Sorry for the late and very rushed blog which meant I had little time to savour this puzzle, just a mad rush to get the puzzle solved and written-up, including much cheating. Thank you Tramp.
Across
8 Bit of adultery? The man’s reason for going red(8)
ERYTHEMA
found in (a bit of) adultERY THE MAn’s – redness due to inflammation of the skin
9 Read “Help” — iPad needs original leads only for charger(5)
RHINO Read (read) Help (help) then Ipad Needs Originally (first letters of, leads only)
10,26 Sweet thing, female round JFK?(8)
FLAPJACK F (female) LAP (round, eg a round of a track) and JACK (nickname of John F Kennedy) – definition is ‘sweet thing’ – but I don’t understand the rest. Some sort of cryptic reference to females sitting on Jack Kennedy’s knee?
11 Padding reply out, she doesn’t end break up 10)
UPHOLSTERY anagram (break up) of REPLY OUT and SHe (not ending)
12 Difficult to control increase with compassion(6)
UPPITY UP (increase) with PITY (passion)
14,23 Part of “body found in …” (mostly lost) — Candle in the Wind 8,6)
ACHILLES TENDON anagram (winding) of LOSt (most of) CANDLE IN THE
16 Speak from text on the radio — temporary defence (7)
REDOUBT sounds like (on the radio) “read out” (speak from text)
18 Be faithful to start of Block-Heads cuttingLaurel and Hardy’s final pieces (5,2)
STAND BY B (start of block-heads) in (cutting) STAN (Laurel) and DY (final letters of hardy)
21 Launcher of old institute, within Ed’s charge, having lost vote(8)
BALLISTA
I (institute) inside (within) BALLS (Ed Balls, politician) TAx (charge) missing X=vote – a Roman catapult
23 See 14
24 It might be used when picking up it girl? Work on love first (4-1-5)
OOPS-A-DAISY
SA (sex appeal, it) DAISY (girl) following OP (opus, work) on O (love) definition is ‘it might be used when picking up’, as of a child
26 See 10
27 European measurements written round collar 5)
SEIZE SIZE (measurements) round E (European) – to collar is to pick up
28 Exposed in Which? — Oil of Olay eau conclusively invented “without signs of aging” (8)
YOUTHFUL OUT (exposed) in anagram (invented) of whicH oiL oF ulaY eaU (concluding letters of) – definition is ‘without signs of ageing’. I suspect there is also a reference to some expose of marketing claims in here, but unfortunately I don’t have time to investigate further.
Down
1 Slip out of place for endless sex after drink (8)
PROLAPSE PRO (for) then SEx (enless) following LAP (drink)
2 See 17
3,13,25 Don’t judge a book by its cover — Playboy seeks it in nude spread (6,2,4,4,4)
BEAUTY IS ONLY SKIN DEEP (PLAYBOY SEEKS IT IN NUDE)* spread=anagram
4 One stops slips — bowled at helmet taking maiden (4,3)
BATH MAT B (bowled) AT HAT (helmet) including (taking) M (maiden)
5 Spoken occasionally within four walls (4)
ORAL fOuR wAlLs (occaisional letters of)
6 Intimate Secrets blue movie, at last — left pub to provide case (5,5)
DIRTY LINEN DIRTY (blue) with moviE (last letter of) in (cased by) L (left) INN (pub)
7 See 20
13 See 3
15 Sexy entertainer’s no saint (3)
HOT HOsT (entertainer) missing S=saint
17,2 Picture small cleavage for breast augmentation … (3,4)
BUS STOP
S (small) in (cleaving) BUST OP (breast augmentation) – definition is ‘picture’, starring Marylin Monroe
19 … its members might get a reduced volume in breast, admitting “bad luck” 4,4)
BOOK CLUB BOOB (breast) including (admitting) LUCK* anagram=bad – “reduced volume” refers to a discount available to purchase books for book club members? – or is it something to do with Readers Digest style condensed books?
20,7 My minor role playing with an actress (7,6)
MARILYN MONROE (MY MINOR ROLE with AN)* anagram=playing
22 Animate musical without limits 6)
AROUSE cAROUSEl missing limits (outside letters)
23 Test score — dismissed (3,3)
TRY OUT TRY (score, rugby) OUT (dismissed)
25 See 3
26 Furnish my lover’s toilet (4)
JOHN David Furnish os the partner of Elton John – definition is ‘toilet’, americanism
*anagram
10,26 F for female, LAP in the sense of running or racing, + JACK.
I enjoyed this puzzle, and from what I remember it seemed slightly easier than some of Tramp’s other offerings.
I agree with dtd@1 re: FLAPJACK. ERYTHEMA was my LOI after I finally saw the hidden.
A very enjoyable puzzle with the Playboy/Monroe/Cleavage mini theme providing much amusement. 3D especially clever. Thanks Tramp & PeeDee.
Many Thanks Tramp & PeeDee!
I enjoyed this but I got 26d without understanding the Furnish part.
No matter!
Thanks PeeDee. Commiserations for the rushed job.
20,7 needs AN included in the fodder. As paul8hours says, there’s a theme, although I thought rather broader, of sex and also an Elton John mini-theme.
By the way, isn’t RHINO just all the first letters?
Thoroughly enjoyed this, though it must have been at the easier end of Tramp’s spectrum since only one defeated me. (28ac needs the concluding letter of eaU as well.)
Thanks for all the help finishing this off. I am kicking myself for not getting this out of the way earlier in the week. Firstly for the obvious reason that people want to see the blog on time, but also because I feel that I have not done justice to what is really a very nice puzzle from Tramp.
I didn’t think there was a theme as such. I felt the puzzle had a serendipitous air, reminiscent of some of my favourite Araucaria puzzles, where it appeared that the theme/links were there simply because one thing just happened to remind him of another as he was setting the clues.
Thanks to Tramp and PeeDee – I join in the commiserations. Spent most of the week on this and I still couldn’t solve 8ac and 4d. Got the mini-themes but not the Furnish angle. BALLISTA was a new word for me.
Cheers…
I found the laboured attempts at smut rather wearing – like Cyclops in Private Eye.
Quite different from Paul’s efforts in the same vein which are delivered with air of chortling impishness.
Another very good Tramp puzzle. Couldn’t see anything ‘laboured’ at all.
Particularly liked ERYTHEMA, UPHOLSTERY, and JOHN.
Thanks PeeDee and Tramp
Enjoyable enough. JFK’s treatment of Marilyn Monroe has always tarnished his image for me.
Paul’s efforts in the same vein which are delivered with air of chortling impishness
Good job we’re all different, I find Paul’s attempts more like a sniggering schoolchild.
I enjoyed this one, and I liked the slightly random Monroe, Elton John, Kennedy, Playboy threads running through it. Thanks Tramp for the fun. Thanks PeeDee for clearing up the ones I never parsed properly – I missed where the ‘it’ came in to 24ac, and couldn’t justify YOUTHFUL at all even though it had to be the answer. It’s decades since I saw a copy of Which?, which still seems unexplained. The one I struggled for ages before getting was REDOUBT; I can’t get clues that depend on sound, but that’s just me…
I enjoyed this too – REDOUBT was last in for me too but that was more down to lack of knowledge than any problem with the homophone. I think ERYTHEMA was the only unfamiliar word, but that had to be right.
Thanks for the blog PeeDee and thanks for the comments folks.
I wrote this puzzle over two years ago. I was sent a proof on Boxing Day and I thought it wasn’t great so I rewrote six or seven clues. My original rewrite of 24 was:
It might be used when picking up it girl after stool tipped over? (4-1-5)
but was told off for writing too many poo-related clues. The original clue for 10,26 was a complicated anagram that included ‘JFK’ but I was asked to make it simpler. I was quite pleased with this puzzle in the end.
Neil