On edit: Apparently there’s a Star Wars theme going on here which was (and some of which remains) completely lost on me as someone who’s never seen any of the films and has no intention of doing so. Please see faceofboe’s contributions below. Also a more innocent explanation of the setter’s sobriquet than I found when I googled it. Just to show I am not completely ignorant of such matters, I do understand where the Face of Boe comes from. On further edit, I just realised that when I searched the setter’s name and it came up with unfortunate images I had misread it as ‘Palpatina’ (why does the setter’s name have to be in such tiny font?). If you search images for ‘Palpatine’ you get all the Star Wars stuff you might expect, and if I’d done that originally, especially after solving the puzzle, it’s just possible I might have realised what was going. Also later, IĀ received an email from zavvi.com, subject “May the 4th be with you” promoting Star Wars Day today.
Definitions
{Deletes}
[Indicators]
|
Across |
|
|---|---|
| 1 | Celebrity intro cut short (4) |
| STAR – STAR{t} (intro – cut short) | |
| 3 | Fought: took axe to? (8) |
| SCRAPPED – Double definition, the second one usually figurative | |
| 8 | Ghost wandering around Hampton (7) |
| PHANTOM – Anagram [wandering around] of HAMPTON. An excellent surface here suggesting an apparition wandering the corridors of Hampton Court Palace, perhaps “with her head tucked underneath her arm” as the old song has it. | |
| 10 | About to take it easy, reaching peak (5) |
| CREST – C (about), REST (take it easy) | |
| 11 | He asked for more old meat and a bit of lemon? (6,5) |
| OLIVER TWIST – O (old), LIVER (meat), TWIST (bit of lemon – for example, as suggested by the question mark) | |
| 13 | Domain of politician in Ireland (6) |
| EMPIRE – MP (politician) in EIRE (Ireland) | |
| 15 | Threaten people with effective court action (6) |
| MENACE – MEN (people), ACE (effective court action – with reference to the service ace in tennis) | |
| 17 | Astronaut moving outside place wreaks havoc (11) |
| SPACEWALKER – Anagram [havoc] of PLACE WREAKS | |
| 20 | Certificate, initially single copy (5) |
| CLONE – C{ertificate} [initially], LONE (single) | |
| 21 | One supposedly swearing there’s nothing in false report (7) |
| TROOPER – 0 (nothing) inside anagram [false] of REPORT. This refers to the saying “swear like a trooper” which I hope is known to our overseas solvers. | |
| 22 | Stood up to rearrange dress-tie (8) |
| RESISTED – Anagram [rearrange] of DRESS-TIE | |
| 23 | Battles used to be involving King (4) |
| WARS – WAS (used to be) enclosing [involving] R (king) | |
|
Down |
|
| 1 | Drew off a small drink rendered sharp (8) |
| SIPHONED – SIP (small drink), HONED (rendered sharp). I would naturally spell this with a ‘Y’, but to fit the wordplay it has to be ‘I’. | |
| 2 | To an extent, scam at issue is a classic fiddle! (5) |
| AMATI – Hidden [to an extent] in {sc}AM AT I{ssue}. One of several famous families of Italian violin makers. | |
| 4 | Bodies with light tails encountered in lettuce (6) |
| COMETS – MET (encountered) in COS (lettuce) | |
| 5 | Group at sea playing Gaelic harp with leader of orchestra (11) |
| ARCHIPELAGO – Anagram [playing] of GAELIC HARP, O{rchestra}. A collection of small islands is the meaning that fits the definition here, though it can also be the stretch of water containing said islands. | |
| 6 | Finally stop all the music: get, inter alia, items for guitarists (7) |
| PLECTRA – Last letters [finally] of {sto}P {al}L {th}E {musi}C {ge}T {inte}R {ali}A | |
| 7 | A little upset to find facts (4) |
| DATA – A + TAD (little) all reversed [upset] | |
| 9 | Sportingly, they decide to join with CB operators (3-8) |
| TIE-BREAKERS – TIE (join), BREAKERS (CB operators – with reference to jargon used by Citizen Band radio enthusiasts) | |
| 12 | Serve in uniform: short sleeves will do, we hear (4,4) |
| BEAR ARMS – Sounds like [we hear] BARE ARMS | |
| 14 | Piano is opening up to reveal weapons (7) |
| PISTOLS – P (piano), IS, then SLOT (opening) reversed [up] | |
| 16 | Port that is red (6) |
| LEFTIE – LEFT (port), IE (that is – id est) | |
| 18 | Letter from abroad found in sack apparently (5) |
| KAPPA – Hidden [found] in {sac}K APPA{rently}. The 10th letter of the Greek alphabet. | |
| 19 | Small vehicle making mark (4) |
| SCAR – S (small), CAR (vehicle) | |
You might possibly want to rethink some of your rationales behind the answers…:)
Edited at 2015-05-04 07:48 am (UTC)
‘An epigram, a dwarfish whole; its body brevity and wit its soul’ Oscar Wilde?
Bob
Oh and 6d was unparsed – bit beyond my skill level that one.
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