My usual blog night slightly slower pace saw nearly 26 minutes pass
working out the wrinkles in this one. Some of the wordplay does indeed
require more than the seasoned solvers’ knowing glance, and I enjoyed
picking the bones out of, for example, 24 and 25 amongst the down (oops): across
clues. I’m still not convinced I have the foodie 7d properly
dispatched, and I rather expect the majority will pass over the actual
wordplay with a blur filter cheerfully applied. All the letters are
there…
My only unknown was the cloth at 9 – just lucky, I
guess, but the clue left no room for any other order of the available
letters. I shall now proceed to pasting my efforts into LJ in the hope
it’s still available.
My clues are in italics, definitions underlined, and SOLUTIONS in bold capitals.
ACROSS
1 Kinky games are not restricting one in relationship (6,1,5)
MÉNAGE À TROIS
(Accents optional) An anagram suggested by kinky of GAMES ARE NOT to
include I (one). The surface of the clue, especially “kinky games”
suggests the unconventional nature of the arrangement.
8 Happy to return ring on greeting nobleman (7)
HIDALGO
The lowest class of Spanish nobility, equivalent to a British baronet,
though baronets of my acquaintance would tend not to have the level
pointed out to the rest of us plebs. Happy gives you GLAD, reversed (to
return) with O for ring at one end and HI for greeting at the other.
9 Fabric close to crease in sail is coming apart (7)
SILESIA
The only arrangement of SAIL IS plus the last letter of creasE (coming
apart indicates anagram) that I could come up with. Silesia is a region
now mostly in Poland, and for our purpose gives its name to “a thin
twilled cotton or linen for lining clothes”.
11 Volume in electronic speech, not constant (7)
EDITION Electronic speech is whimsically E-DICTION. Remove the C(onstant)
12 Scots one flourishing at last in ram tethering (5,2)
TYING UP
Scots one is (at least sometimes) YIN – Billy Connolly is “The Big Yin”
for example. FlourishinG at last is G, the two to be in TUP for ram.
13 Sombre song for one gaining entry to cathedral city (5)
ELEGY ELY is the preferred cathedral city in crosswords. EG “for one” gains entry.
14 Get hollow pasta? This is different? (9)
SPAGHETTI
There’s an &litness about this. GET plus hollowed P(ast)A plus THIS
is different, so anagrammed. There is a form of spaghetti which is
hollow, which I rather like, called bucatini, but spaghetti is normally
solid, so different from hollow pasta.
16 Countries together resolve southern troubles (9)
UNSETTLES Countries together are (is?) of course the UN, resolve is SETTLE, S(outhern) gives you the concluding S
19 Scarcity will have 500 leaving planet (5)
EARTH First decide which end is the definition. Then take the D (500 in Roman) off the front of DEARTH, scarcity.
21 Maybe neon light moving left across city (7)
GLASGOW Rather cutely, a neon light translates to a GAS GLOW. Move the L(eft) across a bit.
23 Leaves drink after wasted meal (4,3)
HIGH TEA A drink made with leaves is TEA, and HIGH is wasted in the sense of intoxicated. Sequence correctly.
24 What might suggest our US causing destruction? (7)
RUINOUS
The way this works that if you put RU in OUS your get OUR US, so we
have a form of reverse cryptic where you are invited to make up the
wordplay.
25 Speaker pretty terse before start of session (7)
TWEETER Pretty is TWEE, and TERSE before the start of SEssion is just TER.
26 Crusader emblem in sweet old ship rounding cape (7,5)
MALTESE CROSS
A giveaway from the definition, but for what it’s worth the wordplay is
MALTESER (a sweet now sold across most of the planet) plus O(ld)
S(team) S(hip), the whole (sur)rounding C(ape)
DOWN
1 One delivers in French south going about with iron (7)
MIDWIFE The MIDI is (honestly) the South of France contrary to appearances. For us, it goes about W(ith) and adds FE for iron.
2 Veto taking over year to satisfy one abroad (7)
NULLIFY
Everything is reversed (taking over) here: Y(ear) plus FILL for satisfy
plus UN for one in “abroad” which is France for most of us.
3 Weed reduced to powder smells occasionally (9)
GROUNDSEL A favourite of guinea pigs. Reduced to powder GROUND, and the odd letters (occasionally) of SmElL
4 Valuable sort perhaps Texan behind film (5)
ASSET In Texas (and in other States) ones behind is one’s ASS. The fill is the ever useful E.T. Mildly naughty.
5 Explorer, fairly short, drinking beer (7)
RALEIGH Sir Walter. Take fairly to mean RIGHT, and shorten it. Take ALE for beer and let the one “drink” the other.
6 Sound from egg on penetration (7)
INSIGHT
Perhaps not the first meaning of penetration that springs to mind, but
it’s OK. It’s the sound of egg on, INCITE, and nothing to do with noisy
ova.
7 See wriggly insect served up in comfort food (12)
CHEESEBURGER
MacD’s would have you believe that a 99p cheeseburger is a fine example
of comfort food, but here you need comfort for the wordplay. The
wriggly insect (larva) is a GRUB, reversed (served up), as is SEE. CHEER
is comfort, and the only way I can make this work is if the two
reversed words are place separately therein. CH-EES-E-BURG-ER. Open to
offers. [Which of course duly arrived: "wrigglty" turns.SEE into ESE, and all is well!]
10 A member ran into criticism about arena (12)
AMPHITHEATRE A in plain sight. MP member. HIT ran into. HEAT criticism. RE about.
15 Bible book detailed in a movement that's tasteful (9)
AESTHETIC
Your Bible book is ESTHER, the only one which never mentions God.
De-tail it, and insert into A TIC for a (n involuntary) movement.
17 Resilience enlivens European taken out in recession (7)
STAMINA It’s ANIMATES for enlivens without E(uropean), backwards (in recession).
18 Craft perfectly capturing upper-class country (7)
TUGBOAT Fun to work out. Perfectly is TO A T. Insert U for upper class and GB for country while it still is one.
19 Having lost identity Coleridge violated painter (2,5)
EL GRECO The numeration gives you a broad hint. Take ID(entity) out of COLERIDGE and then violate (anagram) what’s left.
20 Comes round to upping prices externally (7)
ROTATES TO “upping is OT, and prices are RATES, to surround the same
22 Rugby team is no more, I should add (5)
WASPS
I initially thought this might be Wales, but no. Wasps play out of
Coventry, wearing kit with variations on black and yellow. Is no more
WAS, plus PS I should add.
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