This was about medium difficulty for an Eye puzzle. I had about half done by the end of the first pass at about the 25 min mark, but had queered the top right by incorrectly writing in POUND for 6D after getting the D from 11A. This became clear near the end when I finally got the very excellent anagram at 9A.
However, the very last pair were the crossing 3D and 10A – I still wonder about ‘Pointed’ being a synonym for ‘Dotty’. (It is of course. See comment #3)
In all a solid Eye puzzle from our one-eyed friend
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | BUS PASS | Backed singular twit and deputy, as a concession to seniors? (3,4) S[ingular] SAP (twit) SUB (deputy) all reversed |
| 5 | SIGHT | This is about restricting Rees-Mogg ultimately – which makes sense (5) (THIS [mog]G)* AInd: about. See comment #1: More elegantly the wordplay is G inside THIS< |
| 9 | SHORT AND CURLIES | Devious USSR chlorinated Bush? (5,3,7) (USSR CHLORINATED)* AInd: Devious. Favourite clue |
| 10 | DOTTY | Pointed nuts (5) Double definition. Last one in. |
| 11 | AMOUNT DUE | That’s owing to Auden, um, being drunk (6,3) (TO AUDEN UM)* AInd: being drunk |
| 12 | SEA LEGS | Briny members found by experienced sailors (3,4) Double definition |
| 14 | SEEN OFF | Repulsed, National Front takes sod all in back payments (4,3) (O (sod all) in NF) inside FEES< |
| 16 | SULTANA | Ruler’s mate ballsed up tuna salad – plug pulled (7) (TUNA SALAD – AD (plug))* AInd: ballsed up |
| 18 | BATISTA | Ousted leader makes meek sound, squeezing false tits (7) (TITS)* AInd: false, inside BAA (meek sound) |
| 20 | UNHEALTHY | Invalid male interrupting Hunt? Lay off! (9) HE (male) inside (HUNT LAY)* AInd: off |
| 22 | BISON | Boris’s dodgy name for Queen – “shaggy thing” (5) BI-SON. A way Boris might refer to a bisexual person in a non-PC manner No! This is rubbish the correct wordplay is explained in Comment #2: (BORIS)* AInd: dodgy, with R (Queen) swapped out for N[ame] |
| 23 | BUNKER MENTALITY | Defensive attitude: Hitler’s ultimate mindset? (6,9) Cryptic/Double definition |
| 24 | RAYON | Flash: our national leaders’ fake material (5) RAY (flash) O[ur] N[ational] |
| 25 | THORNED | Prickly Edward nursing erection (7) HORN (erection) inside TED |
| Down | ||
| 1 | BESIDES | “Moreover, live with borders!” (7) BE (live) SIDES (borders) |
| 2 | SHORTFALL | Lack drink? Drop dead! (9) SHORT (drink) FALL (drop [dead]) |
| 3 | ANTSY | As jumpy as a TV presenter? (5) Cryptic reference to presenter Ant McPartlin |
| 4 | SANDALS | Smooth, failed presidential candidate’s casual wear (7) SAND (smooth) AL [Gore]’S |
| 5 | STRINGENT | Butt removed from Ozzie bloke – tough (9) STRIN[e] (Colloquial word for Australian) GENT (bloke) |
| 6 | GRIND | Pulverize Labour! (5) Double Definition. |
| 7/21 | TASTE OF HONEY | Fasten Hoey to ground, as a sample of how better life could be! (5,2) (FASTEN HOEY TO)* AInd: ground |
| 8 | ACROSS | Bill, the controversial presenter is over (6) AC (bill) [Jonathon] ROSS |
| 13 | EL ALAMEIN | Male line buggered when one enters battle location (2,7) (MALE LINE + A (one) )* AInd: buggered |
| 15 | OBSESSION | Preoccupation of conference of former Etonians, say, in short (9) O. B. (Old Boys) SESSION (conference) |
| 16 | SLUMBER | Stuff Labour leaders, Brown and rest (7) S[tuff] L[abour] UMBER (brown) |
| 17 | AUTUMN | ‘Nassau tum’ naturally partly responsible for fall (6) Hidden in nassAU TUM Naturally. Hidden Ind: partly |
| 18 | BAYONET | eBay not working? Stick it! (7) (EBAY NOT)* AInd: working |
| 19 | ANNOYED | Andy, one to go mad, gets pissed (7) (ANDY ONE)* AInd: go mad. |
| 22 | BRAVO | Very good support for a bust ball pinching vein opening (5) BRA (support) and O (ball) with V[ein] inside |
I was walking through the park the other day and passed a man doing press-ups by the path.
Just then a lady tapped him on the shoulder and said:
“Excuse me. Your friend’s gone”
I did not phase 5A as an anagram – I read ‘is about’ as reversing the word THIS, then [Rees-Mog]G in the middle (‘restricted’).
OK – before anyone else says it; technically, it’s also an anagram.
I parsed 22A as follows: take a dodgy version (anagram) of Boris (BISOR), then swap the R (for regina) for an N (for name).
Pointy= dotty? Maybe: think of Pointillism . . .
Pajodr, you are correct and in my book it is more elegant to create a reversal clue than a common or garden anagram, so thanks for pointing that out.
John, you are also spot on – I was unhappy with my explanation for BISON but eventually convinced myself that was the intention. Yours is clearly the intended wordplay.
Adam, You too. And there I am with pointillist pictures populating my parlour.
Thank you, everyone…but particularly John E for clearing up ‘bison’. I was rather perturbed by my bi-son reasoning, if not downright upset!!!!
I nearly fell into the ‘pound’ trap but was not convinced so left it out…..I hasten to add it was not after 25 minutes that I came to this conclusions…..more like 25 hours.
I got waylaid by the anagram of ‘to Auden um’……..it will also make ‘unmade out’ as in the bill is not made yet!!! Again, I managed to resist filling in and saved myself a lot of heartache.
Overall, I think my favourite was ‘bravo’.
ANTSY and DOTTY were the last ones in. I couldn’t honestly say that I could justify either of them 100%, but just let them go.
SHORT AND CURLIES was well worth the effort once the penny dropped.
I eventually thought the controversial Ross in 8dn was Jonathan (sic), because of the Sachs affair, but I also wondered about Nick Ross.
@Beermagnet, there’s a typo in the fodder for 20ac
Thanks Tony 20ac fixed
3D.
I got ANTLY.