A gentle start to 2009.
Nothing here held me up – which is just as well as my accountant tells me I’m supposed to be preparing my tax return right now. I don’t note times but without the usual last few I have to mull over I finished this before the pint. Awarded self another pint of Wychwood Circlemaster as a prize anyway.
Now where did I put those receipts …
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | CLOT C[ouncil] LOT (group) |
| 4 | MASTURBATE MA’S (BUTTER)* AInd: runny, outside A |
| 9 | STOLEN STOLE [pe]N[is] A touch of deja vu for me as I did this puzzle just after Paul’s Guardian Prize 24593 where there was: 12A Man finally after scarf to get hot (6) |
| 10 | APPROVAL O inside RV inside (PAPAL)* AInd: dispensation ! |
| 11 | FLIPPANT FLIP (snap) PANT (heavy breather’s thing) |
| 12 | ENEMAS (SEAMEN)* AInd: flustered |
| 13/14 | LOVE HANDLES CD |
| 17 | ANOTHER (ON EARTH)* AInd: pervert Favourite clue award for this concise Cyclopsian offering: One more pervert on earth (7) |
| 21/27 | BLOW-UP DOLL CD |
| 23 | OBJECTOR OBJECT (thing) O (ring) R (Rex) |
| 24 | EPISODIC ([c]O-ED PICS I)* AInd: processed This or “episode” seem to crop up in puzzles surprisingly often |
| 25 | STIFFY S[econd] T[ime] IFFY (not up to scratch) |
| 26 | CROSS-PARTY CROSS (paddy) PARTY(social) |
| Down | |
| 2 | LET FLY LET (say yes) FLY (opening of trousers) misdirects to think the wordplay leads to Y[es] and T[rousers] somehow but that doesn’t lead anywhere |
| 3 | TELEPHOTO CD |
| 4 | MANDATE AND inside MATE (china [plate] cockney rhyming slang) |
| 5/19 | SMART MOVE CD/DD Allusion to the recent John Sargeant / Strictly Come Dancing “story” (yawn) |
| 6 | UMPTEEN [h]UMP then E inside TEN Another word seen in puzzles more often than I would expect |
| 7 | BOOZE B.O. OZ (Australian) [grad]E |
| 8 | TEAR-ARSE TEAR (drop, as in crying) ARSE (behind) Feels like an old fashioned term to me. When I was tiny my dad was always telling me to “stop tear-arsing about”. |
| 14/19 | HER MAJESTY Brenda is the definition. HER MA (“Queen Mother”) JEST (joke) [flunke]Y Brenda gets “Queen Mother” joke by flunkey, finally (3,7) I think this refers to the recent autobiography by one of the palace servants (retired) where he tells the story of having an argument with his lover, also a palace servant, when they were interrupted by TQM who said something like “when you two old queens are ready this old Queen would like another G&T” |
| 15 | LOVE CHILD C[onservative] in (EVIL HOLD)* AInd: terribly |
| 16 | WALLOPER WALLOP (drink) ER (Brenda) |
| 18 | HYPED UP H[amm]Y (DEP[uty])< UP (feeling good) |
| 20 | WOEFUL (OW)< (FUEL)* AInd: adjustment |
| 22 | WASPS First letters (indicator: tops): “We adore Sara Palin – simply tops!”: the core element of her followers? (5) Sarah Palin is missing her H – probably shot it. |
| 23 | OSCAR One of those Half-CD clues: A Definition (Award) with attached CD wordplay: a vehicle for gross people? |
Thanks beermagnet. I similarly rattled this one off. I wasn’t happy with Paddy being Cross and I had to look up Wallop being slang for beer. I appreciate your explanation of 14/19dn. Good luck with the tax return.