The theme this time is the recent 25A perpetrated by 5A/21 and 15A/8 which 8D and embarrassed the 11A. One of them has jumped ship before he 1D. The other has been suspended in a 14D move by 11A. They were probably 12D. No doubt a few 3Ds chipped in with soundbites.
Although this suffered the perennial problem with themed puzzles – finding the theme, which is pretty obvious from any one of the linked answers, means a bunch of answers can be written in quite swiftly – it was still a nice enjoyable puzzle.
Across | |
---|---|
5/21 | JONATHAN ROSS Ref Jonathan Swift (Swift, perhaps) [d]ROSS (Rubbish, no depth) |
9 | ATE OUT DD I might baulk at elucidating but there may be a few cunning linguists out there who could explain more |
10 | LACROSSE L.A. CROSS (pissed off) [lucr]E My daughter had to play this at her school. As I understand it she normally ran to a corner and hid for the duration of the game – I’m sure I’d do the same. |
11 | BEEB palidromic slang for the BBC |
12 | HANIF (FASHION – SO)* AInd fickle Not sure what Mr Kureishi has done to end up in such potty-mouthed company |
13 | RIFT R[ight] IF (providing) [socialis]T |
15/8 | RUSSELL BRAND “RUSTLE” (Take stock) Brand (mark) This was the way in to the theme for me |
17 | TROPICS (PRO)* AInd: off inside TICS (jerks) |
19 | CHIN CHIN[k] Phil the Greek is well-known for his inappropriate references to foreigners |
20 | DICED C[ameron] inside DIED (went badly with audience) Nice misdirection to make us think it was a homophone clue |
22 | ADENAUER [bl]A[ir] (DUE NEAR)* AInd: distraught Ref. Konrad Adenauer leader of the model post-war West German democracy |
24 | SALIVA (LISA)*,V,A AInd: broadcasting |
25 | PRANK P RAN K |
26 | DOCTRINE Homophone “doctorin'” This was the typical “just one I can’t get” until I looked at it again the next day, and I rate this as a good homophone due to the dropping on the “g” in the clue word. Equal-favourite clue: Principle of gettin’ castrated if articulated? (8) |
Down | |
1 | GOT THE PUSH (UP THE GHOST)* AInd: giving … maybe I’m no fan of anagram phrases where common words like “THE” appear unchanged in both fodder and answer |
2/18 | SHIT SCARED SHITS (Arses) CARED (were concerned) |
3 | LABOUR MP PM< after LABOUR (work) Possibly the hardest clue in the puzzle due to the misleading (to me) letter count. I know 2 can be justified and 1,1 would be a big giveaway, but it always fools me for some time. I was lucky enough to get all the checking letters here before worrying too much about it. Full clue: Brown turned up after work as one dreading the next election? (6,2) |
4 | ODDS D[ogs] in (SOD)* AInd: off I’m a little unsure of the definition of ODDS as BITS but I suppose the phrase “odds and ends” equates to “bits and pieces” |
6 | A-BOMB (OBAMA swap an A for a B)* AInd: mixed Here’s an example of a letter count (1-4) being something of a giveaway thus it took me far longer to work out the wordplay then the answer |
7 | NYLONS (ONLY)* AInd: screwed then N[acreou]S |
8 | BACKFIRED B[ar]ACK FIRED (excited) |
12 | HALF DRUNK DD |
14 | FACE SAVING Mug, putting money in the bank |
16 | SON-IN-LAW (A N WILSON)* AInd: screwed up I wonder if the prolific scribe’s father-in-law ever noticed? |
21 | RULER DD Most rulers are plastic these days – doesn’t stop this clue being a cracker. Equal-favourite clue: Twelve-inch woody, perhaps, for Brenda? (5) |
23 | DOPE DO,PE |
24 | SUCK SUCK[er] |
I enjoyed how much thematic material Cyclops managed to cram in to this one. I broadly agree about the puzzle in general, so easier than usual for me due to the theme.