1A of this puzzle sums the last week or so up perfectly…’US era’s, er, done for – cheer up!‘ And then it goes on to give some mixed messages about the past, present and future state of the States…
On the positive side, we have: PURPLE HEART, AIR FORCE ONE, ALL SYSTEMS GO, and the obligatory American WHOOP (just the one!).
On the negative side: LOW TONE, CRISIS, ROTTEN CHARACTER, STRIFE, HELPLESS and SCREW UP…phew, is Cyclops setting the tone for the next four years?!
There is a nod to the SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP, although there might be a few RIPPLES coming across the pond on that front…it may need some SALVAGE if (or rather, when), Boris manages to put his foot in the doo-doo at some point.
Lastly, there is a special mention for Nigel Farage, as Donald Trump’s SUPPOSITORY!
All good topical – although still, maybe understandably US/Trump-focused – Cyclops-ean fare.
Update – some correspondence below re. 11D – I had LOW TONE, some thought LOW NOTE. The published solution is LOW NOTE, so I stand corrected! I guess something ending ‘on a low note’ is the opposite of something ending ‘on a high note’, so could be thought of as ‘subdued’…
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
|
| 1A | REASSURE | US era’s, er, done for – cheer up! (8) | Cheer up! / anag, i.e. done for, of US ERAS ER |
|
| 5A | CRISIS | Disaster! Conservative right terrorist group prevails (6) | Disaster! / C (Conservative) + R (right) + ISIS (terrorist group) |
|
| 9A | DIRGE | Gallagher’s intro in crappy song (5) | song / DIR_E (crappy) around G (intro to Gallagher) |
|
| 10A | WALLPAPER | Everything in western tabloid that gets a pasting? (9) | that gets a pasting / W (western) + ALL (everything) + PAPER (tabloid) |
|
| 12A | CAPTION | Note: no.1 heartless Trump bill gets backing (7) | note / NO I (No 1) + TP (heartless TrumP) + AC (bill, account) – all ‘backing’ to give CAPTION |
|
| 14A | WELL-OFF | My! Stinking rich! (4-3) | rich / WELL (My!) + OFF (stinking) |
|
| 15A | RELATIONSHIP | see 3dn. (12) | see 3D / see 3D |
|
| 17A | ALL SYSTEMS GO | Every constitution’s to lapse; nothing to prevent it’s going ahead (3,7,2) | nothing to prevent it’s going ahead / ALL (every) + SYSTEM’S (constitution’s) + GO (lapse) |
|
| 22A | OTHELLO | Tragedy to back arse-licking publication (7) | (Shakespearean) tragedy / OT (to, back) + HELLO (fawning, or arse-licking, publication) |
|
| 23A | FORAYED | Raided euro finally gets rather ragged protection (7) | raided / F_RAYED (rather ragged) around (protecting) O (final letter of EurO) |
|
| 24A | CHARACTER | Daily Mail’s no. 2: cert to dissipate moral qualities (9) | moral qualities / CHAR (cleaner, daily) + A (second letter of mAil) + CTER (anag, i.e. dissipated, of CERT) |
|
| 25A | WHOOP | How unlikely hero Trump finally makes you cry (5) | cry / WHO (anag, i.e. unlikely, of HOW) + OP (final letters of ‘herO trumP) |
|
| 27A | ROTTEN | Gone off Balls and his coveted score? (6) | gone off / ROT (rubbish, balls) + TEN (the perfect score Ed Balls might covet on Strictly Come Danciong?) |
|
| 28A | HELPLESS | Abandoned, he sells out, securing Trump’s end (8) | abandoned / HEL_LESS (anag, .e. out, of HE SELLS), around P (TriumP’s end) |
|
| Down | ||||
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
|
| 1D | REDACT | Be an editor: dare blithely to be taken to court! (6) | be an editor / REDA (anag, i.e. blithely, of DARE) + CT (court) |
|
| 2D | AIR | & 23dn./26dn. Go public with press: “working on drug that might get Trump high” (3) | that might get Trump high / AIR (go public) + FORCE (press) + ON (working) + E (drug, ecstasy) |
|
| 3D | SPECIAL | & 15ac. “Unusual screwing – cool!” – but Trump may well ruin it for May (7) | Trump may well ruin it for (Theresa) May / SPECIAL (unusual) + RELATIONS (screwing) + HIP (cool) |
|
| 4D | ROWAN | Republican to admit to suppressing article: “Bush” (5) | Bush / R (Republican) + OW_N (admit) around (suppressing) A (indefinite article) |
|
| 6D | RIPPLES | Place coveted by creepy Piers, made by disturbing types (7) | made by disturbing types / RIP_ES (anag, i.e. creepy, of PIERS) around (coveted by) PL (place) |
|
| 7D | SUPPOSITORY | Imagine dismissing extreme right wing international politician’s medical aid via backdoor (11) | medical aid via back door / SUPPOS(E) (imagine, dismissing extreme right letter) + I (international) + TORY (politician) |
|
| 8D | STRIFE | First new European leader … then hostility (6) | hostility / STRIF (anag, i.e. new, of FIRST) + E (leading letter of European) |
|
| 11D | LOW NOTE |
Replacement ‘new tool’ that’s somewhat subdued (3,4) | somewhat subdued / anag, i.e. replacement, of NEW TOOL opposite of a high note?… |
|
| 13D | PURPLE HEART | Mad emasculated Trump: “Here, pal, pin that on defenders of American values” (6,5) | pin that on defenders of American values / anag, i.e. mad, of TRU(M)P (emasculated) + HERE PAL |
|
| 16D | TEST OUT | Experiment with gutted tissue fat (4,3) | experiment / TE (T-issu-E, gutted) + ST_OUT (fat) |
|
| 18D | SALVAGE | Result of Conservative act that scrapes the bottom? (7) | CD?/double defn / SALVAGE of sunken boats could be a Conservative (conservationary?) act which scrapes along the bottom of the sea bed?… |
|
| 19D | SCREW-UP | Fiasco, having sex out of bed (5-2) | fiasco / if one is out of bed, i.e. UP, and having sex (a SCREW) then this could be described as a SCREW ‘UP’ |
|
| 20D | CONCUR | Political party, despicable sort – agree? (6) | agree / CON (Conservatives, political party) + CUR (despicable sort) |
|
| 21D | ADAPTS | A first for Donald: past fancy ‘suits’ (6) | suits / A + D (first letter of Donald) + APTS (anag, i.e. fancy, of PAST) |
|
| 23D | FORCE | see 2dn. (5) | see 2D / see 2D |
|
| 26D | ONE | see 2dn. (3) | see 2D / see 2D |
|
I got ‘Low Note’ for 11D, which also fits the definition, anagram and crossing letters.
That’s two of these in a row where I’ve entered an answer that works, but an alternative exists – and got it wrong both times! Last time it was the last Down clue, for which ‘legal cases’ and ‘legal costs’ worked.
Better luck this week, hopefully!
3D. Special + Relations (Screwing) + Hip (Cool)
Pajodr at #1 – good point, and I did waver between LOW NOTE and LOW TONE for 11D – should have mentioned it in the blog. None of my versions of Chambers have either as a formal entry, so I just plumped for tone, as in a subdued tone…we’ll find out on Wednesday-ish when the latest edition comes out!
Antti at #2 – thanks for this parsing on 3D – I was sort of in the right ballpark, but obviously didn’t check closely enough before publishing – have updated.
2016 ended on a low note, with widespread uncertainty …
Re. 11D — Chambers (print edition) has this for ‘tone down’: ‘to give a lower tone to: to moderate: to soften: to harmonise the colours of as to light and shade, as a painting’.
A low note, on the other hand, is not necessarily a subdued note (2016 ended on a low note, with much wailing and gnashing of teeth).
re 11 (d) I had to double check what I went for in the end as I also thought about tone/note. I elected for Low Note because I felt this was more of a recognised term/usage. All will be revealed on Tuesday/Wednesday!
Thanks for the various comments – looks like 11D was the source of some consternation…as Franko says, all will be revealed shortly…
NB. I’m not sure where I got SAVAGE from – I must have misread SALVAGE…I think I was what Private Eye might call ‘tired and emotional’ when putting this to the presses last night!…
OK – the published solution has LOW NOTE for 11D – have updated the blog above…