The puzzle can be found here.
Hello and welcome all, with a special welcome to the Indy’s latest new setter, Angel. Angel waltzes onto the stage with a glittering debut, featuring SEQUINS, DANCING, and Claudia WINKLINGman (sorry!). Yes, it’s the final of a certain TV show today, but you don’t need to be a fan of 6a to enjoy this puzzle. I can’t decide which clue to award the GLITTERBALL, maybe the show clue at 6a/24d/21a as I always like a reverse one. You can submit your scores along with your comments below. Over to you.
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics, explicit [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER.
Across
5a Country set? (5)
CHINA
Two definitions
6a & 24/21. Show clue for Tom’s tricycle? (8,4,7)
STRICTLY COME DANCING
STRICTLY COME anagrammed (DANCING) could be a clue for TOM’S TRICYCLE
8a Note taken badly – it may suggest exposure (4,3)
FAKE TAN
FA (note) + TAKEN anagrammed (badly)
9a Piebald surprisingly walking upright (7)
BIPEDAL
An anagram of (… surprisingly) PIEBALD
11a Extracts energy, legal up to a point (7)
ELICITS
E (energy) + LICIT (legal) + S (point)
13a With internal publicity, confronts illusions (7)
FACADES
FACES (confronts) containing (with … internal) AD (publicity)
14a Bet tall girl, 21, gets 6 24 21 prize (11)
GLITTERBALL
BET TALL GIRL anagrammed (DANCING: 21a) gives the prize for STRICTLY COME DANCING: 6 24 21
19a View five siblings on the air, or thousands on 6 24 21 (7)
SEQUINS
Sound like (… on the air) SEE (view) + QUINS (five siblings)
21a See 6
23a Gloss given by oil company account (7)
SHELLAC
SHELL (oil company) + AC (account)
25a Outlying motorway cuts through ruined Exeter (7)
EXTREME
M (motorway) goes inside (cuts through) an anagram of (ruined) EXETER
26a Expose yourself to the mafia in brief public assembly (5,3)
FLASH MOB
FLASH (expose yourself to) + MOB (the mafia)
27a Tasteful crop is back in hairdresser catalogues (5)
CRESS
The answer is hidden backwards in (back in) hairdreSSER Catalogues
Down
1d Connect annexe for Spooner, getting out with difficulty (8)
WINKLING
LINK (connect) and WING (annexe), spoonerised
2d Cocktail that sounds like it has a hold on me? (3,3)
MAI TAI
This cocktail sounds like MY TIE, something which might have a hold on me
3d Provision rejected in Edinburgh (4)
GRUB
The answer is found reversed in (rejected in) EdinBURGh
4d Misled, lost head, and fled? (6)
ELUDED
dELUDED has dropped the first letter (lost head)
5d Add calorie on top of skimmed sweet drink (6)
COFFEE
Put C (calorie) before (on top of, in a down entry) tOFFEE (sweet) without the first letter (skimmed …)
6d Skiing regularly leads to envy, possibly (3)
SIN
Alternate letters of (… regularly) SkIiNg
7d Suitable leaders of children’s holiday activities go after Conservative – it proves humanity (7)
CAPTCHA
APT (suitable) and the first letters (leaders) of Children’s Holiday Activities all follow (go after) C (Conservative)
10d When hot, follows Latin beat (4)
LASH
AS (when) + H (hot) goes after (follows) L (Latin)
12d References heard for positions (5)
SITES
A homophone of (… heard) CITES (references)
13d Sacked or let off (5)
FIRED
A double definition
15d Here in France, caught the French descendants in cold weather? (7)
ICICLES
ICI (here in France) + C (caught) + LES (the, French)
16d Gnarly old tree I hung around (8)
LOITERED
An anagram of (gnarly) OLD TREE I
17d House-sitter keeps applications (4)
USES
HoUSE–Sitter contains (keeps) the answer
18d Matures, holds on, and settles (6)
AGREES
AGES (matures) goes around (holds) RE (on)
20d Suppresses queens, replacing English nationalist with liberals (6)
QUELLS
QUE[en]S replacing E (English) and N (nationalist) with L L (liberals)
22d Recognise description of fake diamonds? (6)
NOTICE
NOT ICE would describe fake diamonds
24d See 6 Across
25d Retreat from eager beaver’s bossiness at first (3)
EBB
Initial letters of (… at first) Eager Beaver’s Bossiness
That’s all from me for 2020, so I would just like to repeat what I said in my last EV blog and wish all setters, commenters and lurkers here a very merry, safe and optimism-filled Christmas and New Year. Here’s to a humungously improved 2021!
Welcome Angel and congratulations on what was, for me, the perfect puzzle: mixture of relatively easy and relatively difficult clues, which exactly occupied the time it took to consume breakfast. 6/4/21 couldn’t have been anything else, once 3,4 and 6D had been entered, though I struggled to parse it. I suppose ‘seed’ in the bottom unches is just coincidence? Thanks Angel and Kitty.
This was a light and fun gift from an Angel, with a theme that even I could spot. Appropriately 6/24/21 was my favourite – an extremely clever (and well-timed) clue.
Many thanks to Angel – more soon please! – and to Kitty. Warmest Christmas wishes to both of them and to everyone else who reads this.
Thoroughly enjoyable. My COD was also my LOI – captcha. Looked at those crossers for far too long before I went back to the clue and just did “what the setter tells you to do” As a fan, can I suggest 8a is also part of the theme? Thanks to Angel and Kitty, and best Christmas wishes to all. Jayjay (recently upgraded from lurker)
not a fan of Strictly.. never seen etc… but in the context of crossword land.. fantastic!
excellent cluing allowed a really pleasant solve.. looking forward to the next angelic appearance.. in time for Christmas..? seems appropriate..
thanks Angel n Kitty
Bright and breezy little number with a theme obvious enough even to a non-devotee like myself.
Good to meet you, Angel, thank you for the puzzle and hope you’ll be back again ‘ere long.
Thanks also to our favourite feline – very best of festive wishes to both of you.
Congrats to Angel on her debut.
25 & 26 were funny. Enjoyed the definitions in 15 & 7 and the surfaces in 9, 27, 14, & 16. Enjoyed the theme too, esp how I can now think of 1d as something [someone on 6,24,21] does. 🙂
Well done, and here’s to more…
A very pleasing puzzle, with a nice idea, very well put across. Not too difficult overall. Getting GLITTERBALL from the anagram fodder led me in the right direction. Never watched the show, but very much aware of it. Favourite clues CAPTCHA FAKE TAN NOTICE. Many thanks, Kitty, for the excellent blog.
Very much appreciated here, as my co-solver is a fan. Solving SEQUINS on the first pass set us well on the way.
We particularly liked the clue, and especially the definition, for CAPTCHA.
Thanks to Angel and Kitty.
Thank you, Angel and congratulations on your debut puzzle, which I really enjoyed – looking forward to the next one.
And thanks to Kitty for the blog.
Well done angel! And welcome. I’m very pleased to see puzzles at the easier end of the spectrum, we need that. I still read all of kitty’s blog, just because I like reading kitty’s blogs. Lovely clues. The 6/24/21 was my favourite of course, an excellent clue – and the related clues made for a delightful solve. Keep this style, love it.
I was initially flummoxed by the gateway clue but I too got 14ac from the fodder and even I had heard of that being the prize. After that, it all seemed to go in fairly smoothly.
Another thumbs up from me to add to those above. Lots of fun, with 7d being my favourite.
Thank you Angel and Kitty. I very much enjoyed this, especially 6-21-24 and the five siblings clue. This household did include an afficionado of the show for a while, but that’s in the past now. Noticed that FAKE TAN contributes to the theme too of course.
I thought this was great. 8a, my favourite.
Welcome to the Indy and fifteensquared Angel.
We tackled this late last night after having watched the Strictly final. We do not apologise for being avid fans as we met at a dancing class back in 1965.
The puzzle was enjoyable to solve and as we started late we were pleased it didn’t take too long. We’d missed the fact that FAKE TAN was thematic so thanks to jvector.
Thanks to Kitty and Angel.
Jayjay @3 was the first to point out that FAKE TAN should also get a mention as part of the theme.
To Jayjay – keeeeeep commenting! 🙂
?
Do they no longer sign off with “keeeep dancing”? (I watched earlier series, and enjoyed them, but these days find it’s all just a bit too high energy for me.) After B&J thanked jvector for the mention of 8a as thematic, I just wanted to point out you had got there first so you’d know that your comment hadn’t been ignored, something which might be discouraging to a new (or indeed any) commenter.