Summer is here – well a British summer anyway and a puzzle from Wiglaf to accompany the Pimms, whilst watching the Croquet
Some very english seaside resort clues from Wiglaf. Very humourous in parts. Particularly liked 10ac, but many candidates to be honest.
Thanks Wiglaf .
Underline – definition; * anagram; Rev. reversed; DD Double definition
Across
1 What could make Heather get undressed in an airfield? (7,5)
ling (heather) is l and ing + strip (get undressed) = LANDING STRIP
9 Fashionable people in Land’s End, full of bluster (2-5)
in + d (Land’s end) around crow (bluster) = IN-CROWD
10 Tart having a lot of fun with doctor and government minister (7)
Pro (tart) + fu (a lot of fun) + mo (doctor) = PROFUMO
11 Asian revolutionary recruits Spanish woman (7)
Che (revolutionary) around Ines (Spanish woman) = CHINESE
12 US bass-baritone has abandoned nudism? (7)
Robe’s on (abandoned nudism) = ROBESON
13 British novelist ran arms to rebels (9)
(an arms to)* = MONSARRAT
15 Bright young man on the radio (5)
Homonym of soony (young man) = SUNNY
16 Series of announcements in Oz (5)
hidden annOUNCEments = OUNCE
19 Some nips of actors revealed by that very act (4,5)
Hidden nIPS OF ACTOrs = IPSO FACTO
22 Elected member goes to tender to secure hotel near the beach (7)
in (elected member) + sore (tender) around h(hotel) = INSHORE
23 21 advanced round eastern province (7)
lent (advanced) around e (eastermn) + NI (province) = LENIENT
24 A channel showing film for all the family? That’s rather unusual (7)
u (for all the family) + (rather)* = URETHRA
25 Director touched by letter from Greek national (7)
Lean (Director as in David) after Chi (letter from Greek) = CHILEAN
26 Short gold figure stolen by a healthcare provider in annexed territory (5,7)
gol (short gold) + a NHS (healthcare provider) around eight (figure) = GOLAN HEIGHTS
Down
2 Prudence has delayed opening sale (7)
caution (prudence) delaying opening – move the c = AUCTION
3 Failure to save old Mrs Sharples’ innards (7)
dud (afilure) around o (old) + Ena (Mrs Sharples of Coronation Street) = DUODENA
4 A lot of undies removed in naughty film (5)
(undie)* = NUDIE
5 Class A drugs turned up when checking parish women’s garments (9)
Rev. set (class) + a + Es (drugs) around par (parish) = SEPARATES
6 Endless horse manoeuvres to keep wobbly bum in shape (7)
(hors)* around (bum)* = RHOMBUS
7 Chicken and canned soup’s popular (7)
(sup’s)* + in (popular) = POUSSIN
8 Punk rocker with condom off (6,6)
johnny (condom) + rotten (off) = JOHNNY ROTTEN
9 At home, I love having emperor round – but it’s not very spacious (12)
In + Commodus (emperor) around i + o (love) = INCOMMODIUOS
14 Make a lot of noise, as the first couple did (5,4)
Cryptic definition RAISE CAIN – first couple is Adam and Eve
17 Home food savings (4,3)
nest (home) + egg (food) = NEST EGG
18 El Chapo getting busted is historically significant (7)
(El Chapo)* = EPOCHAL
20 Paying for entertainment that’s dull for the most part (7)
fun (entertainment) + dingy (dull) – y = FUNDING
21 Bond gets M’s predecessor installed as pope (7)
Cement (bond) around l (M’s predecessor) = CLEMENT
23 English empiricist is forward during discussion (5)
Homonym of lock (Forward) = LOCKE
I took a while to get going, with LOCKE my first in, but then things became a bit easier and overall I found this on the gentle side for a Wiglaf. I didn’t know the Roman emperor at 9d (looking him up I saw he met the almost par for the course grisly end) and wasn’t familiar with NUDIE as a word for a film genre. Of the anatomical bits, the unusual plural DUODENA took a bit of nutting out as an example of ‘innards’.
I liked your description of “very English seaside resort clues” and see what you mean about many of the surfaces. I agree that PROFUMO was a beauty and was my pick of the day.
Thanks to Wiglaf and twencelas
We started off quite well with 1ac and 9ac but it was a bit slow thereafter and we struggled in the SE corner with LOCKE being one of our last few in. We liked the clue for PROFUMO; we weren’t sure at first how many solvers would know of him, but then remembered the case has been rehashed on TV recently.
Plenty to like here, favourites were OUNCE (not the ubiquitous Crosswordland feline for a change) and CLEMENT.
Thanks, Wiglaf and Twencelas.
I got stuck towards the end. Couldn’t see 2dn without a word search and it was finally getting 23ac that opened up the bottom right corner.
Is there a typo in the blog for 23dn (my LOI)? Lock forward is a rugby term I see. (Loc is science fiction fanspeak for letter of comment.)
I fairly raced out the dock with 5 write-ins (1, 9 & 11ac with 4 & 8d) but the propeller soon fouled, poor GK being a major obstacle, plus never really getting onto the right wavelength for the rest. Thanks heavens for 15sq as yesterday and today I needed help for the majority of parsings. Props to Wiglaf and Twencelas.
Lots to enjoy and a lot to puzzle over – overall a good Saturday workout.
ThanKs to S&B.
@Dormouse – apologies missed the k off Lock (as in the 2nd row forward). Now added