Not for the first time, I am blogging a Cyclops when many of the references in it seem weirdly out of date. A lot has happened, and a lot has changed — nearly all for the worse, as far as I’m concerned — since this was published.
Perhaps a rather more challenging Cyclops than I’ve blogged for a while, especially (for me) 2d, for which I needed the checking letters before I could work back to the wordplay.
| Across | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 7/11 | ELECTION EXPENSES | Illegal highs amassed by some campaigning parties? Cryptic definition |
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| 9 | EQUALS | Peers sign with two lines Double definition — peers are equals; the sign = |
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| 10 | MYSELF | Bloody hell! Will is Cyclops! MY = Bloody hell! (exclamation); Will SELF |
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| 12/19 | ROMP THROUGH | Sex frolic, loveless, exhaustive — get it over with smartish ROMP = sex frolic, according to the tabloid press; TH[O]ROUGH = exhaustive, minus O (O = zero = love) |
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| 13 | RAPACIOUS | Wolfish Bill in virtuous surroundings: “God comes first” RA = god; AC = bill (account); in PIOUS = virtuous |
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| 17 | GARNISH | Set off, flabby gran is hot *(gran is); H = hot |
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| 20 | STONECHAT | Jagger talk for “bird”? STONE = Jagger; CHAT = talk Stonechat |
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| 22 | ALFRESCO | Just the place for an outsider displaying awful flares and getting firm *(flares); CO = firm (company) |
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| 24 | REALLY | Well, I never put Conservative right wing in Assembly E = Conservative right wing; in RALLY = assembly |
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| 25 | ALASKA | Whereabouts of Sarah Palin’s regrettably small vehicle? ALAS = regrettably; KA = small vehicle Lest we forget… |
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| 26 | GHOULISH | “Slough: sprawling about one, hard and unwholesome” I = one; in *(slough), with ‘sprawling’ as the anagram indicator; H = hard |
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| Down | |||
| 1 | CLAYMORE | Clinton’s first place: additional Scottish means of producing bloody division C = Clinton’s first (letter); LAY = place; MORE = additional Claymore |
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| 2 | DIFFERENCE | Controversy of dodgy fee involving Cameron’s main friend *(fee friend C), where C = Cameron’s main (letter) I found this one a bit tricky, especially as I feel that the definition is slightly tenuous. |
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| 3 | UNKEMPT | Somewhat sunk, empty as Boris Hidden in (‘somewhat’) ‘sUNK EMPTy’ A strangely prescient clue. |
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| 5 | TURN DOWN | Trump’s opening run is catastrophic — miserable decline T+ Trump’s opening; *(run), with ‘catastrophic’ as the anagram indicator; DOWN = miserable |
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| 6 | ULCERS | Complaint: breaking rules to secure Clinton’s lead C = Clinton’s lead; in *(rules) |
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| 8/21a | CHEAP SHOT | Conservative lot’s heated, unfair dig C = Conservative; HEAPS = lots; HOT = heated |
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| 14 | CHATTERBOX | Gossip: “Corbyn, primarily mad creature, wants fight” C = Corbyn, primarily; HATTER = mad creature; BOX = fight |
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| 16 | PROGRESS | Step forward, prince married to monstrous female PR = prince; OGRESS = monstrous female. ‘married to’ is just used for linkage. |
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| 18 | SPOTLESS | Virgin to cut down on views ‘Spot less’, i.e. don’t view as much |
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| 20 | SOLELY | Just lose out to extreme wings of Labour party *(lose); outside letters of ‘Labour party’ |
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| 21/15 | SMALL HELPING | Broadcast sampling? Hell, that wouldn’t have appealed to Cyril’s appetite *(sampling hell) The late, unlamented Cyril Smith was a notorious glutton. |
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| 23/4 | SLAG HEAP | Sexist insult by male (a Trump, ultimately?) — “Blot on the landscape!” SLAG = sexist insult; HE = male; A; P = Trump, ultimately |
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white
Leaving you with the usual touch of good taste:
Darn, I was hoping for some insight into “Illegal highs” in 7/11 – I don’t get it.
I presume that some political parties have accumulated campaign funds in excess of what is legally permissible. Which parties, where and when? Search me.
Here is an example of a story about the most recent controversy:
Election expenses
Of course, it is neither the first nor the last such scandal.
Thanks, both. It seems like a tenuous link (no pun intended), and a month old, but I can’t think of anything better.
Having followed the recent expenses story as it unfolded during a series of reports on Channel 4 News, I immediately linked it with this clue. Private Eye readers only had to turn to page 9 of the issue containing the crossword to find a report on the story (‘Limited Additions’).