A fun challenge from SOLOMON!
FF: 9 DD: 9
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | FAIR |
Cup dispensers I dry, once unwrapped and clean… (4)
|
| FA ( cup dispensers, Football Association ) I R ( dRy, unwrapped i.e. without end characters ) | ||
| 3 | HARBOURAGE |
…start to hurl cups around contemporary-era shelter (10)
|
| H ( Hurl, first letter ) ARB ( reverse of BRA, cups ) OUR AGE ( contemporary era ) | ||
| 10 | BEEKEEPER |
One who likes Queen but is wary of Sting? (9)
|
| cryptic def | ||
| 11 | PIECE |
Song, perhaps ‘The Sound of Silence’ (5)
|
| sounds like PEACE – sound of silence | ||
| 12 | EZEKIEL |
Visionary priest’s frightened outburst about Zadok’s initial, corrupt lie (7)
|
| [ EEK ( frightened outburst ) around Z ( Zadok, first letter ) ] [ LIE ]* | ||
| 13 | ENGLISH |
Move shingle from these shores? (7)
|
| [ SHINGLE ]* | ||
| 14 | ALGAE |
A gal swimming close to me weed in the sea (5)
|
| [ A GAL ]* E ( mE, last letter ) | ||
| 15 | TRUMP CARD |
Tesla getting behind funny guy that’s likely to win (5,4)
|
| T ( tesla ) RUMP ( behind ) CARD ( funny guy ) | ||
| 17 | LOGOTYPES |
Record books sure to include Apple’s core corporate symbols (9)
|
| LOG ( record ) OT ( books ) [ YES ( sure ) containing P ( apPle, core i.e central character of ) ] | ||
| 19 | ELBOW |
Part of the body below nuts (5)
|
| [ BELOW ]* ; solomon getting cheeky 🙂 | ||
| 21 | GRANDMA |
Old lady that’s two thousand and one?! (7)
|
| GRAND ( thousand ) M ( thousand, roman numeral ) A ( one ) | ||
| 23 | TRAFFIC |
Vehicle reversing skirts loud F1 cars (7)
|
| TRAC ( vehice = CART, reversed ) containing [ F ( loud ) FI ( F1 ) ] | ||
| 25 | THING |
Bag or other container containing hot shelled egg (5)
|
| [ TIN ( container ) containing H ( hot ) ] G ( eGg, shelled i.e. without end characters ) | ||
| 26 | CHOCOLATE |
Hot, welcoming brown drink drunk by cold European? (9)
|
| { COLA ( brown drink ) in HOT } in [ C ( cold ) E ( European ) ] | ||
| 27 | RESTAURANT |
Where exhausted runner eats tuna melts? (10)
|
| [ RR ( RunneR, exhausted i.e. nothing inside ) EATS TUNA ]* | ||
| 28 | PORT |
Unopened squash, say, left on the QE2 (4)
|
| sPORT ( squash, say, without first letter ) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | FABLE |
Extract from Beowulf, a bleak myth (5)
|
| hidden in “..beowulF A BLEak..” | ||
| 2 | ICEBERG |
I see upside-down grebe that has a large bottom (7)
|
| I C ( ~see ) [ reverse of GREBE ] | ||
| 4 | APPAL |
Outrage relating to the Pope’s pages getting stuck together (5)
|
| PAPAL ( relating to the pope, with the first P ( page ) moving down to join the second P ) | ||
| 5 | BARBECUES |
One leaving leggy model with signs for summer parties (9)
|
| [ BARBiE ( leggy model, without I – one ] CUES ( signs ) | ||
| 6 | UNPEG |
Detach dried trousers, perhaps, and amputate leg? (5)
|
| cryptic def | ||
| 7 | AMERICA |
Leader from medieval Spain’s conquering force within continent — this one? (7)
|
| [ M ( Medieval, first letter ) E ( spain ) ] replacing F ( force ) in AfRICA ( continent ) | ||
| 8 | EYESHADOW |
Naked men get shy dancing and initially perform with make-up (9)
|
| [ EE (‘.. mEn gEt..’, naked i.e. without end letters ) SHY ]* A ( And, initially ) DO ( perform ) W ( with ) | ||
| 9 | RESIDENT |
Party bound by lease? (8)
|
| &lit; SIDE ( party ) in RENT ( lease ) | ||
| 14 | ALLIGATOR |
Gorilla tossing bottles at another zoo animal? (9)
|
| [ GORILLA ]* containing AT | ||
| 15 | TAP DANCER |
Entertainer hit on horny northerner ‘out on the pull’ on Christmas Eve (3,6)
|
| TAP ( hit ) DANCER ( horny northerner out on the pull on christmas eve, one of the reindeer of santa claus ) | ||
| 16 | PEEKABOO |
After exercise, the lifting of roast ducks is child’s play (8)
|
| PE ( exercise ) EKAB ( reverse of BAKE, roast ) OO ( ducks, zeros ) | ||
| 18 | GOALIES |
Matches involving ‘The Greatest Footballers’ (7)
|
| GOES ( matches ) containing ALI ( the greatest, muhammad ali ) | ||
| 20 | BUFFALO |
Look after Polish and American cattle (7)
|
| BUFF ( polish ) A ( american ) LO ( look ) | ||
| 22 | DOGMA |
Belief in God arising seconds from impending fatality (5)
|
| DOG ( reverse of GOD ) MA ( second letters of ‘..iMpending fAtality’ ) | ||
| 23 | THORN |
Spike Milligan’s behind superhero movie put on (5)
|
| THOR ( superhero movie ) N ( milligaN, last letter ) | ||
| 24 | CHEST |
Queen Elizabeth abandoning walled city where jewels are kept? (5)
|
| CHESTer ( walled city, without ER – queen elizabeth ) |
Amazed I managed to finish this, although I did use a word fit to get RESIDENT. I initially entered BOWEL for 19a (anybody else?).
I’m often told I can’t tell my bowel from my elbow. Or something like that, at least
I struggled through this – I still don’t get why books = my
Or why bag is thing …
I guess I’ll get there one day
I struggled through this – I still don’t get why books = nt
Or why bag is thing …
I guess I’ll get there one day
Another tricky but enjoyable one. Loved elbow, grandma. Thx both.
Thanks Solomon and Turbolegs
17ac: OT = Old Testament = “books” of the bible. NT also works similarly as New Testament. These are certainly worth remembering as crossword staples.
25ac: Collins 2023 has
p 150 bag 11 slang a person’s particular taste, field of skill, interest, activity, etc: blues is his bag;
p 2054 thing¹ 11 informal a mental attitude, preoccupation or obsession.
25ac further to 6: on reflection, the following meaning for thing¹ in Collins 2023 p 2054 is a better fit:
13 an activity or mode of behaviour satisfying to one’s personality (esp in the phrase do one’s (own) thing).