It’s Monday and once more it’s cheeky chappie Hoskins.
I do like Harry’s style, good clues with fun to boot. Mix of clues involving US politics and typical innuendo.
Across
1 Ring Domino’s up or set places for supper? (6,5)
DINING ROOMS
An anagram of [RING DOMINOS]* up or set.
7 Fool, n: one with the mouth of Trump (3)
NIT
N & 1 & the mouth of – opening of – T(rump). The Donald will be making lives easy for setters for a while methinks
9 Ordinary argument for one in court (9)
PLAINTIFF
PLAIN (ordinary) & TIFF (argument)
10 Band that’s sacked its front man, Fish (5)
ANGLE
Kept trying to make this (m)arrilion, but I suspect it (b)ANGLE. Does this really work? the first letter being “front man”?
11 A bishop taking crack? Pardon! (7)
ABSOLVE
Another great image, A & B(ishop) & SOLVE (crack)
12 Behind-pinching socialist told … (7)
RELATED
LATE (behind) being pinched by RED
13 … failings by female with principles (5)
FLAWS
F(emale) & LAWS (principles)
15 Condemn old flame erotica sent wild? (9)
EXCORIATE
EX (old flame) & EROTICA* sent wild
17 A shade rude: like Prince Philip earlier on? (5,4)
ROYAL BLUE
ROYAL (like Phil the Greek) & BLUE (rude)
19 Submit Hoskins must be put into in office (5)
POSIT
I (hoskins – the setter) inside POST
20 Some fruit man sold in an unusual way (7)
ALMONDS
[MAN SOLD]* unusually
22 Harlot caught with flipping degenerate church official (7)
PROCTOR
PRO(stitute) & C(aught) & ROT reversed
24 Grunt about facilities in frozen house (5)
IGLOO
GI (US soldier – a “grunt”0 reversed & LOO (the facilities)
25 Faking illness to avoid mum hanging around (9)
LINGERING
MA removed from (ma)LINGERING
27 One against new, face-losing PM? (3)
NAY
N(ew) & (m)AY losing her face
28 An old man nan lathered in error (11)
NEANDERTHAL
[NAN LATHERED]* in error
Down
1 Party planner’s first drink in Cape Town (3)
DOP
DO (party) & the start of P(lanners). South African for a drink
2 Some drunken ear stroking approaches (5)
NEARS
Hidden answer, intriguing imagery from the surface.
(picture is of Hoskins at the last S&B )
3 Nazi leader working together with Fox (7)
NONPLUS
More US politics perhaps – leader of N(azi) & ON (working) & PLUS (with)
4 Erect nether regions cause a commotion (5,4)
RAISE HELL
If it’s Hoskins you can expect rude surfaces – RAISE (erect) & HELL (the nether regions poetically)
5 What an ex-royalist might have gone: tender? (5)
OFFER
The ex royalist might be OFF her majesty (E.R.)
6 Plaster cast or another fixing device (7)
STAPLER
PLASTER* cast
7 Late drinks? They go to folk’s heads at bedtime! (9)
NIGHTCAPS
Double defintion and a sweet mix of them too.
8 Arbiter of taste‘s brief attempt to finish Hoskins? (11)
TRENDSETTER
TR(y) briefly & END (finish) & SETTER
11 Declaration: I am fat and in for exercising (11)
AFFIRMATION
[I AM FAT IN FOR]* exercising.
14 A wee yen to nurse unloved boy in a bad way (9)
ABYSMALLY
BY (boy without the o – love) in A & SMALL (wee) & Y(en)
16 Degraded man seen in ad Pence put out (9)
CHEAPENED
More US politics – HE (man) in [AD PENCE]* put out
18 A Green politician assassinated in the US (7)
LINCOLN
Double defintion
19 I must cut support for trailblazing type (7)
PIONEER
ONE (I) in PIER (support)
21 Dip that might be performed on Strictly? (5)
SALSA
Double defintion
23 Tense? Stoned? Bit of a chicken? (5)
THIGH
T(ense) & H(igh)
26 Young female criminal needing a rise (3)
GAL
LAG reversed
Very enjoyable. Thanks to Hoskins and Flashling.
I can’t parse 10ac satisfactorily either, although the answer was clear. I agree (b)ANGLE doesn’t seem right, since the band was actually call The Bangles. The wordplay takes you to (m)ANGLE, but mangle doesn’t mean band in any sense, as far as I’m aware. The only band I could think of ending in ANGLE was Pentangle but that doesn’t work either. Looking forward to being enlightened.
In bANGLE, is not the eliminated B for ‘bishop’, the chess ‘man’?
Ok I see it now. Bangle as in wrist-band. Doh. Too fixated on one meaning …
Hoskins does make me laugh. I really enjoyed this.
I hadn’t previously tasted 1d and I was a little unsure of the grunt in 24a, though it turns out I had the right interpretation. Not that the answer could have been anything else anyway.
I just took bangle to mean bracelet, and unlike Geebs was happy that that’s a type of band – however, I did miss the reasoning behind B being a man (just thought it was a quirky first letter deletion indicator), so thanks to Grant above for that.
Favourite clues? All the funny and/or naughty ones. That’s too many to list.
Many thanks and to Flashling. I’m looking forward to buying you both a drink in two months time.
I’m saying that because there’s been a (to me) new, recent trend of using ‘queen’ to mean man in the same sense, so I’ve been on the look-out: I note that there are 3 ‘man’s in the clues today.
Whatever, a good solid Monday puzzle with some fun thrown in.
Thanks to Hoskins & Flashy.
That last bit was meant of course to say thanks to Harry and to Flashling. Thanks and drinks to both setter and reviewer. 🙂
What Kitty said @4 – all of it.
A most enjoyable puzzle from Hoskins.
Thanks to Harry and Flashing
Er Flashling even.
Told you not to leave that webcam on
A fair few chuckles as usual with Hoskins. Had not heard of DOP. ABSOLVE a good one and great surface for LINGERING.
IA I would say the anagrind is “up” and that “set” is part of the definition in the sense that DINING ROOMS are set (fixed) places for dining, ie for no other meals and/or activities.
Thanks to Hoskins and flashling.
@Baerchen searching for some electrical tape for the cam now, thanks 🙂
I warmed to this the moment I saw the Trump clue(which was the first I did see)
Good fun.
Thanks both. Good fun, and it put several smiles on my face this morning, which is what I think puzzles should be about. Apart from learning stuff, which is where GRUNT for GI came in for me.
Just right for a start to the week puzzle.
Thanks Harry and flashing flashling.
Good fun as others have said. GB @2 nailed the parsing of (b)ANGLE, I think.
I particularly liked RAISE HELL.
Another cracker from Harry. Also thought RAISE HELL was brilliant.
Thanks Hoskins and flashling. Lots to enjoy and a fun start to the week.
For those of you are intending to come to the next S&B gathering in Nottingham, we promise that there will? be no web cams!
Many thanks to The Flash for the usual super blog (you said that pic was private!) and to all who solved, and especially all who took the time out to comment.
Very happy you guys liked the puzzle and also very happy to see Robi in the Indy threads (hullo Jeff) and look forward to seeing the kittehz in Nottingham and drinking the drink she buys me, natch.
Right ’nuff ramble from me. I do but believe you all know the drill by now and so, in the key of whatever you fancy: a one, a two, a one two three four …
I hear the trolley a comin’
It’s rollin’ ’round the bend,
And I ain’t drunk no moonshine
Since, oh about half past ten
I’m stuck in Flash’s fab blog
with a fag I keeps draggin’ on
But that trolley keeps a-rollin’
On down my gullet, all gone!
When I was just a baby
My Mama told me, “Son
Always be a drunkard
Don’t ever play with puns,”
But I wrote a clue in Reno
Just to see Johnny Vegas (sigh)
When see the stuff I’ve written
I hang my head and cry
I bet there’s solvers’ thinking
In a fancy Oxbridge bar
They’re probably thinking: idiot!
And laughing, har-de-har
But I know I gotta set ’em
I can’t but help be naugh-tee
But I’ve got to clue ‘onomatopoeic’
And that’s what tortures me
Well if they sacked me from the Indy
If that drinks trolley was all mine
I bet I’d move more than a little
Farther down the line
Far from Fifteen Squared
That’s where I’d never wanna be
So lets wet our lonesome whistles
with the darned drinks trolley!
And with that, it’s cheers and chin-chin from me and Mr Cash. Look forward to seeing you all next time around (or tomorrow where there’s a very nice Vigo puzzle to continue our Indy week, IIRC). 🙂
I’ve nothing new to add other than I particularly liked “plain tiff” for ordinary argument which was one of my LOsI. And I had unparsed DUP for 1d – thanks for the correct answer Flashling and to Hoskins for the puzzle.