The puzzle can be found here.
Hello and welcome all, with a special welcome to the Indy’s latest new setter, Angel. Angel waltzes onto the stage with a glittering debut, featuring SEQUINS, DANCING, and Claudia WINKLINGman (sorry!). Yes, it’s the final of a certain TV show today, but you don’t need to be a fan of 6a to enjoy this puzzle. I can’t decide which clue to award the GLITTERBALL, maybe the show clue at 6a/24d/21a as I always like a reverse one. You can submit your scores along with your comments below. Over to you.
Definitions are underlined in the clues below. In the explanations, quoted indicators are in italics, explicit [deletions] are in square brackets, and I’ve capitalised and emboldened letters which appear in the ANSWER.
Across
5a Country set? (5)
CHINA
Two definitions
6a & 24/21. Show clue for Tom’s tricycle? (8,4,7)
STRICTLY COME DANCING
STRICTLY COME anagrammed (DANCING) could be a clue for TOM’S TRICYCLE
8a Note taken badly – it may suggest exposure (4,3)
FAKE TAN
FA (note) + TAKEN anagrammed (badly)
9a Piebald surprisingly walking upright (7)
BIPEDAL
An anagram of (… surprisingly) PIEBALD
11a Extracts energy, legal up to a point (7)
ELICITS
E (energy) + LICIT (legal) + S (point)
13a With internal publicity, confronts illusions (7)
FACADES
FACES (confronts) containing (with … internal) AD (publicity)
14a Bet tall girl, 21, gets 6 24 21 prize (11)
GLITTERBALL
BET TALL GIRL anagrammed (DANCING: 21a) gives the prize for STRICTLY COME DANCING: 6 24 21
19a View five siblings on the air, or thousands on 6 24 21 (7)
SEQUINS
Sound like (… on the air) SEE (view) + QUINS (five siblings)
21a See 6
23a Gloss given by oil company account (7)
SHELLAC
SHELL (oil company) + AC (account)
25a Outlying motorway cuts through ruined Exeter (7)
EXTREME
M (motorway) goes inside (cuts through) an anagram of (ruined) EXETER
26a Expose yourself to the mafia in brief public assembly (5,3)
FLASH MOB
FLASH (expose yourself to) + MOB (the mafia)
27a Tasteful crop is back in hairdresser catalogues (5)
CRESS
The answer is hidden backwards in (back in) hairdreSSER Catalogues
Down
1d Connect annexe for Spooner, getting out with difficulty (8)
WINKLING
LINK (connect) and WING (annexe), spoonerised
2d Cocktail that sounds like it has a hold on me? (3,3)
MAI TAI
This cocktail sounds like MY TIE, something which might have a hold on me
3d Provision rejected in Edinburgh (4)
GRUB
The answer is found reversed in (rejected in) EdinBURGh
4d Misled, lost head, and fled? (6)
ELUDED
dELUDED has dropped the first letter (lost head)
5d Add calorie on top of skimmed sweet drink (6)
COFFEE
Put C (calorie) before (on top of, in a down entry) tOFFEE (sweet) without the first letter (skimmed …)
6d Skiing regularly leads to envy, possibly (3)
SIN
Alternate letters of (… regularly) SkIiNg
7d Suitable leaders of children’s holiday activities go after Conservative – it proves humanity (7)
CAPTCHA
APT (suitable) and the first letters (leaders) of Children’s Holiday Activities all follow (go after) C (Conservative)
10d When hot, follows Latin beat (4)
LASH
AS (when) + H (hot) goes after (follows) L (Latin)
12d References heard for positions (5)
SITES
A homophone of (… heard) CITES (references)
13d Sacked or let off (5)
FIRED
A double definition
15d Here in France, caught the French descendants in cold weather? (7)
ICICLES
ICI (here in France) + C (caught) + LES (the, French)
16d Gnarly old tree I hung around (8)
LOITERED
An anagram of (gnarly) OLD TREE I
17d House-sitter keeps applications (4)
USES
HoUSE–Sitter contains (keeps) the answer
18d Matures, holds on, and settles (6)
AGREES
AGES (matures) goes around (holds) RE (on)
20d Suppresses queens, replacing English nationalist with liberals (6)
QUELLS
QUE[en]S replacing E (English) and N (nationalist) with L L (liberals)
22d Recognise description of fake diamonds? (6)
NOTICE
NOT ICE would describe fake diamonds
24d See 6 Across
25d Retreat from eager beaver’s bossiness at first (3)
EBB
Initial letters of (… at first) Eager Beaver’s Bossiness
That’s all from me for 2020, so I would just like to repeat what I said in my last EV blog and wish all setters, commenters and lurkers here a very merry, safe and optimism-filled Christmas and New Year. Here’s to a humungously improved 2021!
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