Great fun from Goliath.
A great way to start the day. A wonderful range of clues, with some simple, some tricky, and some deceptive! Many thanks to Goliath.
M[a]N (gutted); SOLE (fish) to begin with
ERO[t]ICA (explicit material, no T)
I think T is text slang for ‘to’ which means ‘for’ – TBH (to be honest); TTYL (talk to you later) – perhaps someone has a better idea
Edit: Goliath likes to use the ‘lift and separate’ device – in this case we must infer NO T from NOT
Eroica is Beethoven’s 3rd symphony
(LOOS ARE)* (*disgusting)
Double definition
Cryptic definition
A reverse anagram: ORLEANS* (*new) = SALERNO
[ep]IDEM[iology] (in)
S[i]GNAL* (I got cut off; *poor)
‘Dog and bone’ is rhyming slang for ‘phone’; the question mark letting us know to think laterally
BUNK (nonsense) in DEED
B[aftas] T[onight] I[mportant] E[vent] (start of); LACK (need) to enter
Cryptic definition
Referring to the ends of SeptEMBER, NovEMBER, DecEMBER
[ashe]S TO A[shes] (featuring in)
Show SHACKLE (restraint) after seeing RAM (stuff)
ANAL (obsessive) + YES* (*possibly)
EYE (viewer) with VILE (offensive) content – &lit
SON (boy) gets A + TA (thank you)
Referring to Beethoven’s famous Moonlight (from 3 down) Sonata
[conclusi]ON A GER[man] (in)
“SEEN” (viewed, “reportedly”)
Cryptic definition
LEONORE (with the change of finale, i.e. last letter) is the protagonist in Beethoven’s opera, Fidelio
LEONORA is the star of Verdi’s Il Trovatore
L (left) in NIGHT (darkness) by MOO (low)
RE (on) + BUS (public transport)
An example (say) of a rebus puzzle
[s]IBERIAN (Russian, start off)
(HEART RATE)* (*irregular)
Cryptic definition
Another reverse anagram clue: DREAMS* (*bad) = MADRE’S
SPLIT (divorce) + ENDS (is over)
B[righton] (first in) & (HOVE, TEEN) (*to work with)
CHAPL[a]IN (man of the cloth, not A)
BAG (secure) outside LOCK* (*tampered with)
Among REST (others); [welli]E (at last)
LA[w]YER (giving up W (whisky, from NATO alphabet))
I think in 4a, you have to split “not” to read “no t”.
Agree with bdg@1.
STOA & ONAGER were my lexicon expanders.
I wasn’t aware tgat bunkum could be relieved of its hesitation.
Good fun.
Good stuff, harder than yesterday but doable on a morning commute. Like the Beethoven theme, and thought aerosol a fine clue, among others. Thanks both.
bdg @1: of course! Thank you. Not the first time I’ve been scuppered by Goliath’s lift and separate device.
Agree that this was great fun. I found it much easier than yesterday’s with the added bonus of learning a new word; ONAGER.
Thanks to Goliath and Oriel.
I agree that this was great fun. I found it much easier than yesterday’s with the added bonus of learning a new word:ONAGER.
Thanks to Goliath and Oriel.
Lovely puzzle with a delightful mini-theme, cleverly executed.
I see that I had twelve ticks in all, so, apart from the themed answers and the reverse anagrams, I’ll just highlight AEROSOL, SLANG, BLACK TIE, ANALYSE, CHAPLIN and RESET.
Many thanks to Goliath and Oriel.