Thankfully not quite so much Trumpery in this puzzle.
We seem to have a run of Eye puzzles lately where many answers fell into the grid quite quickly leaving few to do after the first pass. In this case eight mostly in the top right.
I had to check if I’d started an old puzzle after I got the first one – 10A Divorce Bill – this is almost identical to a clue from Knut in the Indy a few days earlier. Indeed, when I solved that one I thought that clue would be suitable for an Eye puzzle.
Another enjoyable romp.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | APATHY | Indifference when one gets to fondle Hillary’s skirts (6) A (one) PAT (findle) H[illar]Y |
| 4 | SLAPDASH | Slovenly cuff – bloody annoying (8) SLAP (cuff) DASH (bloody annoying) |
| 10 | DIVORCE BILL | Cheated-on Hillary never did Brexit’s reckoning? (7,4) Double Def. First One In. Talk about great minds thinking alike: I certainly had deja vu to the last puzzle I blogged when I read that clue: Knut’s Indy 9614 last Saturday: LINK See 2D |
| 11/15 | HIT THE BOTTLE | After hot sex article, lose nerve and get pissed (3,3,6) H[ot] IT (sex) THE (article) BOTTLE (lose nerve) |
| 12 | CORNY | Old-fashioned Randy wants a change of leader (5) HORNY (randy) with first letter changed |
| 13 | TIGHT-KNIT | Drunken idiot sounded “integrated” (5-4) TIGHT (drunken) KNIT (homophone nit – idiot) |
| 14 | BASTARD | Major cabinet member getting off embracing luminary? (7) BAD (off) around STAR (luminary) |
| 16/27 | A BIT OF FUN | Some frivolity from boffin at university getting screwed (1,3,2,3) (BOFFIN AT U[niversity] )* AInd: screwed. |
| 20 | OXYGEN | “Bull!” – May’s right wing data element (6) OX (bull) [ma]Y GEN (data) |
| 21 | ALL EARS | Fully attentive like our Brian? (3,4) Cryptic ref to Prince Charles’s massive flaps. Must be something in the royal bloodline, qv Alexander Armstrong similarly sized pair |
| 23 | RAT POISON | Arse one placed in Uri Geller-ed spoon – that should see off the pest (3,6) RAT (arse) I (one) inside (SPOON)* AInd: Uri Geller-ed (i.e. bent) |
| 26 | CLOWN | Conservative depressed by Johnson, ultimately – “Twerp!” (5) C[onservative] LOW (depressed) [johnso]N |
| 28 | TERRESTRIAL | Mundane Brenda put to rest in experiment (11) ER REST inside TRAIL |
| 29 | CONCERTO | What May is: safe bet to gain nothing – music to one’s ears! (8) CON (what May is) CERT (safe bet) O |
| 30 | PRIMER | Prayer book produced by strait-laced Brenda (6) PRIM (straight-laced) ER (Brenda) |
| Down | ||
| 1 | ABDUCT | Take Lib Dem’s centre: useless beginning to spike legislation (6) [li]B D[em] U[seless] all indside (to spike) ACT (legislation) |
| 2 | ADVERSARY | Opponent’s publicity right since rising in mighty surroundings (9) AD (publicity), then R[ight] and AS (since) reversed (rising) inside VERY (mighty) |
| 3 | HARRY | Royal plague (5) Double Def. |
| 5 | LYING | Not standing for description of many a politician? (5) Double Def. |
| 6 | PALATABLE | Tasty lap dancing before one gets to put forward a bill? (9) LAP* AInd: dancing, A (one) TABLE (put forward a bill) |
| 7 | ASHEN | Like female prone to a lay? Ruddy opposite (5) AS (like) HEN (female prone to lay) |
| 8 | HOT STUFF | Stolen property’s a sexy thing (3,5) HOT (stolen) STUFF (property). Or is this better described as a Double Def.? |
| 9 | GESTURE | To show inclination, gets out before Europe half collapses (7) GETS* AInd: out, (EUR[ope])* Last One In. I initially put in VENTURE and wondered how VENT could possible derive from “gets out” before the penny dropped. |
| 17 | TERRORISM | Mirror set to spread the subject of much Trump hype (9) (MIRROR SET)* AInd: to spread. |
| 18 | HORRIFIC | It’s terrible for rich, forced to be around one (8) (FOR RICH)* AInd: forced, around I (one) |
| 19 | BLANKET | Vacuous, ultimately vile Tory opening: “Cover up!” (7) BLANK (vacuous) [vil]E T[ory] |
| 22 | ANTLER | Horny thing‘s potty rental (6) (RENTAL)* AInd: potty |
| 24 | TENON | Saw Tone contrived Gordon’s end (5) TONE* AInd: contrived, then [gordo]N |
| 25 | SPRAT | In short, sailors’ wear, turned up – not worth catching (5) TARPS< Short for Tarpaulins but to sailors actual wear tarps? |
| 26 | CATER | Who supplies coach to suppress extremes of Trump hyperbole? (5) T[rump hyperbol]E inside CAR (coach). Does the definition work? Surely “who supplies” is a caterer. |
If you’re being chased by a pack of taxidermists, whatever you do, don’t try playing dead.
(Thank you, Olaf Falafal)
Thanks Beermagnet – I liked 10 across and had a chuckle (no pun intended) at 7 down.
Chambers says that cater is a person who supplies provisions.
Re 26a My Oxford Dictionary of English under Origin has———Late 16th century: from obsolete cater ‘caterer’
Re 25a Oxford dictionary has …..historical A sailor’s tarred or oilskin hat.
What is the point of the word prayer in the clue for 30 across, which works perfectly well without it?
John,
a Prayer book is often referred to as a Primer as per this definition: Link Websters 1828 dictionary
I think Cyclops is helping us, if the def. was just “book” the answer could be a multitude of possibilities
My theory is that Cyclops had dug out his Chambers in order to justify an ‘obsolete’ solution for 26 down, and then used Chambers to over-egg the clue for 30 across (which is a weaker cryptic precisely because it excludes various other other possibilities). I posted my comment after rattling through the newly arrived Cyclops 606 without needing to go anywhere near a dictionary!
Franco…. do hens chuckle, then? The ones we had when I was a child clucked!
Apologies… Franko!!!!!