Cyclops laughs in the face of ‘Dry January’ (although I prefer to think of it as ‘Dry Gin-uary’…)
…with almost every clue and/or solution having alcoholic/inebriant connotations.
Solvers, or WASSAILERs, must get PIE-EYED, RAT-ARSED, PISSED AS A NEWT, DOPED, SMASHED, HALF-CUT, PLASTERED, BRAHMS AND LISZT drinking TODDY during BOOZE-UPS at ALEHOUSES and other LOCALES, until they suffer from DYSPHASIA and have to go for a LIE DOWN!
(After all that, there might need to be a bit of RADIOLOGY on the liver as well…)
Cheers! Hic…
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Clue (definition underlined)
Logic/parsing |
||
| 1A | BOOZE-UPS | These involve taking leak in different pubs? (5-3)
B_UPS (anag, i.e. different, of PUBS) around OOZE (leak) |
||
| 5A | FREDA | Farage’s initial dare to change name (5)
F (Farage’s initial) + REDA (anag, i.e. to change, of DARE) |
||
| 9A | ALEHOUSES | Bitter retailers snapped: “EU asshole!” (9)
anag, i.e. snapped, of EU ASSHOLE |
||
| 10A | NORSE | Cigar butt evident in wine’s aroma gets past tongue (5)
NO_SE (win’s aroma) around R (butt, or last letter, of cigaR) |
||
| 11A | MALTESE | Whisky? See pissed islanders (7)
MALT (whisky) + ESE (anag, i.e. pissed, of SEE) |
||
| 12A | SMASHED | Loaded pulped (7)
double defn. – SMASHED can mean drunk, or loaded; and SMASHED can mean pulped |
||
| 13A | AMPERSAND | Crappy Parmesan has Dutch character (9)
AMPERSAN (anag, i.e. crappy, of PARMESAN) + D (Dutch) |
||
| 16A | CUT UP | Hack, being tumescent, is distressed (3,2)
CUT (hack) + UP (being tumescent) |
||
| 18A | DOPED | On a trip, act pissed, lacking energy (5)
DO (act) + PE( |
||
| 20A | AUSTRALIA | At heart, “boozer” popularly represents this country (9)
AUSTRALIA is often shortened to OZ, which is at the heart, or centre, of ‘boOZer’! |
||
| 22A | LIE-DOWN | Whopper has feathers stuck on? Don’t stand for that (3-4)
LIE (whopper, untruth) + DOWN (feathers) |
||
| 24A | HALF-CUT | Legless batsman’s partial stroke (4-3)
a cut is a cricket shot, or stroke, so a HALF-CUT could be a partial stroke by a batsman |
||
| 26A | SAY-SO | For example, drunkard has no time for authority (3-2)
SAY (for example) + SO( |
||
| 27A | WASSAILER | Eye welcomes attack on Starmer, finally – “Raver!” (9)
W_E (Private Eye, from the setter’s/editor’s perspective) around (welcoming) ASSAIL (attack), plus R (final letter of starmeR) |
||
| 28A | TODDY | Two Democrats, covered in trifle, drink (5)
TO_Y (trifle) around (covering) DD (Democrat, twice) |
||
| 29A | RAT-ARSED | Tight bottomed contrary sailor comes first (3-5)
RAT (tar, or sailor, contrary) + ARSE_D (bottom_ed) |
||
| Down | ||||
| Clue No | Solution | Clue (definition underlined)
Logic/parsing |
||
| 1D | BRAHMS AND (LISZT) | & 22dn. Two masters who can no longer score, being pissed (6,3,5)
Messrs BRAHMS and LISZT are two past masters, or maestros, who can no longer write musical scores due to their not being alive any more! [This clue brings the Monty Python song Decomposing Composers to mind…] |
||
| 2D | OVERLAP | Where beer belly’s found to extend into another’s space (7)
punning double defn. – a beer belly might be found OVER your LAP!; and to OVERLAP is to extend into another’s space |
||
| 3D | EMOTE | Booze finally gets Mark to act with feeling (5)
E (final letter of boozE) + MOTE (mark, or blemish) |
||
| 4D | PISSED AS A (NEWT) | & 23dn. Was responsible for a leak, like a recent leader of Tories getting hammered (6,2,1,4)
PISSED (was responsible for a leak!) + AS (like) + A + NEW (recent) + T (leading letter of Tories) |
||
| 5D | FAN DANCER | Female with one ball, right? Sexy performer (3,6)
F (female) + AN (one) + DANCE (ball) + R (right) |
||
| 6D | EARSHOT | Within this, you’ll hear of an organ placed over a serving of whisky? (7)
EAR (a bodily organ) placed over (in a Down clue) SHOT (a serving of whisky) |
||
| 7D | AHEAD | Forward half of non-drinkers: “Beer’s topping!” (5)
A( |
||
| 8D | ASPS | Wife’s out of stingers – just one did for Cleo (4)
( |
||
| 14D | RADIOLOGY | Science responsible for half-cut dairy logo (9)
anag, i.e. half-cut, of DAIRY LOGO |
||
| 15D | DYSPHASIA | Difficulty getting the words out in Gladys’ PH, as I articulated (9)
hidden word in ‘glaDYS PH AS I Articulated’ |
||
| 17D | PLASTERED | Drunk, the recipient of first aid treatment? (9)
if you have first aid for a cut/injury you might be PLASTERED! |
||
| 19D | PIE-EYED | Incapable, this organ, when sheathed in black and white (3-4)
PIE_D (black and white) around (sheathing) EYE (Private Eye, this organ) |
||
| 21D | LOCALES | Places army officer back on alcoholic drinks (7)
LOC (col, colonel, army officer, back) + ALES (alcoholic drinks) |
||
| 22D | LISZT | See 1dn. (5)
see 1D |
||
| 23D | NEWT | See 4dn. (4)
see 4D |
||
| 25D | LIANA | Creepy thing in Mali (an alcoholic) (5)
hidden word in ‘maLI AN Alcoholic’ |
||
Thanks for the blog , a very impressive use of the theme , I suppose it highlights how many words we actually use for drinking alcohol .
Very minor quibble for science=RADIOLOGY , I suspect some dictionaries may give cover for the setter but I take the updated Rutherford view – All science is Particle Physics , the rest is just colouring-in .
A very Roz-ian quibble! Nice to see you back…
Thanks mc_rapper67 and Cyclops. The boozy theme made this a doddle, a nice easy one after the Christmas biggie. The answers just slipped in. A gentle start to the new year.
Cheers mc_rapper67 & Cyclops. I love the the ’round’ up. I managed to get through this one, mostly with a beer in hand. I marked 1/22d and 2 down as favourites. I particularly liked 1/22d which had me chuckling no end. Welcome back Roz from me also.
Thank you mc and Franko , it is good to be back .
I’m with Roz….and welcome back!
Radiology is more the use of science I feel! But I love the colouring in comment!!