Bluebird makes a 5th appearance this year in today’s Indy.
This was a fairly quick solve for us today, with several surprisingly straightforward clues (and a few trickier ones!)
We hope Bluebird isn’t suffering from a surfeit of festive food with the references in 4ac and 24d!
Happy New Year to one and all!
CITiES (Chicago and Paris, in Texas are examples of cities – and film titles) missing the second ‘i’ (one)
A cryptic definition, which made us smile (rather uncomfortably!) when the penny dropped – probably best not to say any more!
RED TAPE (‘parts of bureaucratic process’) with the words ‘switched’
Double definition, the first referring to Reading Gaol
Hidden (‘an excerpt from’) in PoulENC OR Elgar
TIMES (paper) + L (first letter or ‘front’ of library) OT (Old Testament- ‘books’)
An anagram (‘upset’) of CINEASTES after R (take)
A reversal (‘sent back’) of ERGO (therefore)
LIVEerpool (first four letters or ‘west’ part)
A reversal (‘returns’) of BUS (vehicle) + A QU (Queen) AT + I C (first letters or ‘tops’ of its crows-nests)
A reversal (‘tipped over’) of ART’S (‘perhaps sculpture’s) + WHAT (my – as an exclamation)
Hidden (‘piece’) in performS HER PArty
CHINA with the last two letters switched or ‘slightly damages’ + a reversal (‘back’) of IT
BOO (‘surprise’ – 3down) KING (‘sovereign’ – 15down)
SIN (immoral behaviour) US (America) IT IS (it’s)
MUSE (‘that which inspires’) D (Dutch)
An anagram (‘stirring’) of HATRED in CAL (California)
I (newspaper) in or ‘checked by’ TO PC (political correctness)
An anagram (‘dispersing’) of UPRISERS
A homophone (‘out loud’) of SIGHED (moaned) – a reference to Wolverhampton Wanderers football club
An anagram (‘lit’) of MATCH and BRIER
N E A (last letters or ‘bits’ of brokeN vasE and aspidistrA) + TEN (10)
A ILL (lousy) in or ‘drilling’ TIGHT (firm)
A homophone (‘delivered’) of WRIGHT (‘one of the first two flyers’ – Orville and Wilbur Wright, the aviation pioneers)
A L (line) in or ‘snorted by’ NATURIST (‘naked bloke’)
An anagram (‘freely’) of I (independent), E (last or ‘final’ letter of state) and GOVERNS
EX (old) CHANGE (coins) D (pennies, before decimalisation)
ROOM (space) after (‘supporting’ in a down clue) MUSH (pulp)
S (Southern) WINGS (fried chicken)
SACK (‘destroy town’) S (square)
I (Bluebird – the setter) ‘in the grip’ of RUNS (dysentery) – similar comment to 4ac!
I (one) IS (lives) after or ‘next to’ B (last letter or ‘back’ of drab)
Awkward though it may sound to the casual reader, I struggled with SPHINCTER at the end. But then that is the nature of CDs. Otherwise, everything fell smoothly into place so I’d agree with our bloggers that this was at the gentler end of Bluebird’s output. Still plenty of trademark inventive constructions: CITIES, TIME SLOT, SHERPA, CHIANTI, TOPIC, HERMIT CRAB, RIGHT, NATURALIST and RUINS all got big ticks with BOOKING COTD for its simplicity and cleverness.
Thanks Bluebird and B&J
Good stuff from Bluebird and thanks to Bertandjoyce.
One minor quibble, on perhaps the easiest clue @19ac, is that “West Liverpool” is not a thing. If you look at the map, this would mean the Mersey. Or Birkenhead/Wallasey which would upset people on both side of the river! North and South Liverpool are a thing, e.g. Bootle vs Garston.
Excellent stuff, so thanks Bluebird and B&J. I don’t have any problem with “west Liverpool”, but (and I shall probably get into trouble for this) I had thought of querying the use of “She” at 23A, having been under the misapprehension that the term Sherpa only applies to a male porter, who assists climbers of Himalayan peaks, but on looking it up I now realise that Sherpas are a race of people from Tibet, so those of either gender may do the job equally well, of course. Where would those climbers be without them? Stuck at Base Camp probably.
SHERPA was my LOI, and very nice it was too – I was looking for a cryptic definition until the penny dropped. Other favourites included SPHINCTER, RUINS, and BOOKING.
For those of us with an interest in Britpop, the combination of Space and Pulp was also good fun. The former are probably best-known for The Female of the Species, although their collaboration with Cerys Matthews from Catatonia is my favourite.
Thanks Bert, Joyce, and Bluebird.
Tatrasman @3: there are female Sherpa porters. Some have summited Everest more than once and some have multiple other tops to their names. There is some suggestion that the term Sherpani might be used for such folk – but I can’t find much corroboration and the word is mainly on Google in connection with a fashion brand.
Thanks both. Much to like here including SPHINCTER TAPERED and BOOKING – I do like a good ‘boo’ now and again, whether to deride or to scare. RUINS evaded me for nearly a time equal to that spent on the rest – I suspect the runs are more a consequence of dysentery than a name for the condition itself, but hopefully I’ll find out only by way of information not experience