Private Eye/Cyclops 585 Difficult Woman

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A puzzle centred on the phrase “Bloody difficult woman”.   Ken Clarke’s observation <link>  which was caught on mic during this summer’s Tory leadership non-election.  I imagine as soon as the story broke Cyclops delighting in using that in a grid design.

But my goodness, this was difficult puzzle to get started.  Only 7 answers in after the first pass – mostly in the bottom half.  I got all the way down to 23A APPREHEND before finding a definitely right answer.  I wondered if it was just me having a dull moment, but on a subsequent session the next day it seemed as tricky. Anyway, because I tackled the puzzle as soon as I got the magazine last week I had plenty of time to get the rest, and I got there in the end.  While writing the blog, in retrospect I see that there are some really very good clues in here.

eye585

Across
9 OTHER HALF Hillary or Bill, possibly for health reforms (5,4)
(FOR HEALTH)* AInd: reforms. Has to be but weak def.
10 BIGOT Trump, apparently unfussy sexually, to leave on time (5)
BI (Bisexual = unfussy sexually) GO (to leave) T[ime]
12 DISMISSAL Lives with SNP leader, wearing forlorn sack (9)
IS S (from S[np]) inside DISMAL (forlorn)
13 BEST MAN Ex-football star geezer is match attendant (4,3)
BEST (George Best = ex-footbal star) MAN (geezer)
15 TRACHEA Extra-cheap housing for air-tube (7)
Hidden in exTRA CHEAap
17/11 BLOODY DIFFICULT WOMAN Do fanciful broadcast with “wild tomboy”, Theresa May? (6,9,5)
(DO FANCIFUL WILD TOMBOY)* AInd: broadcast. See link in preamble.  I found this very difficult even though I was well aware of the story, and I identified the wordplay, but I struggled with the anagram fodder until sufficient crossing letters were in place.
SINGLET Squeal “rent undergarment!” (7)
SING (Squeal ) LET (rent)
21 LANCERS Balls once associated with such capers, wielding canes left and right (7)
(CANES L R)* AInd: weilding. How is Balls associated with Lancers? Are they known for large ones? (Must be all that bouncing up and down on the back of a horse)
23 APPREHEND Nick happened to go wrong around middle of March (9)
(HAPPENED)* AInd: to go wrong, around R from [ma]R[ch].  First one in.
25 DARTS Rotating instrument for flies (5)
STRAD< Rev. Ind: Rotating.  Flies as in hurries.  Penultimate clue solved
26 CAMUS He wrote of our absurd situation: “flipping problem with a Conservative leader” (5)
SUM (problem) A C[onservative], all reversed.  Ref. Albert Camus’ philosophy of the absurd <wiki>
27 COWARDICE Noel with refreshment lacking in ‘bottle quality’ (9)
Noel COWARD + ICE (refreshment)
Down
1 COBWEB Old racing driver takes the Eye to be a means of entrapment (6)
COBB (Old racing driver Ref. John Cobb <wiki>)  around WE (the eye).  I didn’t recognise the name Cobb, but having now looked him up do remember the pre-Donald Campbell speed freak.
2 THUMBS-DOWN Nowt wrong with Bush – mad to ignore a sign of rejection (6-4)
(NOWT BUSH MAD – A)* AInd: wrong
4 HARDENED Having an erection finish without definitive climax is incorrigible (8)
HARD (Having an erection) END (finish) around (without) [definitiv]E
5 OFFSET Neutralise rotten lay (6)
OFF (rotten) SET (lay)
6 OBLIGATION No alibi? Got to get fixed charge (10)
(NO ALIBI GOT)* AInd: get fixed
8 STALWART Last out conflict with Trump – arse has gone “valiant” (8)
LAST* AInd: out, WAR (conflict) TRUMP – RUMP
14 MIDDLE EAST Two Democrats implicated in email set fiasco – a troublesome area (6,4)
DD (two Democrats) inside (EMAIL SET)* AInd: fiasco
16 HOUSETRAIN Coach to go in the container provided? (10)
HOUSE (to contain something) TRAIN (coach?).  On reflection I will class this as a whole-clue Cryptic Definition.  Last one in.
17 BISMARCK Bricks tossed over state Chancellor (8)
BRICKS* AInd: tossed, around MA (state – Maine).  Excellent clue
18 FALL DOWN When Clinton might triumph over Dow Jones central collapse (4,4)
FALL (American for autumn – when Hillary might …) DOW [jo]N[es]
20 TRENCH Right embroiled in stink, leader having quit (depression) (6)
R[ight] inside [s]TENCH
22 SYSTEM Star group‘s messy break-up? About time (6)
MESSY* AInd: break up, around T[ime] Star Group as in Solar System
24/3 PUMP IRON Act the tosser with press, as Schwarzenegger would once do (4,4)
PUMP (act the tosser) IRON (press)
25/7 DARK AGES Sun quite lacking, deteriorates: no time for intellectual enlightenment? (4,4)
DARK (Sun quite lacking) AGES (deteriorates)

I must thank Richard Osman who gave me the biggest laugh I had last week.
He tweeted that the Daily Mail got him so frightened of openly gay ex-olympic fencers that he found himself going around permanently en garde

8 comments on “Private Eye/Cyclops 585 Difficult Woman”

  1. 21A – Lancers is a kind of formation square dance, and is a variation of the quadrille, so took place at balls in the 18th & 19th centuries.
    No special knowledge myself – I had to look it up after the anagram and the cross letters gave this as the only reasonable solution.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Lanciers

    Then again, it’s a pity it isn’t anything to do with bouncing around on a horse causing intimate swellings – that paints a more usual Cyclops-type imagery!

  2. Thanks beermagnet -this one defeated me with 4 clues unsolved. 13a Didn’t see match in the wedding sense and was fixated on all the officials at a football match. Nice clue though!
    16a defeated me annoyingly as it had to start with house and can see it works as a whole clue. 24/3 it had to be PUMP, IRON but didn’t get PUMP in sense of “act the tosser” -still don’t.

  4. @Franco…. consider the action necessary when pumping up one’s bicycle tyres and that when, in the vernacular, tossing off. A delightfully Cyclops-like clue, I thought!!!

  6. 16D – also my last one in. Persuaded myself it was a single definition as in teaching new pet cat to use a litter tray, i.e a sanitary ‘container provided’.

  7. Got to say, I was rather unconvinced by 16D too. Pretty well failed to convince myself at all but it couldn’t be anything else. it left a feeling of lack of fulfilment, if I am honest.

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