A smooth start to the week from SLORMGORM…
Lovely mix of clues, the highlights for me being 22a, for chuckles, and 16d, for a great surface.
Thanks SLORMGORM!
ACROSS
1. A peak with granite rock faces? (5,8)
MOUNT RUSHMORE
9. Unending rapture comes after tea and wine (7)
CHABLIS
BLIS[s] (rapture, unending) comes after CHA (tea)
10. English paper probing record of Labour? (7)
LEFTIST
(E (English) + FT (paper)) probing LIST (record)
11. Leader of Britain, having troubles, does runner (5)
BAILS
B[ritain] (leader of) having AILS (troubles)
12. I throw bit of tantrum about London borough (9)
ISLINGTON
I + SLING (throw) + T[antrum] (bit of) + ON (about)
13. Old people caught in bed omit escapades (8)
EDOMITES
[b]ED OMIT ES[capades] (caught in)
15. Very important to divorce wife in old age, perhaps (6)
EIGHTY
[w]EIGHTY (very important, to divorce W (wife))
18. Sample of wine mostly drunk by retired revolutionary (6)
TASTER
AST[i] (wine, mostly) drunk by (RET)< (retired, <revolutionary)
19. Secret I spread around essentially idiotic groups (8)
COTERIES
(SECRET I)* (*spread) around [idi]O[tic] (essentially)
22. Somehow dread heir looking like Prince Harry? (3-6)
RED-HAIRED
24. Financiers ultimately involved in boom and bust (5)
BOSOM
[financier]S (ultimately) involved in BOOM
25. Meetings late people might knock to enter? (7)
SEANCES
26. A place toured by guy and girl from part of Indonesia? (7)
MALAYAN
(A + LAY (place)) toured by MAN (guy)
27. Mottled yellow-brown shoes or little pants (13)
TORTOISESHELL
(SHOES OR LITTLE)* (*pants)
DOWN
1. Ghastly old lady about to steal taxi (7)
MACABRE
(MA (old lady) + RE (about)) to steal CAB (taxi)
2. As one sum a union distributed (9)
UNANIMOUS
(SUM A UNION)* (*distributed)
3. Pork pies, slice of tomato and beers (5)
TALES
T[omato] (slice of) and ALES (beers)
4. Inappropriate as a knight not dressed for battle? (8)
UNSUITED
5. Buddy, perhaps, carpeting one in a pious way (6)
HOLILY
HOLLY (Buddy, perhaps) carpeting I (one)
6. Disgusting military operation (9)
OFFENSIVE
7. Be old before one’s time (5)
EXIST
EX (old) before IS (ones) + T (time)
8. Mean as an angry wasp might be? (6)
STINGY
14. Dean, perhaps, cried with acne all over the place (3,6)
ICE DANCER
(CRIED with ACNE)* (*all over the place)
Referring to Christopher Dean
16. Do this early in a state of excitement (9)
HAIRSTYLE
(THIS EARLY)* (*in a state of excitement)
17. Conservative Democrat new socialist leader denounces (8)
CONDEMNS
CON (Conservative) + DEM (Democrat) + N (new) + S[ocialist] (leader)
18. Spank husband in thrall of worthless ideas (6)
THRASH
H (husband) in thrall of TRASH (worthless ideas)
20. Very influential minister eaten by performing animal (7)
SEMINAL
MIN (minister) eaten by SEAL (performing animal)
21. A knight upset with half-cut Tory peer? (6)
ARISTO
A + (SIR)< (knight, <upset) with TO[ry] (half-cut)
23. Plan of vessel that’s logged under the letter D (5)
DRAFT
RAFT (vessel that’s logged) under the letter D
24. Ex-Labour shadow chancellor is rubbish! (5)
BALLS
Whilst 13A was easy to spot once the cross letters were in, I must confess that II had never heard of these people. 24A was the last one in for me and I had to do a web search for the answer; he isn’t that well known down here in Melbourne.
With no crossers 16 was an invitation for a CD (its the setter thats got a dirty mind not me!) -rather neat on a Monday morning.
Thanks all.
Great stuff!
I had ticks for ISLINGTON, HAIRSTYLE and EXIST – very neat – and I smiled at BOSOM, SEANCES and the surfaces of ARISTO and MACABRE.
Many thanks to Slormgorm for a fun puzzle and Teacow for the blog.
Yes, a lot of clues that I loved today: 1a, 9a, 25a, 27a, 7d, and 14d. Lots of celebrity references.
Great job, Slormgorm, and thanks to Teacow for the explanations.
Nice and straightforward for the start of the week, with some very good surfaces I particularly liked Hairstyle and Malayan. Loi was Eighty.
Taster caused a bit of confusion because initially I assumed the revolutionary was a Red which need to be retired, rather than Ret which needed revolution??.
Thanks to all
Thanks Slormgorm and Teacow
Enjoyable puzzle done in between packing to head to Queensland for a couple of weeks.
Thought that it was very questionable for a MALAYAN to be ‘from part of Indonesia’ – they do both have states on the island of Borneo but that’s as far as it goes.
Smiled at the surface of 24a, even if given 4 letters of the answer in the clue. Peter@1, Ed BALLS was a common feature of crosswords whilst a serving MP – this is his first appearance for ages.
Finished in the SE corner with TORTOISESHELL (which I ended up cheating with a wordfinder – packing packing), ICE DANCER (when finally twigging to Christopher) and TASTER (which I couldn’t fully parse) as the last in.
What Eileen said.
Thanks to Slormgorm for the nice little rumble.
My problem is with 26a – it is just wrong. A girl from Indonesia is an Indonesian, although she may ethnically be a Malay – not Malayan. A Malayan comes from Malaya, which is now Malaysia so she would be Malaysian.
Thanks for the explanations Teacow.
Thanks Slormgorm, that was satisfying. I missed ISLINGTON and BALLS but both were out of my realm. I didn’t think a MALAYAN was from Indonesia but I guess it’s closs enough for a crossword. Favourites were CHABLIS, EIGHTY, and BOSOM, all with great surfaces. Thanks Teacow for the blog; I couldn’t fully parse TASTER because I assumed the definition was “sample of wine” and not just “sample.”
Thanks Slormgorm. Possibly accidental, but as cricket fans we loved seeing BALLS and BAILS both appear.
In 1963 when Malaysia was formed from the then-Federation of Malaya, North Borneo (since renamed Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore (since left in 1965), Indonesia’s Soekarno’s waged a war called Konfrontasi to protest what he called neo-colonialism. To equate Malayan as Indonesian is sacrilege to the locals and disrespect to the Commonwealth forces that defended Malaysia during those early perilous years.
The Borneo Island has 4 distinct geographic entities, Kalimantan (part of Indonesia), Brunei (independent sultanate), Sabah & Sarawak, the last two being states of Malaysia.
I went from various definitions in Collins, Chambers and the ODE for Malay and Malayan – if I, or they, got it wrong then please accept my apologies for any offence caused. 🙂