Cyclops 790 – Supreme Election-Denier

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Cyclops has some depressingly doom-laden (if they come true) prophecies this fortnight…

…Ronald T Dump doesn’t get a direct mention, but he lingers through the clue readings, and some solutions, like a fart in a lift – wrong on so many levels!

The ‘lie-spreading contender’ of 1A/20A ELECTION DENIER; the ‘Don’ steeped in evil for 28A SWEAR IN; and the Republican who will finish off the country if he gets in at 25A LANDROVER. Time will tell, with a week or so to go – as I write this it is too close to call for anyone trying to read the 26D RUNES!

Trump’s old pal Boris gets a mention in 3D TREACHERY and, talking of Boris, there are ‘Conservative lies’ in Tunbridge Wells in 14D TALL STORY. And as if all that wasn’t bad enough, it seems Putin is planning to invade Switzerland in 5A STUPID.

YVETTE Cooper gets a first-name-check at 29A, a sign of having arrived, in Cyclops-ean terms. (Her husband, ED BALLS, has had numerous outings over the years, due to the usefulness of both his forename – word-play fodder – and surname – definition spicer-upper.)

Cyclops tries to cheer us up at the end with 30A GOOD NEWS! But too late – the damage has been done. Will there be anything left of my fingernails by Nov 6?

 

 

Thanks, as usual to Cyclops. Away from all the doom and gloom, my favourite clue was probably the AWE KIDS/ORCHIDS homophone at 27A, closely followed by the weaving of Jeffrey Archer into TREACHERY.

 

Across
Clue No Solution Clue (definition underlined)

Logic/parsing
1A ELECTION (DENIER) & 20 Republican blind to truth, i.e. contender lie-spreading (8,6)

anag, i.e. spreading, of IE CONTENDER LIE
5A STUPID Mad Putin all but resolved to invade Switzerland’s borders (6)

S_D (borders, or outer letters of SwitzerlanD) around (invaded by) TUPI (anag, i.e. resolved, of PUTI(N), amost all of Putin)
10A SAPIENT Smart panties brandished (7)

anag, i.e. brandished, of PANTIES
11A UP YOURS Increase what you have and get stuffed (2,5)

if you increase (UP) what you have (YOURS) you might ‘UP YOURS’!
12A EASY CHAIR Laid back presiding officer’s seat (4,5)

EASY (laid back) + CHAIR (presiding officer)
13A TASER Stunner, in fact a servant (5)

hidden word in ‘facT A SERvant’
14A TODGER Dick‘s short rule Mark overturned (6)

REG (short for regulation, or rule) + DOT (mark, blemish) all overturned to give TODGER
15A EMISSARY Is my arse suitable for an agent of the state? (8)

anag, i.e. suitable, of IS MY ARSE
18A LOBBYIST Philatelist possibly changes first for one seeking to manipulate member (8)

(H)OBBYIST (philatelist, for example) changing first letter to L = LOBBYIST

[a lobbyist manipulating a Member of Parliament, that is!]
20A DENIER See 1ac. (6)

see 1A
23A SUITS Clubs, etc for despised white-collar executives? (5)

double defn. – the SUITS in a regular deck of cards include clubs; and SUIT can be a slang/derogatory term for a white-collar executive
25A LANDROVER Country finished if Republican gets in – this will get you over the rough (9)

LAND (country) + OVER (finished), around R (Republican)

[rough terrain]
27A ORCHIDS Bloomers inspire minors with dread, you might say (7)

homophone – if you inspire dread (AWE) in minors (KIDS) then you might AWE KIDS, which can sound like ORCHIDS, depending on your accent!
28A SWEAR IN Inaugurate US president Don, steeped in evil? (5,2)

S_IN (evil) around WEAR (don)
29A YVETTE Secretary of State, yet dithering about check (6)

Y_TE (anag, i.e. dithering, of YET) around VET (check)

[current Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper, to be more precise]
30A GOOD NEWS You’ll be glad to hear this goes down swimmingly (4,4)

anag, i.e. swimmingly, of GOES DOWN!
Down
Clue No Solution Clue (definition underlined)

Logic/parsing
1D ENSUE Eye never starts to get litigious, follow? (5)

EN (starting letters of Eye Never) + SUE (to get litigious)
2D EXPOSED Once popped the question in the nude? (7)

EX (once, former) + POSED (asked, or popped, a question)
3D TREACHERY What right-wing press would call Boris’s sacking – yet Archer wobbles (9)

anag, i.e. wobbles, of YET ARCHER
4D OUTLAY Surpass someone else’s shag tally for a cost? (6)

if you shag (LAY) more than someone else, then you might ‘OUT LAY’ them!
6D TRYST Date – score second time (5)

TRY (score) + S (second) + T (time)
7D PRUSSIA Old European kingdom puts pressure on aggressive power (7)

P (pressure) + RUSSIA (aggressive power)
8D DESTROYER Wrecker Tory’s about to be clad in fawn? (9)

DE_ER (fawn) around (cladding) STORY (anag, i.e. about, of TORYS)
9D SUPREME Presume maligned Diana was one (7)

anag, i.e. maligned, of PRESUME

[Diana as in Ross, for a change, as opposed to Princess Di]
14D TALL STORY Everyone in Tunbridge Wells outskirts is onto Conservative lie (4,5)

T_S (outskirts of Tunbridge wellS) around ALL (everyone), plus TORY (Conservative)
16D SPEARHEAD Leader Lance – nut! (9)

SPEAR (lance) + HEAD (nut)
17D USELESS Don’t be so exploitative – it’s futile (7)

if you don’t exploit (USE) something so much, you might USE LESS
19D BRIOCHE Roll over Beethoven initially composed with Erich (7)

anag, i.e. composed, of O (over) + B (Beethoven, initially) + ERICH
21D INVERSE E.J. Thribb’s contributions are so contrary (7)

double defn. (ignoring punctuation) – EJ Thribb’s contributions in the Eye are IN VERSE; and the contrary is the INVERSE
22D UNESCO Rather opportune, Scotland’s international body (6)

hidden word, i.e. rather, or somewhat, in ‘opportUNE SCOtland’
24D SHIFT Foreign head involved in crap move (5)

SHI_T (crap) around F (first letter, or head, of Foreign)
26D RUNES Old characters‘ energy overwhelmed by diarrhoea (5)

RUN_S (the runs, diarrhoea) around (overwhelming) E (energy)

7 comments on “Cyclops 790 – Supreme Election-Denier”

  1. Thanks mc_rapper67 and Cyclops. I enjoyed the crossword and blog as always. I marked 11a as my favourite for provoking a good chuckle.
    Don’t get too depressed about the US. At some point they will realise that it’s not the centre of the universe and we all need to get along and cooperate. The UN and other international bodies are there for a reason (not just useful for crosswords e.g.22d)

  2. Thanks for the blog , LOBBYIST a very neat idea but lots of other good clues.
    If someone tries to pass you a parchment written on with RUNES do not accept it .

  3. Thank you for the blog. A very enjoyable and satisfying solve. ORCHIDS made me grin – as did TODGER (a rather more polite word than the one I habitually used for Johnson…)
    Thank you Cyclops for the entertainment.

  4. Yes, I solved this in half-a-pint, which is unusual for me with Cyclops, but it was still an enjoyable challenge.

    Thanks all.

  5. Cyclops seems to be getting even ruder than usual. Long may it continue. I give 14a Todger my COD.
    #4 Etu, wow! I needed at least a quart. I do drink quite fast though….

  6. Roz, over many years all manner of people have tried to pass me a wide range of written material and I’ve never accepted. This means that I can’t say whether any of it was in runes on parchment, but I’m interested to know why I should be especially wary of such attempts.

    And yes Andy, a quart would be the more usual solving time.

  7. I found this a bit quicker than usual solve too. My LOI, eventually, was 29A, after recourse to WikiP’s list of cabinet ministers. I was uneasy about it, more particularly about the first-person. “Boris”, as national celebrity, is an exception, but I don’t think I want or need to think or talk of any other MP’s or public persons in first-name terms, unless to convey some particular relationship with or attitude toward them. I don’t think I’m being fogeyish: if I am, perhaps I’ve always been one.

    “Ed Balls”, of course, is a notable and honourable exception. He and his parents surely deserve awards by now, in appreciation of their longstanding service to crosswording.

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