Club Monthly 20176 May 2015 – Mediterranean Edition

Solving Time: About 40 minutes, quicker than average for me, greatly helped by knowing more than the usual number of words this time. Once again a highly enjoyable solve – I hope the setter enjoys setting it, as much as I enjoy solving it.. Though (s)he does get paid I suppose.

Apologies for this rather pared down blog. I am currently soaking up the sun on a vineyard near Narbonne. This is an excellent place to be from many standpoints (eg, the en vrac wine here is good and is €1,60/litre, equivalent to something under £1/bottle) but there is no wi-fi in the gite. And I am using an ancient laptop with a sticky keyboard. So although I can post this (I think) I can’t look up references or dictionaries. I can respond to comments or queries but there may be some delay. Now, back to the sunshine…

cd = cryptic definition, dd = double definition, rev = reversed, anagrams are *(–), homophones indicated in “”

ODO means the Oxford Dictionaries Online, OED = Oxford English Dictionary, etc.

Across
1	demogorgon – DEMO (march) + GR(eek) rev. in GO ON
6	swad – W (wife) in SAD (down)
9	opium poppy – POP (old man) in *(PIMP YOU)
10	pepo – hidden, in riPE Pomegranate
12	ratio decidendi – DE(I)CIDE (all-powerful figure’s murderer) in RATION (helping) + I’D, rev. This struck me as an impressive clue… the setter has surely spurned much easier ways of clueing “decide!”
14	upgush – U(niversity) + GP (doctor) rev., + ‘USH, what cockneys say instead of hush (quiet)
15	penneeck – (pol)E in PEN (write) + NECK (down, as in beer)
17	alcahest – *(HEALS CAT)
19	coggly – COG (tooth) + (U)GLY
22	dieffenbachias – *(FINE FED) + BACH (composer) + I + AS (like, as in.. well, as in). I was fortunate in having heard of dieffenbachias, almost certainly from an earlier club monthly or mephisto!
24	doit – DO (to make, though no ready example springs to mind) + IT, short for Italian, which is short for vermouth as in “Gin & It”
25	emu-bobbing – E(uropean) + MU (Greek character) + BOB (Hope) and BING (Crosby), stars of the Road movies before I was born, or at least, watching films. “Emu-bobbing” is a fine phrase which I intend to casually drop into a conversation at the earliest opportunity
26	yuko – YUK (that’s disgusting) + O
27	scarlatina – SCAR (disfigure) + LATIN (tongue of old) + A(ctor). A fine lift & separate needed
Down
1	doob – BOO (don’t approve) + D(etective), all rev.
2	mridang – M(ale) + DAN (martial arts expert) in RIG (gear, as in equipment)
3	gemeinschaft – EG (say), rev. + sounds like “mine shaft.” Not to be confused with “Gesellschaft.”
4	Rhonda – *(HAD NO R). Never met a Rhonda myself, but there must be some … one Rhonda Fleming rings a faint bell.
5	oxpecker – X (cross) in O (zero) + PECKER (spirits, as in “keep your P up”). A curious phrase which I have always supposed to be rather rude. I did love the def. though, “Bird dining on beef.”
7	wheenge – ENG(land) in WHEE(L), (turn, sans tail)
8	doohickeys – I had trouble parsing this. The def. is “gadgets for American,” and I think it is HOO (thrilled reaction) in CID (investigator) both rev., + KEYS (clues). At first I thought the thrilled reaction was “Ooh,” but that doesn’t precisely seem to work. To my recollection I have never said hoo. The occasional ooh, certainly
11	odontophobia – *(BOTH DO O PIANO).
13	sugar daddy – DRAG US (pull us) rev., + ADD (sum) + Y (an unknown, not x or z). A euphemistic reference to paid sex between an old man and a young woman.
16	isonomic – ON + O (ring) + M(arried) in I (one) + SIC (thus)
18	chewink – CHE (presumably, italian for “what”) + WINK (flash)
20	gradini – GRADING (classification), with the second G(ood) replaced by I (one)
21	jamber – JAM (predicament) + BE(A)R, “stand after shedding a”
23	agma – AGM, (where directors & shareholders convene) + A