Ronald T Dump continues to provide clue-fodder for Cyclops, although there are some finely-tuned closer-to-home barbs as well this fortnight…
We start at 1A with COVFEFE – ‘a word from Trump’…did he fall asleep mid-Tweet, or WTF was his spiel-chekker doing?…
Some digs closer to home – 14A JEREMY CORBYNS’s unwise Glasto quote – ‘I will be PM within x months’…what was he on?! CORB-FEFE! Surely a bit of a 19D OWN GOAL there?
The ‘powerless’ DUP (if only) at 22d, and the last ripples of ‘strong and stable’ with May referenced in STEADY at 21A. And the powerful reminder not to visit A&E at 30A, as the only beds left seem to be TROLLEYs in corridors…
Any smut? Of course! – the anagram of SUB-TITLE at 28A caused a small ‘titter’ from your correspondent, and we had an ‘erection at bedtime’ at 8D and a dodgy ‘FAKIR’ holding the tip of a prick at 4D.
So pretty standard Cyclops-ean fare – with even some optimism in UTOPIA and DOVE OF PEACE, maybe dragged down by BOYCOTT, REPRESSION and TREADMILL…I think I’ll head for the 29A CLARET(S) to get me through…..
| Across | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
|
| 1A | COVFEFE | A word from Trump: “Eff off when the old fellah’s around” (7) | (an enigmatically tweeted) word from Trump / COV_E (old British slang, man, chap, fellah) around FEF (anag, i.e. off, of EFF) |
|
| 5A | PLACEBO | It offers mental relief from personal problem after lay (7) | it offers mental relief / PLACE (lay) + BO (body odour, personal problem) |
|
| 10A | SPROCKET | Eye holder welcomes publicity – “It’s got teeth” (8) | it’s got teeth / S_OCKET (eye holder) around (welcoming) PR (Public Relations, publicity) |
|
| 11A | CORBYN | See 14ac. (6) | see 14A / see 14A |
|
| 12A | PASS | & 24 Wally and wife spiking father’s piss (4,5) | piss / P_ATER (father), around (spiked by) ASS (wally) + W (wife) |
|
| 13A | REPRESSION | Strict control on Sun and Mail, etc? No one’s backing (10) | strict control / RE (on, about) + PRESS (Sun and Mail, etc.) + ION (NO plus I, one, backing) |
|
| 14A | JEREMY | & 11 Chump almost snapped “Be my crony, ‘PM in waiting'” (6,6) | PM in waiting / JER( |
|
| 16A | APOSTATE | Disloyal type, one completely flattened, having dismissed two Republicans (8) | disloyal type / A (one) + P( |
|
| 18A | HOT STUFF | Keen to bonk sexy type (3,5) | sexy type / HOT (keen) + STUFF (bonk, have sexual relations with) |
|
| 21A | STEADY | Badly teased, energy gone, May ultimately is “Stable” (6) | stable / STEAD (anag, i.e. badly, of TEAS( |
|
| 23A | AND WHAT NOT | On that dawn, getting screwed, etc. (3,4,3) | etc. / anag, i.e. getting screwed, of ON THAT DAWN |
|
| 26A | DOVE | & 2 Eve faced poo spattering – not Trump’s kind of bird (4,2,5) | not Trump’s kind of bird / anag, i.e. spattering, of EVE FACED POO |
|
| 27A | LOATHE | Labour’s leader: love, hate, uncontrolled hate (6) | hate / anag, i.e. uncontrolled, of L (leading letter of Labour) + O (zero, love) + HATE |
|
| 28A | SUBTITLE | Lube tits liberally, to provide onscreen help (8) | provide onscreen help / anag, i.e. liberally, of LUBE TITS! |
|
| 29A | CLARETS | Short time before second wines? (7) | wines? / SHORT (Clare Short, late Labour MP and minister) + T (time) + S (second) |
|
| 30A | TROLLEY | NHS bed: stay on yours and don’t be stupid (7) | NHS bed / if you are ‘off your TROLLEY’ you are daft/stupid, so if you stay on it… |
|
| Down | ||||
| Clue No | Solution | Clue | Definition (with occasional embellishments) / Logic/parsing |
|
| 2D | OF PEACE | See 26a. (2,5) | see 26A / see 26A |
|
| 3D | FROGS LEGS | Non-PC French supporters: they’re hard to stomach (5,4) | they’re hard to stomach / FROGS (non-PC term for the French) + LEGS (supporters) |
|
| 4D | FAKIR | Holy man just needs to hold tip of prick (5) | holy man / FA_IR (just, honest) around (holding) K (last letter, or tip, of pricK) |
|
| 6D | LECHEROUS | Randy, ruined by Hello curse, left out (9) | randy / anag, i.e. runied, of HEL( |
|
| 7D | CARBS | Craved by petrol-head dieters? (5) | &lit-ish/CD – or self-introspective double definition? / petrol heads (Top Gear watchers) crave CARBurettors; dieters crave CARBohydrates!… |
|
| 8D | BOYCOTT | Snub oaf getting erection at bed-time (7) | snub / BOY (YOB, oaf, upwards, or erect) + COT (bed) + T (time) |
|
| 9D | UTOPIA | Briefly united, getting head, one on one – bliss! (6) | bliss / U (United, briefly) + TOP (head) + I (one) + A (one) |
|
| 15D | YOU NAME IT | Tony messed with EU aim – “Whatever you want” (3,4,2) | whatever you want! / anag, i.e. messed, of TONY with EU AIM |
|
| 17D | TREADMILL | Tories oddly placed before publicity factory’s routine drudgery (9) | routine drudgery / TRE (odd letters of ToRiEs) + AD (publicity) + MILL (factory) |
|
| 19D | OWN GOAL | Admit Environment Secretary half started with a line that helps opponents (3,4) | (something) that helps opponents / OWN (own up to, admit) + GO( |
|
| 20D | FINISH | Carp about being elected, getting wind up? (6) | wind up / F_ISH (carp) around IN (being elected) |
|
| 22D | DEVALUE | Lower the worth of powerless DUP? Leave off! (7) | lower the worth of / anag, i.e. off, of DU( |
|
| 24D | WATER | See 12ac. (5) | see 26A / see 26A |
|
| 25D | TUBER | Maybe King Edward, however, rejected Brenda (5) | maybe King Edward (potato) / TUB (BUT, however) + ER (Elizabeth Regina, Brenda accoring to Private Eye) |
|
Thanks both.
An enjoyable puzzle which was relatively straightforward. The last two across clues took me ages to parse but got there in the end.