Harry Hoskins has the Monday Indy puzzle for us. Sound and slightly smutty would be my executive summary.
Abbreviations
cd cryptic definition
dd double definition
cad clue as definition
(xxxx)* anagram
anagrind = anagram indicator
[x] letter(s) removed
definitions are underlined
Across
1 US shop one aims to relocate
HOMO SAPIENS
(SHOP ONE AIMS)* with ‘to relocate’ as the anagrind and nice misdirection with the ‘US’.
7 Eccentric females touring island capital
CARDIFF
An insertion of I in CARD and FF. The insertion indicator is ‘touring’.
8 Condition Lawrence gets ahead of with will?
TESTATE
A charade of TE for Lawrence [of Arabia]’s initials and STATE.
10 Flash half-cut sultan in city abroad
MOSUL
A charade of MO and SUL[TAN].
11 Perhaps the bra is mine?
BOOBY TRAP
A dd. You could, whimsically, describe a bra as a BOOBY TRAP.
12 Large port? That’ll get you loaded!
LADEN
A charade of L and ADEN, the Yemeni port.
14 Go and loudly insult a jury member?
DISAPPEAR
Aural wordplay (‘loudly’) of DISS A PEER. The reference is to a ‘jury of one’s peers’ as part of the criminal justice system.
16 News channels admitted to Tories being jokers
COMEDIANS
An insertion of MEDIA in CONS. The insertion indicator is ‘admitted to’.
19 Put your clothes on, padres! Sister’s coming round!
DRESS
Hidden in paDRES Sister.
20 Most easily broken trees tend to break
TENDEREST
(TREES TEND)* with ‘to break’ as the anagrind.
22 Sound asleep I am in soft leather!
NAPPA
Aural wordplay (‘sound’) for NAPPER.
24 One taking canine out of trap?
DENTIST
A cd.
25 Gander, game and skinned geese (kilo) brought round
LOOK SEE
A charade of LOO and [G]EES[E] K reversed. LOO is an old card game.
26 Terrible sneer priest projects?
ENTERPRISES
(SNEER PRIEST)* with ‘terrible’ as the anagrind.
Down
1 God, you must stop heroin before the end!
HORUS
An insertion of U in HORS[E]. The insertion indicator is ‘must stop’.
2 International breaks guy with wrinkles hyped
MAINLINED
An insertion of I in MAN LINED. The insertion indicator is ‘breaks’.
3 Sort of convertible in which a pal might crash?
SOFA BED
A cd.
4 Vessel one charged with small drinks
POTIONS
A charade of POT, ION and S.
5 Try ecstasy for example without swallowing at first
ESSAY
An insertion of S for the initial letter of ‘swallowing’ in E and SAY. The insertion indicator is ‘without’ in its sense as an antonym of ‘within’.
6 Wind that comes from the drink?
SEA BREEZE
A cd.
7 I’m old and accept changing is difficult
COMPLICATED
(IM OLD ACCEPT)* with ‘changing’ as the anagrind.
9 Mobile is temperate as New York
EMPIRE STATE
(IS TEMPERATE)* with ‘mobile’ as the anagrind. New York State is sometimes called The Empire State.
13 Steps securing old minister power over others
DOMINANCE
An insertion of O and MIN in DANCE. The insertion indicator is ‘securing’.
15 Do sup with nude drunk? That’s shameful!
PUDENDOUS
(DO SUP NUDE)* with ‘drunk’ as the anagrind. A rare word, but perhaps guessable from its links with PUDENDA as a word for the female genitalia, which since you ask is the neuter plural of the gerundive of pudere ‘to be ashamed’. Etymologically at least, female genitalia are ‘things which one must be ashamed of’.
17 A superior assistant in a bank job?
ABETTER
A charade of A and BETTER.
18 Colonist left, having punched one like Hoskins
SETTLER
An insertion of L in SETTER. The insertion indicator is ‘having punched’.
21 Be first to be sat on by old flame
EXIST
A charade of EX and IST.
23 Cats and dogs etc, son held, can be pains
PESTS
An insertion of S in PETS. The insertion indicator is ‘held’.
Many thanks to Hoskins for today’s puzzle.
Typical Hoskins surfaces, aided by a couple of solutions in BOOBY TRAP and PUDENDOUS that must have excited him with their potential. Not too tricky, as befits a Monday morning – though a few clues are a shock to the system at 7 am. Thanks to our blogger for parsing HORUS – I rarely think of heroin = horse – though Hoskins uses it so consistently, I should be used to it by now. LADEN, DRESS, SOFA BED, COMPLICATED, EMPIRE STATE and DOMINANCE were my big ticks today.
Thanks Hoskins and Pierre
Faves: DISAPPEAR, EMPIRE STATE and PUDENDOUS.
Liked all CDs as well.
EMPIRE STATE (the surface)
The town Mobile and New York city both have temperate weather, I guess.
Thanks Hoskins and Pierre.
Typical Hoskins, this was great fun with BOOBY TRAP my favourite. Many thanks to him and to Pierre.
Nice to see Harry back in his irreverent frame of mind. Top clue for me was BOOBY TRAP with a rueful nod to COMPLICATED. Slight shame that part of the answer to 20a was included in the clue.
Thanks to Hoskins for a fun solve and to Pierre for the review.
PM@1 Indeed “Horse”. Hardly a crossword goes by without a reference to drugs. I am not up to speed with the numerous slang terms for illicit drugs used by setters, apparently. It is an easy way out to code an extraneous ‘e’, it seems. What would setters do without them?
Pentman is right to highlight the number of drug references in cryptic crosswords (not to mention the proliferation of Carry On style smut). I have always thought of the typical setter as a retired vicar – perhaps he came late to the ministry after a wildly misspent youth !
Beak @6: please forgive me if you already know this but, in case you don’t, your last observation is particularly apposite given that Hoskins also compiles for the Church Times.
Postmark@7. Thx for that information which is wholly new to me