Things have all got a bit tawdry recently, haven’t they…still, we have the ‘sunlit uplands’ to look forward to…are we there yet?…
Lots of Cyclop-ean fun and games this time round…the ‘salacious’ (soon to be single again?) Rupert at 24A; Boris doing yet another U-turn at 14A; and the blustering RANT of a Republican with a strange tan at 26D. Trump seems (maybe) to be getting his come-uppance over the pond…it may be a while before ‘three-term’ Boris gets his over here.
There is an erstwhile reference to a PM of gentler times in ASQUITH at 17A, and a wistful look back at (or bold prediction of?) Labour’s ‘second electoral triumph’ at 7D.
And lots of smuttery – with pressure being put on a sex partner’s testicles at 6A; somebody benefitting from oral sex at 11A; some ‘divided lingerie’ at 27A; an ‘earthy’ bonk at 1D…and a bust mangled by a brassiere at 22D…phew…I may need to go and have a lie down after all that.
What can I say – Cyclops at his mischievous best – hope you enjoyed it, and that all is clear below…
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Clue (definition underlined)
Logic/parsing |
||
| 6A | PLAY BALL | Show willing, applying pressure to sex partner on testicle (4,4)
P (pressure) + LAY (noun, sexual partner, derogatory/slang) + BALL (testicle) |
||
| 8A | PROMPT | Penny, stick politician in balls, quick! (6)
P (penny) + RO_T (balls, rubbish) around MP (politician) |
||
| 10A | MYOPIA | Well, work with Cyclops and one will get a poor view of things (6)
MY (interjection of surprise, well!) + OP (Opus, musical work) + I (Cyclops, your setter) + A (one) |
||
| 11A | GET AHEAD | Progress, and benefit from oral sex, article concealed (3,5)
GET _HEAD (benefit from oral sex) around (concealing) A (indefinite article) |
||
| 12A | ABSTINENCE | Avoidance of booze – muscles can, as a consequence, start off (10)
ABS (abdominals, muscles) + TIN (can) + ( |
||
| 14A | RUMP | City backed Boris, doing a U-turn – arse! (4)
RU (Ur, ancient city, backed) + MP (PM – currently Boris – doing a U-turn!) |
||
| 15A | HASHISH | The bloke’s stuck in stew pot (7)
HAS_H (stew) around HIS (the bloke’s) |
||
| 17A | ASQUITH | Our old PM has cracked – about to resign? (7)
AS_H (anag, i.e. cracked, of HAS) around QUIT (to resign) |
||
| 19A | GSOH | Requirement in dating ad? Gosh – having a change of heart! (4)
G(OS)H, changing the middle letters round – a change of heart! – gives GSOH [GSOH being lonely-hearts ad-speak for Good Sense Of Humour] |
||
| 21A | RIOT POLICE | Peacekeepers supposedly manipulated oil price, too (sod all taken off) (4,6)
subtractive anagram, i.e. manipulated, of OIL PRICE TO( |
||
| 24A | PRURIENT | Salacious Rupert in trouble (8)
anag, i.e. trouble, of RUPERT IN |
||
| 25A | TAWDRY | It’s cheap to have a go cuddling a wife and daughter (6)
T_RY (have a go) around (cuddling) A + W (wife) + D (daughter) |
||
| 27A | BERLIN | Some remember lingerie which was once divided (6)
hidden word in, i.e. som of, ‘rememBER LINgerie’ |
||
| 28A | SUNBURNT | Tabloid stung and given a tanning (8)
SUN (tabloid paper) + BURNT (stung) |
||
| Across | ||||
| Clue No | Solution | Clue (definition underlined)
Logic/parsing |
||
| 1D | CLAY | About to have a bonk? Earthy stuff! (4)
C (circa, about) + LAY (verb this time, have a bonk!) |
||
| 2D | EYEPATCH | It might give a Cyclopean view of our magazine cover (8)
EYE (the magazine in your hand, unless you solved online) + PATCH (cover) |
||
| 3D | SLOGAN | Labour needs a name for a political catchphrase (6)
SLOG (hard work, labour) + A + N (name) |
||
| 4D | SPOTLESS | Virgin, so make out to a smaller extent (8)
if you see, or SPOT (make out) to a smaller extent (LESS), you could end up with SPOT LESS! |
||
| 5D | BOTHER | Bloody hell! Biden just started something else! (6)
B (starting letter of Biden) + OTHER (something else) |
||
| 7D | AGAIN | Labour’s second electoral triumph? Repeat that! (5)
A (second letter of lAbour) + GAIN (electoral triumph) |
||
| 9D | PRAGMATIC | Being realistic, sadly I’m crap at keeping good (9)
PRA_MATIC (anag, i.e. sadly, of IM CRAP AT) around (keeping) G (good) |
||
| 13D | BRASSERIE | Supporters attending unfinished sequence of games eat here (9)
BRAS (supporting garments) + SERIE( |
||
| 16D | SERGEANT | Copper getting material on TV presenter (8)
SERGE (material) + ANT (TV presenter, half of Ant and Dec – not sure if the bigger half or the smaller half?) |
||
| 18D | UNLAWFUL | Tabloid, with no leader left, associates with rotten criminal (8)
( |
||
| 20D | HERALD | The woman’s a big-mouthed, vacant, proclaiming type (6)
HER (the woman’s) + A + L( |
||
| 22D | OBTUSE | Dense old bust mangled by brassiere, finally (6)
O (old) + BTUS (anag, i.e. mangled, of BUST) + E (final letter of brassierE |
||
| 23D | PUTIN | Aggressive leader’s installed (5)
if something is installed it could be PUT IN |
||
| 26D | RANT | Bluster from Republican with strange tan (4)
R (Republican) + ANT (anag, i.e. strange, of TAN) [indirect reference to the ‘orange one’, Ronald T Dump] |
||
Thanks for the blog, a very typical Cyclops really . Fine set of clues , not much outstanding , EYEPATCH and SPOTLESS were the pick for me.
Thanks mc_rapper, nicely observed. I spotted the double LAY and also the double SUN in the opposite corner, though one of those is beheaded, but I don’t think it means anything. I liked MYOPIA and ASQUITH as well as Roz’s mentions.
Thanks mc_rapper67 and Cyclops. I would add 14a RUMP and 20d HERALD to any list of favourites with 26d RANT as a bonus entry.
Thanks everyone. I enjoyed the misdirections more of HASHISH and BERLIN!!!
Reread 11a in the context of the latest eye’s big reveal on the carriegate coverup and the missing times article.. they were tipping us off, as was she to he, and thats presumably her way to progress.
Good point Dan at #5 – serendipitous prescience from Cyclops – and things just getting tawdrier and tawdrier!…
And thanks to the other commenters – much appreciated…