Cyclops 633 – Get Out, Boris

by

Cyclops is pretty much on-the-button this fortnight, with some familiar establishment targets, and a recently-resigned minister, to boot…

Some historical references too – MUSSOLINI, Queen Vic’s (apocryphal?) saying – (we are) NOT AMUSED – and AGINCOURT.

But we also have the ENERGETIC BORIS, who has recently resigned in more ways than one. Will his ILLICIT shenanigans (I hope there wasn’t a THREESOME involved as well?) prove FATAL to his ambitions, and leave a nasty AFTERTASTE? We shall see.

The clue for BORIS was probably my favourite, vying with that for THREESOME, with the gooseberry finally getting a look in!

 

The usual smut-tering of Cyclops-ean innuendo – slack tits; vigorous screwing; grotesque erection – amongst the more conventional stuff. All good fun, and an enjoyable solve and blog…

 

Across
Clue No Solution Clue Definition (with occasional embellishments) /
Logic/parsing
1A BUCKINGHAM & 19 “Dollar gets one questionable champagne (about a litre) for one’s haunt” (10,6) one’s (the queen’s) haunt /
BUCK (dollar) + I (one) + NGHAM P_ACE (anag, i.e. questionable, of CHAMPAGNE), around A + L (litre)
6A TAKE & 26 Nick has a copy of Private Eye? Protest! (4,5) protest /
TAKE (nick) + ISSUE (copy of Private Eye?)
10A FATAL Arafat allowed covering up of killing (5) of killing /
hidden word, i.e. covering up, in ‘araFAT ALlowed’
11A THREESOME Sex situation in which gooseberry gets to play a part? (9) &lit-ish/CD? /
The gooseberry is usually the odd-one-out in a relationship, but in a THREESOME they get to join in!
12A AGINCOURT A drink, then date comes up with engagement (9) (military) engagement /
A + GIN (drink) + COURT (date, woo)
13A BEFOG Obscure iron roundabout in Slough (5) obscure /
B_OG (marsh, slough) around EF (Fe, iron, roundabout)
14A NOTATE Be a composer, not a vacuous Trumpite! (6) be a composer /
NOT + A + TE (vacuous, or emptied, T-rumpit-E)
15A SOMERSET County group to the right of a certain Boris at heart (8) county /
SOME (a certain…) + R (middle letter, or heart, of boRis) +SET (group)
18A TURN PALE Trump, acquiring name for Mexican leader, snapped “Piss! Become white!” (4,4) become white! /
TURNP (anag, i.e. snapped, of TRU(M)(N)P – swapping M – leading letter of Mexican – for N – name) + ALE (piss)
20A STATIC It’s slightly shocking getting one implanted in slack tits – and cold (6) it’s slightly shocking /
ST_TI (anag, i.e. slack, of TITS) around A (one), plus C (cold)
23A MABEL Blame bananas for such an old-fashioned handle (5) old-fashioned handle (name) /
anag, i.e. bananas, of BLAME
25A MUSSOLINI Fascist soul’s destroyed when crammed into compact vehicle (9) fascist /
M_INI (compact vehicle) around (crammed into by) USSOL (anag, i.e. destroyed, of SOULS)
27A STRUCTURE Utter cur’s grotesque erection (9) erection /
anag, i.e. grotesque, of UTTER CURS
28A GAINS See 3dn (5) see 3D /
see 3D
29A DOSE Party followed by Home counties should get shot? (4) shot /
DO (party) followed by SE (South East, home counties)
30A AFTERTASTE It can be bitter, being in pursuit of liberal state (10) it can be bitter /
AFTER (in pursuit of) + TASTE (anag, i.e. liberal, of STATE)
Down
Clue No Solution Clue Definition (with occasional embellishments) /
Logic/parsing
1D BAFTA One time great going arse over tip getting an award (5) award /
A (one) + T (time) + FAB (great) – all going ‘arse over tip’
2D CAT LITTER Soppy title added to cart by collector of Tom’s shit (3,6) collector of Tom’s shit(!) /
anag, i.e. soppy, of TITLE + CART
3D ILLICIT & 28 Result of rigged elections? Loot (7,5) loot /
A rigged election might lead to ILLICIT GAINS of seats…
4D GET OUT Means of evading corporate responsibility? Piss off! (3-3) piss off /
A legal ‘GET-OUT clause’, or loophole, might be a means of evading corporate responsibility…
5D AERATION American evangelist leaders need quota of gas production? (8) of gas production /
AE (leading letters of American Evangelist) + RATION (quota)
7D ALOOF Reserved a scrubber with no surprise expressed (5) reserved /
A + LOOF(AH) (scrubber, with AH, or expression of surprise, removed)
8D ENERGETIC Vigorous screwing, e.g. in Crete (9) vigorous /
anag, i.e. screwing, of EG IN CRETE
9D FEEBLE Feel and be stimulated, then faint (6) faint /
anag, i.e stimulated, of FEEL + BE
14D NOT AMUSED No Tory leader has a thought like Queen Victoria (3,6) like Queen Victoria /
NO + T (leading letter of Tory) + A + MUSED (thought)
16D SET LIMITS Draw a line about tits and smile (3,6) draw a line /
anag, i.e. about, of TITS + SMILE
17D PLUM DUFF Fruity dish, m’lud, rudely interrupted promotion (4,4) fruity dish /
P_UFF (promotion, advertising) around (interrupted by) LUM D (anag, i.e. rudely, of M’LUD)
19D PALACE See 1ac (6) see 1A /
see 1A
21D THOUGHT Brooded: “Nonetheless, Trump’s only just got started” (7) brooded /
THOUGH (nonetheless) + T (starting letter of Trump)
22D ESSENE Old ascetic Jewish sect member – some finesse needed (6) old ascetic Jewish sect member /
hidden word, i.e. some, in ‘finESSE NEeded’
24D BORIS Resigned minister pens ” I love to swap around” (5) (recently) resigned minister /
BORIS = BIROS (pens) with I and O (love) swapped round
26D ISSUE See 6ac (6) see 6A /
see 6A

22 comments on “Cyclops 633 – Get Out, Boris”

  1. Great clue for BORIS (24d)!

    Why so coy in 1d with “arse over tip”? Isn’t it “arse over tit?”. Quite apart from the fact that tits don’t seem any more ‘unmentionable’ than arses, they appear in several other clues in one way or another anyway.

  2. ‘Aeration’ was my last one in and my favourite was ‘aloof’. It was one of the later ones to get filled in and it came together so sweetly that I found it so slick.

  4. Tony & Will – interestingly (or not?!) Chambers only seems to have Tony’s version, but if you dare to Go-ogle the phrase (maybe not on a work computer?) then there seem to be equal numbers of references to either – with the ‘tip’ version tending to be the more ‘original’ version…

    I found one site listing various phrases that have been ‘warped’ over time in this way, such as ‘box standard’ becoming ‘bog standard’.

    The things Cyclops gets us discussing! (And for the sake of equality, without doing any quantitative research on the subject, I am fairly sure that Cyclops makes roughly equal references to male AND female appendages/body parts…)

  5. Thanks mc_rapper67 – you may well spark some serious research on the male /female body part count issue. Fortunately, there are some body parts we all have in common like ‘arses’. Not trying to muddy the waters…so to speak.

  6. A similar question arose over a recent entry in the Guardian’s cluing comp concerning buck/butt naked.

    Where the original is not in dispute, the corrupted form is known as an eggcorn, eg, damp squib/squid. There’s article about them here

  7. Good luck with the research, Franko!

    And thanks for the link Tony – will check it out later…

    We have strayed a little off topic (the puzzle itself) – shall we call it ‘Correspondence closed’?!

  8. If I can slip in a quickie at closing time, I see that the shagging and screwing in the clueing for Cyclops 634 is all fixated on the blokey bits: prick, erectile dysfunction. bollocks, erection, boxers, balls, tumescent. (Enough already! Ed.)

  9. John E @ 8: please don’t make comments on a prize puzzle that has only just been published today. Après vous, le déluge…

  10. Thanks, Simon S – you beat me to it – although John E hasn’t commented on clue workings or solutions, just the words that are in the clues themselves – which any solver will see when they get their copy of the Eye. His comment won’t help them solve any of the clues…

    However, the site policy is that prize puzzles should not be commented on before their submission date – perhaps Gaufrid can adjudicate, and if necessary remove or edit John E’s comment?

  11. My comment (in no way a spoiler) was offered up as an addendum to a mini-discussion that is (hopefully) going to be forgotten about by the time that 634 is blogged.

  13. Is 634 out already? I was told they come out on (alternate) Fri mornings, which is when I’ve been picking them up since taking them up recently. Maybe that’s just the online version?

    Apologies for drifting off into eggcorns: they’re just so interesting if you’re interested in words. Thanks anyway to Will for the assertion that “tip” is primary. Mention of a source would have been good, but please don’t take this as encouragement to continue with the subject.

  15. Tony @13….the online version is available as of now. I use this also since , living in Germany, the actual issue can arrive after the entry closure date.

  16. Thanks for the info, John and Winsor. It’s not usually so hard that I need the extra time. Maybe I’ll subscribe later (say, if I win the £100 🙂 )

  17. I usually see the new cover at the newsagent/sweetie shop at Bank tube station on a Wednesday morning, before my subscription copy lands on my doorstep later that day. It may take a day or so more for it to reach more remote shires – not sure where you are, Tony.

    I can’t see 634 online on the Eye site yet – they don’t usually update it until the Friday.

    I normally solve it from the paper copy, but for my blogs I go to the site to copy/paste the clues…

    (John E – I think you can take yourself off the naughty step now!)

  18. @mc, I’m in Stevenage, Herts, so there’d be no problem with delivery; just not in my budget. It was Private Eye themselves who told me it’s published online on Fridays. As there’s no option to print a copy afaik, I have fiddle about quite a lot cutting and pasting and resizing to get it ready in a word processor to print on one sheet of A4.

  20. Thanks, Winsor. I don’t have Across Lite. Or is that link to download it? Actually, the laptop I usually get them on is non-functional, at least for now, and I need to set up a new one, so I may be a mere spectator on these pages for a while. Perhaps I’ll buy a copy anyway. It’s always a good read…

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