Several quite brilliant long anagrams in Dac’s typically excellent crossword today
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | POP SHOP — 2 defs |
| 5 | B(IOM)ASS |
| 9 | NO RM A |
| 10/11 | INSPECTOR CLOUSEAU — (counters a US police)* |
| 12 | GAS CON |
| 14 | A L(TERN)ATE |
| 16 | mIdDlEmAn |
| 18 | L(E(T))AD |
| 19 | IN FAN TILE |
| 21 | A BOARD |
| 22/25 | SIMON AND GARFUNKEL — (from England UK is an)* |
| 26 | CAIRO — “chi rho” |
| 27 | ELEMENT — 2 defs — is this referring to water as one of the ancient elements with fire, air and earth? |
| 28 | DREAM ON — (no Mae rd)rev. |
| Down | |
| 1 | PAN(ACE A)S |
| 2 | PAR FOR THE COURSE — this took a while to work out, but I think it’s PAR(FOR(m))T HE COURSE, where an HE course is a Home Economics course |
| 3 | cHEAPSkate |
| 4 | PRIMA FACIE — p (E Africa)* round 1m |
| 5 | BUST — 2 defs |
| 6 | OP(ER A)TION |
| 7 | ANTICLERICALISM — (minster laic laic)* — I always like a nice &lit. |
| 8 | SE(R)E NA |
| 13 | SELF-WILLED — 2 defs |
| 15 | RED GROUSE — it’s OK I suppose, since ‘red grouse’ can be interpreted as ‘left-wingers’ complaint’, but the position of the apostrophe led me to expect the answer to be red s….. |
| 17 | SEED CORN — (ones cred(it))* |
| 20 | GA(GG)LE |
| 23 | ON CUE — 2 defs |
| 24 | SKA T |
Re 17ac, that’s certainly how I understood it. I couldn’t quite work out ‘Par for the course’, but I’m sure it’s right.