My sub-title may be wishful thinking…the PO-TWEET-US may have led us into the TWW before the prosecutors get to him…
Yep…100-or-so days on and Senhor Trump continues to dominate on all fronts, including Cyclops’ clueing. Well, I say dominate…only 5 direct references, so maybe his influence is waning here a little.
12A is an image I dread might happen when/if he does get a STATE VISIT to these shores, with both Theresa and Brenda as soft targets for his MOAG (mother of all gropes).
10/26/11 paints an image of Theresa leading us all up a flowery Brexit path…only to discover there are cracks in the pavement – and no EU laws to protect us when we trip and fall.
Otherwise, a fairly decent mix of Cyclops’ usual UK establishment targets and some smut mixed amongst it all to lower the tone to an acceptable level…and a bit of culture, with Simon RATTLE making an appearance at 8D:
One slight quibble on a Brexit-ian note: I wasn’t sure that ‘remainer’ could mean ‘ash’ in 18A – unless I have mis-parsed the clue?…Otherwise, I hope all is clear below – please shout if not…
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
|
| 1A | APOSTLE | Piss over Mail’s Andrew? (7) | Andrew? (example of an apostle) / A_LE (beer, piss) around (over) POST (mail) |
|
| 5A | INSHORE | Used heroin to ensnare state leader – but not in deep water (7) | not in deep water / IN_HORE (anag, i.e. used, of HEROIN) around (ensnaring) S (leading letter of State) |
|
| 10/26/11A | LEAD | What the PM should do: escalate Article – a flowery way, perhaps to deceive (4,2,3,6,4) | to deceive / LEAD (what the PM should do) + UP (to escalate) + THE (definite article) + GARDEN PATH (a flowery way, perhaps) |
|
| 11A | GARDEN PATH | See 10ac. (6, 4) | See 10A / See 10A |
|
| 12A | STATE VISIT | Groping Evita’s tits – just the sort of thing Trump would love (5,5) | just the sort of thing Trump would love / anag, i.e. groping, of EVITA’S TITS |
|
| 13/28A | TALK | Persuade Trump’s no. 1 Klan organisation to, on crushing independent (4,4) | persuade / T (Trump’s first, or no.1 letter) + ALK _N (anag, i.e. organisation of KLAN) around (crushing) I (independent), + TO |
|
| 14A | ICEBERG | One crappy beer in Coldstream Guards starts to be an obstacle (7) | an obstacle / I (one) + C_G (Coldstream Guards) around EBER (anag, i.e. crappy, of BEER) |
|
| 16A | SYMPTOM | Sign of, for example, kicking out a member – Watson? (7) | sign of / S(A)Y (for example, kicking out A) + MP (member, of parliament) + TOM (Tom Watson, Labour Party Deputy Leader – or the golfer?!) |
|
| 18A | UNLEASH | Let go of Conservative leader abandoning relative “remainer” (7) | let go of / UN(C)LE (relative, abandoned by C – leading letter of Conservative) + ASH (remains, or remainder, rather than remainer?) |
|
| 20A | PLAY-OFF | Soft screw with Dicky, which produces a winner (4-3) | which produces a winner (after a tie) / P (piano, soft) + LAY (screw) + OFF (dicky) |
|
| 22A | OPEN | See 25dn. (4) | See 25D / See 25D |
|
| 24A | DAWN CHORUS | Crown had crazy American tweets galore (4,6) | tweets galore / DAWN CHOR (anag, i.e/ crazy, of CROWN HAD) + US (American) |
|
| 27A | PROSECUTOR | POTUS gets mad with core Republican attorney (10) | attorney / anag, i.e. gets mad, of POTUS + CORE + R (Republican) |
|
| 28A | INTO | See 13ac. (4) | See 13A / See 13A |
|
| 29A | GRUYERE | Greek University: “your vulgar English – it’s full of holes!” (7) | it’s full of holes! / GR (Greek+ + U (university) + YER (your, vulgar) + E (English) |
|
| 30A | READIES | Decline to enter disgusting arse for money (7) | money / REA_S (anag, i.e. disgusting, of ARSE) around (entered by) DIE (decline) |
|
| Down | ||||
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
|
| 2D | PLEAT | Gather it’s a petition against Trump at the outset (5) | gather / PLEA (petition) + T (Trump, at the outset) |
|
| 3D | SIDE TABLE | Faction put forward a motion – appreciated by armchair scoffer? (4,5) | appreciated by armchair scoffer / SIDE (faction) + TABLE (put forward a motion) |
|
| 4D | LEG-OVER | Roger to get this, say, stuck in fan (3-4) | roger to get this / L_OVER (fan, of something) around EG (say) |
|
| 6D | NO ENTRY | New leader, new Tory takes measure: Exit only? (2,5) | Exit only? / N (leading letter of New) + O_TRY (anag, i.e. new, of TORY), around (taking) EN (measure) |
|
| 7D | HOP IT | Bound to have sex and then withdraw (3,2) | withdraw / HOP (bound) + IT (sexual activity, informal) |
|
| 8D | RATTLE OFF | Simon, musically, has rotten run through (6,3) | run through / RATTLE (Simon, musically – orchestra conductor) + OFF (rotten) |
|
| 9D | ARMS | See 25dn. (4) | See 25D / See 25D |
|
| 15D | CONSPIRER | Who’d plot against Trump’s spokesman (about to be replaced, by right) (9) | who’d plot against / CON (against) + SPI(C)(E)R (Sean Spicer, gaffe-prone Trump spokesman, replacing C – circa, about – with R – right|) |
|
| 17D | PAY NO MIND | Screw with not a care and think nothing of it (3,2,4) | think nothing of it / PAY (screw, wages) + NO (not a) + MIND (care) |
|
| 19D | SEDUCER | One who undoes Donald’s no. 1 in ‘recuse’ fiasco (7) | one who undoes / SE_UCER (anag, i.e. fiasco, of RECUSE) around D (no. 1 letter of Donald) |
|
| 21D | LE CARRE | Clear out before Brenda turns over intricate plot man (2,5) | intricate plot man / LE CAR (anag, i.e. out, of CLEAR) + RE (ER, Elizabeth Regina, called ‘Brenda’ by Private Eye, turned) |
|
| 23D | NASTY | One erection: pound (which isn’t very nice) (5) | which isn’t very nice / NA (an, or one, erected) + STY (pen, or pound) |
|
| 25/22/9D | WITH | Eagerly accompanied by Frank, member wanting ‘seconds’ (4,4,4) | eagerly / WITH (accompanied by) + OPEN (frank) + ARM (member) + S (seconds) |
|
| 26D | UP THE | See 10ac. (2, 3) | See 10A / See 10A |
|
Thanks mc-rapper-67. Re 6d I had the solution and also suspected that EN = measure but don’t know where this comes from. Any help please?
Franco
From Chambers: An en is a unit of measurement equal to half an em. An em is a unit of measurement (equal to the width of the lower-case letter ‘m’ in 12-point) used in spacing material and in estimating dimensions of pages (printing).
Thanks Gaufrid…I’m living and learning (hopefully)
http://grammarist.com/grammar/en-dash/
29a, Gruyere has no holes. Think Cyclops is thinking of Emmental. Together (with white wine, garlic and kirsh) you get fondue.
Thanks to Gaufrid and John E for the explanations on ‘en’ – and apologies to Franko, I should have elaborated more on this in my parsing of 6D.
And good spot from StuartH on the ‘un-holey’ cheese – I got the answer from wordplay/crossing letters and probably subconsciously assumed that all Swiss cheese have holes!…
http://www.thelocal.ch/20121207/french-gruyere-cheese-wins-approval-with-holes
French Gruyere DOES have holes. Just not the Swiss Gruyere. There are many hole-y cheeses.
(I also thought the same, and then went and did some googling! Even learnt WHY these cheese have holes. Fascinating.)