Don’t know about anyone else but I’m still reeling from the Xmas giant, so this normal sized grid seemed small…
… and the level of difficulty not too great – (e.g. compared to his recent Brummie in the G 31st Jan)
Help needed for Nick Clegg – not just him, I mean for his clue deconstruction 29/25.
| Across | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 | STAB IN THE BACK | What a politician can expect from treacherous colleague mad about our feature exposing corruption, etc? (4,2,3,4) BATS< (mad about) IN THE BACK is the section of Private Eye originally started as Footnotes by the late Paul Foot. It is not far from the Crossword. So the crossword is in the back of beyond In The Back. |
| 9 | EXCUSE | Shagging tip: move head to fifth position – pardon? (6) SEX (shagging) CUE (tip) Move S to 5th place |
| 10 | IN POCKET | Sportingly put your balls here, being no loser (2,6) Double Def. The sport in question being Snooker – and for those who appreciate the finest points of this noble pastime I heartily recommend this snooker podcast – but you must listen from #1 – no cheating! |
| 11 | REPUBLICAN | Politician about to get a booze dispenser (10) RE (about) PUBLICAN (‘im behind the bar) |
| 12 | ALLY | Twat dumping wife for associate (4) [w]ALLY |
| 13 | HISTORY | Endlessly mouth disapproval at Cameron’s past record? (7) HIS[s] TORY |
| 15 | BIG MAC | Fast food, the fat dirty old man’s habit traditionally (3,3) BIG (fat) MAC (dirty old man’s habit traditionally) |
| 17 | FIASCO | Wi-Fi: a Scottish housing balls-up (6) Hidden in Wi-FI A SCOttish. Far more than you bargained for |
| 19 | LET SLIP | Hire female underwear – fail to keep it buttoned (3,4) WORDLET (hire) SLIP (female underwear)PLAY. The thing needing buttoning is yer lip |
| 22 | SHIP | Sex much reduced with near-groin area container? (4) S[ex] (sex much reduced) HIP (near-groin area) Last answered, mainly due to the def. by example – “libertarian” use of “?” there? |
| 24 | SEX SCANDAL | Former senior Conservative leaders in thong, Oz-style – many a politician’s downfall (3,7) EX (former) S[enior] C[onservative] all inside SANDAL (thong, Oz-style). Reminds me that that nice Mr Profumo is buried in our village churchyard |
| 26 | OVERKILL | Balls top? That’s really too much! (8) OVER (Balls) KILL (top) |
| 27 | EQUITY | Luvvies acting together quite pissed with unknown (6) QUITE* AInd: pissed, Y (unknown) |
| 28 | CAT-AND-DOG | Very quarrelsome whip together with poodle? (3-3-3) CAT (whip) DOG (poodle?) As in “I saw that Elsie Tanner and Ena Sharples go at it cat-and-dog once” |
| 29/25 | NICK CLEGG | Lift needed by member carrying little weight (Coalition member) (4,5) G (gram – little weight) inside LEG (member) gives us the LEGG but I can’t see how “Lift needed by” gives NICKC? So I’m obviously reading this wrong. Last answer in as I refused to put it in until it could be nothing else. Edit: NeilW explains it at comment #1 |
| Down | ||
| 2 | TAX RELIEF | Earner’s allowance put strain on massage parlour business? (3,6) TAX (strain) RELIEF (massage parlour business?) |
| 3 | BOUQUET | Fight in which Queen starts to undo equerry’s corsage (7) Q[ueen] U[ndo] E[querry] inside BOUT (fight) |
| 4 | IDEAL | Fancy Clegg’s no. 2? That’s as good as it gets (5) IDEA (fancy) [c]L[egg] First answer in – due to thinking 1/4 might be “IN THE” or “OF THE” then checking this one first and finding it a write-in |
| 5 | TWITCH | Gnome suppressing writer’s leader? Jerk! (6) W[riter] inside TITCH (Gnome) |
| 6 | EXPENSIVE | Dear old penis “enhanced” with vitamin extract sources (9) EX (old) PENIS* AInd: (very slightly) “enhanced” V[itamin] E[xtract] |
| 7 | ACCLAIM | Welcome Bill Clinton’s first two touches on excellent Monica’s top (7) AC (Bill) CL[inton] A1 (excellent) M[onica] |
| 8 | KNEEL | Sink quite low for that knighthood? (5) CD – sort of |
| 14 | RECESSION | Hiatus in MPs’ business no one backs – poor situation prolonged by Coalition policies? (9) RECESS (Hiatus in MPs’ business) (NO I)< |
| 16 | CLIMACTIC | Like coming to break a/c limit in cricket club (9) (A/C LIMIT C[ricket] C[lub])* AInd: break. I get the same experience eating sushi with too much wasabi. |
| 18 | APPARAT | Political machine has a power over state scumbag (7) A P[ower] PA (state – Pennsylvania) RAT (scumbag) |
| 20 | SUNBURN | Brooks singularly pursuing Murdoch’s title “Red top producer“? (7) BURN (A brook – as in stream) after SUN (Murdoch’s title) |
| 21 | EXILED | Blair’s status as a PM: lied about having to enter another country? (6) EX (Blair’s status as a PM) LIED* AInd: about |
| 23 | HAVOC | Contribution from Posh a vocal shambles (5) Hidden in posH A VOCal |
It seems not everyone has heard the full version of the new “Galaxy Song” by Eric Idle that has been commissioned to accompany the “Wonders of Life” series- Let’s correct that: New version Galaxy Song
Thanks, beermagnet.
I think it’s NICK (lift, as in steal) + LEG (member) inside (carrying) CG (centigramme – little weight)
With the greatest of respect, beermagnet, what’s the point of this if you don’t revisit your own blog? I understand it’s an unpaid and often thankless task but still….
Sorry Neil, I should have thanked you for filling in the missing bit of wordplay. Indeed I should have spotted LIFT = NICK, but I doubt I would have thought of CG for the little weight, or realized it was LEG inside CG rather then something inside LEG which the wordplay more strongly suggested to me.
I don’t regard blogging as a thankless task, but I do often struggle to find something new to say.
My turn to say sorry for being grumpy, beermagnet. I was just curious to know if you agreed with my parsing of what is, I agree, an unusually constructed clue.