One of those Eye crossies that was over too soon.
Only 5 left to go after the first pass and they were, as usual, up the “top end” – some of the first attempted (1,2,5,9,10). They were knocked off in short order once a few more crossing letters appeared.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | GRATIFY | Germany’s head needs to give approval, please (7) G[ermany] RATIFY |
| 5 | ARAFAT | Some fear a fatuous ex-leader (6) Hidden in: feAR A FATuous |
| 10 | PUSSYCAT | “Pushover” sexualised females act otherwise (8) PUSSY (sexualised females) ACT* AInd: otherwise. |
| 11 | PALTRY | Liberal party crushes Left, which is mean (6) (PARTY L[eft])* AInd: Liberal |
| 13 | DIRTY MONEY | Criminal’s ready, being blue and tender? (5,5) DIRTY (blue) MONEY (tender) |
| 14 | STRAPPED | Was a physical disciplinarian cash-deficient? (8) Double Def. |
| 16 | COWBOY | Unreliable erection likely from this western type? (6) Cryptic Def./Double Def. referring to “Cowboy builders” |
| 17 | APOLLO | A test of public opinion by Corbyn’s no. 2 – “God!” (6) A POLL [c]O[rbyn] |
| 19 | TRADE WAR | Trump approach to world economics has Washington in clutches of stock exchange member (5,3) WA (Washington) inside TRADER (stock exchange member) |
| 21 | ARCHBISHOP | Clergyman chief bound to welcome those not sexually discriminating (10) BI’S (those not sexually discrminating) inside ARCH (chief) and HOP (bound) |
| 24 | KISMET | Lot gets me kit off outside back of Harrods (6) (ME KIT [harrod]S)* AInd: off |
| 25 | REGIMENT | Fighting unit deviously met Nigel (having changed political sides) (8) (MET NIGEL -L +R)* AInd: deviously |
| 26 | GUSSET | Guest’s potty which fits under genitals? (6) (GUEST’S)* AInd: potty |
| 27 | VERSACE | Designer gives some lovers a certificate (7) Hidden in loVERS A CErtificate |
| Down | ||
| 2 | ROUGH IT | Take all the hardships from rugged sex (5,2) ROUGH (rugged) IT (sex) |
| 3 | TV SET | Wife who wears the trousers ready for your viewing pleasure? (2,3) TV (Wife who wears the trousers) SET (ready) |
| 4 | FACED UP TO | Confronted daft couple screwing (no latitude shown) (5,2,2) (DAFT COUPLE – L)* AInd: screwing |
| 6 | ROPEY | Unsatisfactory Republican circle? Yep, dodgy (5) R[epublican] O (circle) YET* AInd: dodgy |
| 7 | FULL OF WOE | Wretched alien UFO fellow (4,2,3) (UFO FELLOW)* AInd: Alien. Like Wednesday’s Child |
| 8 | TORPEDO | Hard going, old Liberal leader – party attack (7) T[h]ORPE (old Liberal leader – H[ard]), DO (party) |
| 9 | STORED | Reserved – but succeeded in having sex, with time for cocaine (6) SCORED -C +T (succeeded in having sex, swap T[ime] with C[ocaine]) Last One In. |
| 15 | ALL THUMBS | Nothing but opposing members, which is awkward (3,6) ALL (nothing but) THUMBS (opposing members) |
| 16 | CHAMPAGNE | Meghan Markle’s second PC outburst with which she’ll get toasted no doubt (9) (MEGHAN [m]A[rkles] PC)* AInd: outburst |
| 18/12 | PARTING SHOT | Hairstyle feature’s very fashionable – the last word? (7,4) PARTING’S (hairstyle feature’s) HOT (very fashionable) |
| 19 | T-SHIRT | Top Tory source right in trouble (1-5) T[ory], R[ight] inside SHIT (trouble) |
| 20 | ARSENIC | Agreeable getting end away? With stupid git on top, it could be the death of you (7) NIC[e] (agreeable, end away) after ARSE (stupid git) |
| 22/23ac | IN THE PAST | Pants he brandished, interrupting sex earlier (2,3,4) (PANTS HE)* AInd: brandished, inside IT (sex) |
| 23 | PUMPS | Turning up with politicians, shakes hands enthusiastically (5) UP< MPS |
I’m having a real struggle today to find something funny to put in this slot.
Please litter the comments with jokes.
The more absurd the better.
Q. If you have a cricket ball in one hand, and a ladder in the other, how many pancakes does it take to cover the roof of Buckingham Palace?
A. None – because Madness is only a band
TV for wife who wears the trousers baffled me till right now!!!
Man goes to the doctor and complains about voices from his trousers. Doctor replies “Don’t listen to them. They’re talking bollocks!”
A man walks into a bakery and looks at the the cakes in the shop. They are all £1 except for one which is £2, so he asks the baker, “Why is that one £2?”
The baker replies, “That’s Madeira cake.”
I’m obviously not trendy enough – I still don’t understand “Wife who wears the trousers = TV”
Tim: TV is short for Transvestite
Tim @3. Not exactly a trendy topic. BBC Radio 4’s three-series sitcom featuring a transvestite man (‘The Change’) was first broadcast in 2001-2004.
Heh heh, my point was that I have never heard of TV as an abbreviation for transvestite. Anyway, my wife wears trousers fifty percent of the time, and she’s not a transvestite. So here’s a clue that is not only very obscure, it’s also factually inaccurate ! 🙂
Thanks beermagnet.
A chap knocks on a front door and a lady dressed in black answers. The chap says “Is Bill there?”
The lady replies, “I’m terribly sorry but he passed away last week”.
The chap says, “Oh, did he mention anything about a pot of blue paint before he went?”
What did the easygoing man say after his wife switched his Viagra with blue placebos?
“No hard feelings.”