Tyrus provides our Saturday work-out this week – should be good….
…and it was!
There are a lot of references in the clues and entries to 12ac, who some may describe as an orange 3d, and to his pet loves (11ac and 27ac) and hates (5d and 8d).
Is the perimeter nina (CROSSWORD NOT FACT-CHECKED) an attempt to avoid litigation from across the water? Or is it just recognising the unverified statements that seem to issue from the White House on an almost daily basis?
Congratulations to Tyrus for the ingeniously compiled clues.
dOWNER (unhappy experience) missing ‘d’ (departed)
CUB (youngster) round or ‘hugging’ HER (the lady) + IC (in charge)
COS (lettuce) MI (alternative spelling of ‘me’ – musical note) C (Conservative)
I (one) MP (politician) gROPER (sex pest?) missing the first letter (‘don’t start’)
Middle letters or ‘content’ of sKIMp (live economically) – a reference to one of Trump’s dictator friends
T (time) RUMP (behind) – tongue-in-cheek definition!
First letters of All Windmills Evil – a reference to Trump’s hatred of wind turbines
A reversal (‘rebuffed’) of OGRE (monster)
A reversal (‘turned’) of GUT (stomach) + S (first letter or ‘head’ of state)
THE MEd (sea) missing or ‘ignoring’ the ‘d’ (dead)
BIS (again) round or ‘hiding’ A (one)
C (circa – ‘around’) HUB (centre)
SHaH (‘Iranian leader once) missing or ‘avoiding’ ‘a’ (America)
TEaSES (guys) with the ‘a’ (are – metric measurement of area) replaced by or ‘going for’ N (first letter or ‘outset’ of Nobel – a reference perhaps to Trump’s desire to be awarded a Nobel Peace Prize)
Hidden (‘from’) in GalapAGOs
An anagram (‘cooked’) of LEON and MARC – a new word for us
MOS (more than one modus operandi – ‘ways of working’) COW (bully)
An anagram (‘spent’) of FEES round or ‘across’ AERO (chocolate bar)
A reversal (‘over’) of SUE (petition) round or ‘hiring’ QU (queen) – a reference to the play by Peter Shaffer
HOB (male ferret) O (round)
An anagram (‘to rave’) of MEANS round or ‘over’ OUR (Independent crossword’s)
CRACK (drug) POT (another drug)
An anagram (‘freaking out’) of I KEEP round or ‘over’ L (large)
A reversal (‘reject’) of RUE (French – ‘Macron’s’ – for ‘road’ – ‘way’) + OP (work) E (Spain)
DIVEs (rich man – from the bible – a new word for us) missing or ‘not getting’ ‘s’ (first letter or ‘head’ of Stormy – a reference to Stormy Daniels and her allegations against Trump)
A clue-as-definition: C (see) + an anagram (‘fooled’) of LAME TEACHING
ThOUGH (even so) missing the first ‘h’ (husband)
R (runs) in G (golf in the phonetic alphabet) ACE (champion)
MBE (Member of the British Empire – ‘person with honour’) in or ‘guarded by’ an anagram (‘criminal’) of NOTED
BONES (doctor) + a reversal (‘upsetting’) of R (right) UP (raised) – allegedly the reason Trump was spared serving in the military
Double definition
A clue-as-definition: an anagram (‘suspect’) of LOST + E N (first and last letters or ‘extremes’ of election) – a reference to Trump’s unfounded allegations about the 2020 presidential election
An anagram (‘unusual’) of TEAM
tORSO (trunk) missing the first letter or ‘decapitated’
Enjoyed this puzzle and the blog very, very much. Kelpie as a spirit/shapeshifter and Dives (apparently it is Latin for rich) as a rich guy new for me and Amelcorn which is new for the spell-checker too. Being Tyrus, I was on the lookout for a Nina and it proved helpful, although I was thinking of a 7-letter word in the south-west which held me up. Don’t really have a top clue, but I do have great admiration for the superb clueing style and the humour. Then I ran into Vlad’s excellent Prize in the G. Thanks all.
Great fun. I do enjoy Tyrus’s Trump-bashing. I spotted what was going on, theme-wise, early enough for it to help and I also saw most of the nina. I did run into trouble with the last three or four in the extreme SW. I did not spot BOLERO as a top and AMELCORN is nho and even when that came up as a possible anagram, Chambers unhelpfully defines it as ‘a kind of wheat- emmer’ which didn’t sound at all like any kind of rice.
I was also thrown by coming up with a (I think) justifiable parse for 26d as MATE. Anagram of ‘team’ with the definition ‘Game? Could be’ referring to the fact that (check)mate is one of the ways a game of chess can either be won or can be brought to an end. And that messed up FAROESE, giving a T as the second letter.
Faves today inc COSMIC, AWE, CHUB, HOBO, DIVE (once I’d discovered the Dives/Lazarus story) and the delightful STOLEN.
B&J – I think ‘this’ is part of the def in TRUMP?
Thanks Tyrus and B&J
Thanks Tyrus and BnJ
I thought this was simply superb, one of Jim’s best puzzles (and the quality is always high to start with).
Exactly what Simon S said.
Like PostMark, I was initially beguiled by MATE at 26dn.
Many thanks to Tyrus and B&J. Now for Vlad – what a great weekend! 🙂
Thanks B&J. I was another that was sinister checkMATEd.
My very first post on 15sq, well over ten years ago, was a question about DIves being clued as a rich man. I’ve seen it very occasionally since then.
Thanks to Tyrus for the usual top quality fun.
After yesterday’s triumph, normal service is resumed as I completely missed the Nina. Probably because everything fell into place relatively easily and I didn’t need to look for extra help.
Done during the ads in the footy, so ditto Hounddog re the theme, that’s my excuse anyway. [Freo got knocked out in the first final, sigh]. But the themers, I now see, are witty and fun (they’re pretty dark in the real world,, but amusing ntl). Thanks Tyrus and BandJ.
I was completely defeated by Faeroese. I had worked out the F—-ese construction but couldn’t find a dictionary anywhere that allowed that spelling.
Google doesn’t recognise it.
That’s how it’s spelled in the Chambers app. Also Faroese is given as a second spelling.
Many thanks to Bertandjoyce for the blog and to others who commented.
In answer to B&J’s question, I’ve been contemplating a visit Stateside for some time but know Donald reads this site so I’m not sure I’d be allowed in (or even worse, out). Discretion has therefore dictated that the puzzle should present the president in a more supportive light but, not wanting to sell out completely, I tried to sneak in the nina, hoping that neither Mr Trump nor his officials would notice it.
And (if he’s reading this) Donald has done some very good things. He’s ended or prevented ten wars so far in 200 days, one every three weeks pretty much. If that’s not deserving of a Nobel Prize, what is?
PS Just read this morning the prolific peacemaker now wants to rebrand the Department of Defense as the Department of War. I can only think this must be fake news.