*=anag, []=dropped, <=reversed
An excellent mix of clues from Punk as usual, with some relatively easy and some quite difficult. I had a couple of goes at completing it – got most of the way through this morning but had to come back and finish it this evening.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | Venture capital: (lucrative + a pent[house])*. |
| 9 | Vital Statistics: cryptic def. |
| 10 | Vagabond: VD around a Gabon. |
| 12 | Keeper: Reference to the World Cup goalkeeper, Gordon Banks. |
| 13 | Behind: Bind around he<. |
| 16 | Sawbones: Seas around Now around B all <. |
| 18 | Bewilder: be wilder. |
| 19 | Tweedy: T[off] + weedy. |
| 20 | Push up: Pup around us + h. |
| 22 | Gorillas: Go rill as. |
| 25 | Mistress Quickly: M + I stress quickly. |
| 27 | New balls please: topical CD. |
| Down | |
| 2 | Evita: [N]ative<. Had to press reveal to get this one, for which I’m a bit annoyed. The “mother” bit really threw me – I convinced myself it must be Erica, with something to do with dropping the AM (ma<) from America. |
| 3 | Tiara: Tara around I – a tiara is half of a crown. |
| 4 | Responded: Reed around S pond. |
| 5 | Cha: Cha[p]. |
| 6 | Prink: Pink around r. A word I’ve never come across before, so I had to check the dictionary. |
| 7 | Title Role: (Little or)* + e. |
| 8 | Lickey End: Licked around yen. Can’t say I’ve ever heard of the place. |
| 11 | Dishrag: Drag around his*. Pants here is being used in the colloquial “it’s pants !” sense. |
| 14 | Execution: (on cue + exit)* + &lit. |
| 15 | Irish Stew: Iris + h[i]s + wet<. |
| 17 | Water jump: (a wet)* + rump around J + &lit. |
| 21 | Pieta: Pi + ETA (est time of arrival). |
| 23 | Lucre: Lure around c. |
| 24 | Atlas: A salt<. |
| 26 | Sol: hidden in mausoleum. |
I thought 27ac was going to indicate a topical themed puzzle for the opening of Wimbledon, but if there’s a Nina, I’ve missed it – three Vs top left? Vital Statistics an anagram of Vitas Gerulaitis (apart from the odd letter)? Or am I making a prink about nothing?
11d – ‘pants’ is anagram indicator for ‘his’, the bit about women’s clothing is the ‘drag’ part.