… the Hispanic Welshman who would have been insulted by both 9a and 4d.
The only bad thing about Shed crosswords are that they don’t come along often enough for my liking. Clever, cheeky and you always learn something from them.
ACROSS
1 P(O-LENT)A
5 SCHEMES – (CHESSMEn)*
9 A-SPIC – apologies to Hispanic people everywhere
10 FLU-ORES-CE
11 BAREFACED CHEEK – two of these make a full “moon”
13 RAG-A
14 G-A(Z)PACH(e)-O
17 TROUSERS – reference to the phrase “she wears the trousers in that relationship”
18 Didn’t get it – ran out of time
21 A-C(COUNT-ABIL)ITY – ABIL is an anagram of BAIL
23 TRO(SSAC)HS – Mama Cass was a singer, stick her into SHORT and reverse for a Scottish glen (“valley” to non-Scots)
24 DUMMY – Reference to the game of Bridge where the Dummy hand is exposed
25 REGRETS – Frank (Sinatra) had a few regrets in “My Way”, Edith (Piaf) had absolutely none in “Moi, Je Ne Regrette Rien”
26 D(ER)ANGE(r)
DOWN
1 P-HAT – if you speak Hip-Hop, “phat” means very good indeed, homeboy.
2 LAP-SANG S(OUCH)ONG – Lap Dancer sang song. The “ouch” is a response to puns – especially this one. The whole thing is a type of “Tea”. Geddit ? Well crafted clue, Shed.
3 Omitted on purpose
4 (t)AFF(RA)Y – Apologies to Welsh people everywhere for the use of the word “TAFFY” to describe them. It’s a reference to the river Taff, I believe.
5 SAU(CEP)AN – A CEP is an edible mushroom and it’s used in crosswords more than it is cookery. The rest is almost the word “SAUNA”, but not quite
6 HAR(DCO)PY
7 MA(STER CRAFTS)MAN – In French “Maman” is “Mother”, the remainder is an anagram of FRCS TREAT. An FRCS is a Chartered Surveyor, so the surface is really pleasing.
8 S(TEAK-H)OUSE
13 PRO(TRA)CTOR – A “Proctor” is a legal official, the rest is an anagram of “Art”. Always thought “Art” and “Craft” were different things, but I’ll let it go.
15 ES(QUIS)SE – Had to look this one up. It is a sketch, and uses the French for “who” (“qui”) and the crossword setter’s friend “ESSE” (the state of “being” as opposed to “non-being” or “potentially being”)
16 Omitted on purpose – simple anagram
19 Omitted on purpose
20 G-LI(e)DER
22 BYTE – sounds like “bite”. I tried for too long to make “Meme” fit here – my punishment for being a smart-alec.
18 – HALS, Dutch painter, “halts” losing t.
25 A – You have a typo – regrets
Glad I found your site, very useful. I couldn’t work out why Saucepan, but now I know.
I liked the lapsang souchong one, too. And bare-faced cheek. Cheeky.
P.S. Who is Dafydd Gonzales?
Phat!!! It’s hard to solve crosswords with non existent words in the area of the world in which you live.
7: An FRCS is a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, hence treat in the surface reading. A Chartered Surveyor would be an FRICS.
18 I though this was PANS. P(ainter)+ANS (year in French)?
(excuse the typo above)
The online crossword has HALS as the answer. I don’t see what the definition would be for PANS.
HALS is definitely right – should have got it but I had to rush off and get a life before I could crack it.
Clare : Daffydd Gonzales is a product of my overactive imagination. He’s a Mexican Welshman who wears a sombrero and solves crimes in Port Talbot. He would be very upset by the racial slurs in two of Shed’s clues. Loving your blog by the way.
James : THanks for the correction – I did say that I always learned something from a Shed crossword.
Dear Tom Hutton,
We American solvers are filled with sympathy for your plight.
I permitted myself a little snort of delight when I got the PHAT answer, and for a moment doubted its veracity, wot with this being a Proper Paper an’ all.
I would like to have my crimes solved by a Mexican Welshman who wore a sombrero, if I had any crimes that needed solving. Sadly I don’t. Maybe I’d better invent one ‘specially.