I enjoyed solving this, sadly it didn’t last very long. Not only are there only 23 clues due to the grid design, but most of the answers flew in.
It was nearly a clean sweep with only 4 to go after the first pass, all in that top left corner where they resisted my solving abilities without the help of a few crossing letters.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 6 | IN SHORT | Briefly part of the gang, a denouncer of Blair (2,5) IN (part of the gang) [Clare] SHORT (denouncer of Blair) Ref. Clare Short <link> One of the last solved – the list of “denouncers of Blair” is probably quite long. |
| 8 | SHOOING | Spill the beans about House wanting Opposition leader ‘scaring away’ (7) HO[use] O[pposition] inside SING (spill the beans) |
| 10 | KNITWEAR | Woolly King Charlie joins fray (8) K[ing] NIT (Charlie) WEAR (fray). One of the last solved – for no good reason, that is a solid, accessible clue. |
| 11 | PISS-UP | A tight session as a result of leak on high (4-2) Double Def. First one in |
| 12 | ULTRAVIOLET | It can’t be seen to rival lute playing (11) (TO RIVAL LUTE)* AInd: playing |
| 14 | ON THE RIGHT TRACK | Conservative Hunt following a successful course?! (2,3,5,5) ON THE RIGHT (Conservative) TRACK (hunt) |
| 17 | SOCIAL MEDIA | As a domicile working for Trump outlets (6,5) (AS A DOMICILE)* AInd: working. |
| 21 | RUMPUS | Big noise behind America (6) RUMP (behind) US (America) |
| 22 | NICETIES | Nuances of French city connections (8) NICE (French city) TIES (connections) |
| 23 | FOREIGN | Strange reversing of what Brenda has to do (7) OF< REIGN (what Brenda – Private Eye nickname for HRH The Queen – has to do). I thought this a particualrly nice clue |
| 24 | MONOCLE | Infiltrator holds back political party, which would suit Cyclops? (7) CON< (political party, back) inside MOLE (infiltrator) |
| Down | ||
| 2 | ARREST | Arse adjusted: about right temperature for bust? (6) (ARSE)* AInd: adjusted, around R[ight] T[emperature] Another nice clue. One of the last in – misled by the definition – I was thinking about the wrong kind of bust, as you do. |
| 3 | SHOPLIFT | Take stock of Hislop broadcast with Foot (8) (HISLOP)* AInd: broadcast, FT |
| 4 | MORSEL | Angela heartlessly crushing rose, perhaps? Scrap! (6) (ROSE)* (perhaps) inside (crushed by) M and L from M[erke]L |
| 5 | INJUSTICE | Elected, only with crystal meth, which is wrong (9) IN (elected) JUST (only) ICE (crystal meth) Weeks watching Breaking Bad not wasted then. |
| 7 | NONE | Corbyn ultimately bound to deliver bugger all? (4) [corby]N ONE (bound – as in unite to become one). Last one in. I vaguely remember Cyclops using that Bound/United/As one allusion before, and being fooled by it before |
| 9 | ARRAIGNMENT | Martin: anger over public incrimination (11) (MARTIN ANGER)* AInd: over |
| 13 | IN A STUPOR | Oblivious, Trump is on a roll, abandoning millions (2,1,6) (TRUMP IS ON A – M[illions])* AInd: roll |
| 15 | ROAD SIGN | Give way? Dragon is “out” (4,4) (DRAGON IS)* AInd: out |
| 16 | REACTION | Response from Republican against energy undertaking (8) R[epublican] E[nergy] ACTION (undertaking) |
| 18 | COPPER | PC term for ‘old boiler’ (6) Double Def. |
| 19 | DOCTOR | Who possibly is old-fashioned chap backing Conservative no end? (6) Definition: Ref Doctor Who. COD< (old-fashioned chap, backing) TOR[y] (conservative, no end). I’m not 100% sure about Chap = COD |
| 20/1 | TELL THE TRUTH | Archer article fact? Be honest! (4,3,5) [William] TELL (Archer) THE (article) TRUTH (fact) |
Since the beginning of his administration, twice a day a special folder is prepared for Trump. First around 09:30 a.m. then 4:30 p.m.
These are filled with admiring tweets, transcripts of fawning TV interviews, praise-filled news stories, and pictures of Trump on TV looking powerful.
You might suspect I’m making the usual joke at the end of the Eye blog, but this is Trump: <link>
Thanks Cyclops and beermagnet
Yes, this was quite a swift solve, though I only got to it this afternoon.
Per Chambers, cod = chap seems to be related to codger.
None was my last one….took me 24 hours to get the bound=one bit!!!! Interesting to see ultraviolet appearing right after our discussions in the last blog.
I had the most trouble with NONE, COPPER, KNITWEAR, and DOCTOR. NONE was my LOI, if I remember correctly. PISSUP was a new phrase for me. All in all, another provocative puzzle from Cyclops. Keep up the great work!