egg)
|
| 25 | PERSEVERE |
“Carry On” inherently entertaining at any time (9)
PER SE (inherently) containing EVER (at any time)
|
| 27 | RITUAL |
Tradition from the east puts centre into retreat (6)
pUTs (centre of) in LAIR (retreat) all reversed (read from the east, the right)
|
| 28 | PIER VIEW |
Support survey enjoyed on the front in 18, for example (4,4)
PIER (support) VIEW (survey)
|
| 29 | DANGER |
Threat of terminal road rage (6)
roaD (termination of) ANGER (rage)
|
| 30 | STEERAGE |
Basic accommodation from crooked travel agencies Calvin vetoed (8)
(TRAvEl aGEnciES)* missing CALVIN
|
| Down | ||
| 1 | THISBE |
Tragic lover man’s wager finally came first (6)
HIS BET (man’s wager) last letter to front
|
| 2 | DISMAY |
Outcome of sadism – a yell of distress (6)
found inside saDISM A Yell
|
| 3 | MYRRH |
Seasonal gift from Gaff’s car hire start-up (5)
MY (Gaff’s) RR (Rolls Royce, car) H (start of hire)
|
| 4 | RECOUPS |
Makes good salesmen, recruiting half-cousin (7)
COUsin (hlaf of) in REPS (salesmen)
|
| 6 | TOM SAWYER |
Adventurous American boy reported to Lady Godiva? (3,6)
sounds like “Tom saw you”, the original peeping Tom
|
| 7 | DERRIERE |
Broadcast song when following London bum (8)
sounds like (broadcast) Derry Air, song from Londonderry
|
| 8 | SILENTLY |
Without speaking trash, left in style (8)
anagram (trash) of L (left) and IN STYLE
|
| 11 | BEAM |
Smile of support (4)
double definition
|
| 15 | ABOUT FACE |
Instruction to rank in reverse at finish (5-4)
cryptic definition?
|
| 17 | SHOWERED |
Cranks see Dr Who was generous (8)
(SEE DR WHO)* anagram=cranks – one gives gifts at a shower
|
| 18 | BRIGHTON |
Novel rock and roll bothering centre left (8)
BOTHeRING* anagram=rock missing centre – Brighton Rock by Graham Greene
|
| 20 | RIPE |
Ready for farewell at the end (4)
RIP (rest in peace, farewell) at thE (end of)
|
| 21 | YORKIST |
Supporter wearing white rose to risky caper (7)
(TO RISKY)* anagram=caper
|
| 22 | RETINA |
Display quality coat in viewing (6)
double definition – lining of the eye and Apple’s proprietary term for their high-end display screens
|
| 23 | WEEWEE |
Tiny little number, one (6)
WEE (tiny) WEE (little) – number one and number two, baby talk for wee and poo
|
| 26 | EERIE |
Fearful anger in mid-week uprising (5)
IRE (anger) in wEEK (middle of)
|
*anagram
definitions are underlined
Possibly: WEEWEE, SHOWERED, EERIE, DISMAY is “we wish you a Merry Christmas”? You would have to be very drunk for Merry Christmas to sound like dearie disma.
Thank you PeeDee – I certainly needed your help with this one! Best wishes to all.
“We wish our dear readers…”?
Thanks passerby – definitely the right solution.
…and Merry Christmas to everyone from Gaff!
See you in the New Year
Just discovered this – great fun! Thanks to the theme it was just about manageable without a printer too (mine’s given up the ghost for Xmas it seems). Many thanks, Gaff.
Thanks Gaff and PeeDee
One from the very old backlog pile which I was able to do on the Australia Day holiday yesterday after a game of golf on what was an excellent day weather-wise down here !!
Enjoyable but toughish challenge with a lot of interesting and varied clues. Finished up in the SE corner with PATINA ( sort of parsed as a cryptic definition, with an affected trophy), PORTERAGE (half parsed with the AGE or the ERA part as ‘time’) and the clever RIPE as last in. Pity that PATINA was supposed to be RETINA (didn’t recall the Apple screen) and that PORTERAGE was really PERSEVERE. Both tough clues and Gaff gets the points with it this time.
I got most of the rubric – with WE WISH ????????: (and the lines from ‘White Christmas), but just couldn’t make anything come from the rest, so thank you passerby@3 for picking that out !!! A good get !
Thought that TOM SAWYER was quite witty …