Cyclops is as Cyclops does – some fun with surface readings, some usual targets, and maybe just a tad too much Trump(?)…
Some ancient history at 21D – Archimedes’ supposed EUREKA ‘ejaculation’ in the bath, maybe TMD there? – and some less ancient but still ‘proper’ history, with Lord LIVERPOOL as PM at 10A…all the way up to some fairly recent history at 22A, with Bill and Monica on the edge of a desk – again maybe TMD?!
Ronald T Dump makes some quick-fire appearances in the clues for 13A, 18A and 20A…I long for the day when he is just a footnote in history too, some way below Bill Clinton, and even Tricky Dicky Nixon…
Aside from all this, some good solid Cyclops-ean fare, and an enjoyable and diverting solve…hopefully all is covered below.
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
|
| 7A | THIEVE | Article about that is very appropriate (6) | appropriate / TH_E (definite article), around IE (id est, that is) + V (very) |
|
| 8A | WORKED UP | Balls hoisted after Labour gets excited (6,2) | excited / WORK (labour) + ED (Ed Balls, former Labour politician) + UP (hoisted) |
|
| 10A | LIVERPOOL | Lord, the PM’s active on Right Bank! (9) | Lord, the PM / LIVE (active) + R (right) + POOL (bank) |
|
| 12A | TV SET | Unconventional dresser with fixed box (2,3) | (goggle, or idiot) box / TV (transvestite, unconventional dresser) + SET (fixed) |
|
| 13A | TURPS | Amazingly, Trump’s giving away millions, getting thinner! (5) | thinner / anag, i.e. amazingly, of TRU( |
|
| 14A | SINISTER | Net is controlled, in the clutches of titled person – shady (8) | shady / SI_R (titled person) around (clutching) NISTE (anag, i.e. controlled, of NET IS) |
|
| 16A | CITADEL | Castle, possibly getting laid etc, erupted (7) | castle, possibly / anag, i.e. erupted, of LAID ETC |
|
| 18A | PLANNED | & 11D N.B. colossal need determined to crack Trump’s replacement Apple policy? (7,12) | Apple (and other electronics manufacturers) policy? / P_ENCE (Mike Pence, US vice president, or Trump’s possible replacement) around LANNED OBSOLESC (anag, i.e. determined, of NB COLOSSAL NEED) |
|
| 20A | APRES SKI | Chaotic end of Trump era ends with kiss-off – time to relax (5-3) | time to relax / APRE (anag, i.e. chaotic, of P, last letter of trump, + ERA) followed by S SKI (anag, i.e. off, of KISS) |
|
| 22A | TABLE | Bill having Lewinsky mainly on end of the desk (5) | desk / TAB (bill) + L (main, or capital letter, of Lewinsky) + E (end letter of thE) |
|
| 24A | CARER | One who tends to precede Brenda with “banger” (5) | one who tends / CAR (banger) preceding ER (Elizabeth Regina, or Brenda, to the Eye) |
|
| 25A | ENTERITIS | Inflammatory condition means record sex lives (9) | inflammatory condition / ENTER (record, log) + IT (sex) + IS (lives) |
|
| 26A | SIDEKICK | Mate with Punch, showing arrogance at first (8) | mate / SIDE (arrogance) + KICK (punch?) |
|
| 27A | FEELER | Half of this groper’s payment for service (6) | groper / Half of FEE |
|
| Down | ||||
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
|
| 1D | ATHLETICS | Celeb initially involved with A-list – the runs a big feature of this (9) | runs (of various lengths) a big feature of this / anag, i.e. involved, of C (initial letter of Celeb) + A-LIST THE |
|
| 2D | SILVER | Scrap, with Labour leader moving a bit to the right – should get a medal! (6) | a medal! / SLIVER (scrap) with L (leading letter of Labour) moving to the right gives SILVER |
|
| 3D | OVERUSED | Hackneyed load of balls due to be recycled with Sun’s involvement (8) | hackneyed / OVER (a load – six – of balls, in cricket) + U_ED ( anag, i.e. recycled, of DUE) around (involving) S (sun) |
|
| 4D | BOILING POINT | When you’re ready to erupt, stuff lion in big top (7,5) | when you’re ready to erupt / anag, i.e. stuff, of LION IN BIG TOP |
|
| 5D | SKATES | Fish – royal tucked into seconds (6) | fish / S_S (seconds) around (tucked in to by) KATE (royal, Kate Middleton) |
|
| 6D | SPOT | & 24dn. Toss chap off for immediate payment (4,4) | immediate payment / anag, i.e. off, of TOSS CHAP |
|
| 9D | DISCERN | Make out with promiscuous ‘Cinders’ (7) | make out / anag, i.e. promiscuous, of CINDERS |
|
| 11D | OBSOLESCENCE | See 18ac. (12) | see 18A / see 18A |
|
| 15D | ADVERSARY | In the Eye, Blair’s back in as a dry alternative competitor (9) | competitior / AD_SARY (anag, i.e. alternative, of AS A DRY) around VER (Rev, the Rev T Blair, PEye’s nickname for TB) |
|
| 17D | TAPERED | Liberal peer, corseted in a bit, got thinner (7) | got thinner / TA_D (a bit) around (corseting) PERE (anag, i.e. Liberal, of PEER) |
|
| 19D | ATTORNEY | One time politician strangles north eastern lawyer (8) | lawyer / A (one) + T (time) + TOR_Y (politician) arouind (strangling) NE (north-eastern) |
|
| 21D | EUREKA | The thinking bather’s ejaculation (6) | CD? / The word (ejaculation) that a thinking bather (Archimedes) supposedly shouted on his big realisation… |
|
| 23D | BOTTLE | Nebuchadnezzar’s guts? (6) | double defn. / a BOTTLE could be a Nebuchadnezzar; and to have BOTTLE can mean to have guts, cojones… |
|
| 24D | CASH | See 6dn. (4) | see 6D / see 6D |
|
OK…I’ll go for it. What is TMD? Google tells me it is some jaw bone disfunction but it must be something more erudite than that?
BTW, there is a minor typo in 26A and I’m no convinced by kick = punch other than one might say the drink has a kick in it or it has punch….but it’s a bit remote.
TMD (thanks to urban dictionary) Too Much Drama
Thanks, Winsor – typo will be corrected, and yes, I wasn’t too sure on kick/punch either. Chambers has ‘to kick’ as the 6th definition under the first entry for punch. However there doesn’t seem to be a reciprocal definition under kick!…as you say, a strong punch (drink) might have a kick to it!?
peterM and Winsor – TMD = Too Much Detail, now largely replaced by the teenage roll of the eyes and ‘eugh, gross, Dad!’
When did ‘too much information’ go out of fashion? To get from punch to kick, look no further than my favourite online thesaurus (previously invoked when commenting on Cyclops 645 and 647!):
http://en.oxforddictionaries.com/thesaurus/punch
18a/11d Didn’t get Pence, but had enough from the angram to get it.
5d Kate WINDSOR now, surely?
6d Reminds me of an anecdote that went round in the 50’s, apparently: A judge trying a homosexuality case felt unsure about what sentence he should give a convict, so asked a fellow judge, “What do you give a fellow who freely allows himself be buggered?”. Came the reply, “Oh, about 30/-, £2 … whatever you have on you”.
9d I particularly liked this one for some reason.
15d Didn’t know ‘the Rev’ was Blair’s nickname in the Eye, but worked out it must be.
21d “‘eugh, gross, Dad!’”. I think you’ll find they spell that ‘ew’. Ugh!
Completely stumped by the top left corner this time round! Also, is ‘TV’ really a two letter word, or was that a bit naughty?
TV turns up quite often in crosswords. Here’s an old Cyclops where the clue is ‘set’:
http://www.fifteensquared.net/2016/02/01/private-eyecyclops-565-tree-frog-scrunch/
Ah, Thanks John. Another lesson learnt!
The first crossword puzzle I ever set had some two-letter lights, one of which contained TV. The clue was “Box that’s wrapped contrarily?”.
As noted elsewhere on this site, Eye-speak was part of the mix in Guardian prize crossword 27,782, where Paul crossed TORYGRAPH with GRAUNIAD. The compiler of ‘Street of Shame’ in Eye 1493 spotted the TORYGRAPH clue and interpreted it as an example of dog-eat-doggery on the part of the Grauniad (sic). There is now a reader’s letter in Eye 1494 drawing attention to the Eye’s failure to spot the countervailing GRAUNIAD clue. Said letter, as printed, directs Eye readers to page 8 of the previous issue. This should be page 6. It seems that the ‘surely shome mistake’ spirit of Lunchtime O’Booze continues to lubricate the mighty organ.