Club Monthly 20190 – July 2016

Solving Time: No time, because I solved this while on holiday in the Preseli Hills in darkest Wales, and the original piece of paper with my notes on it is now lost. However, it did not seem one of the harder ones, at the time. If it had been I would probably not have been able to finish it, without at least a dictionary.. it helped that 1ac and 1dn were straightforward, always nice to get a good start

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

Dictionaries: The Club Monthly uses several dictionaries as sources, and why not? The main ones are the Concise Oxford Dictionary (COD), Collins, and Chambers.
I however can’t afford all those so I use Chambers, the online Collins dictionary and the ODO (Oxford Dictionaries Online).
I use the online Oxford English Dictionary too (OED) but accept that it sometimes goes beyond what we may reasonably be expected to know. It’s a good read, though..

Across
1. UKIP throng’s bizarre collective mind-set (10)
groupthink – *(UKIP throng)
6. An opening in Edinburgh or Belfast: small capitals you used in the past (4)
scye – SC (abbr. for small capitals) + YE (you in the past)
9. Green package, perhaps, church returned: books belonging to us (7)
ecotour – EC (church (of England) returned) + OT (books) + OUR (belonging to us)
10. Local insists on what apprenticeship has, perhaps just missing out (7)
threeps – apprenticeship has 3 Ps, perhaps, only two … clever clue
12. Old club backed exercise system (3-2)
tae-bo – O (old) + BEAT (club) all rev.
13. Good engine fuel succeeded — a lot came free (5,4)
steam coal – *(S + A LOT CAME)
14. Brazilian ready to collect drinks before our crossing desert: that speaks for itself (3,4,8)
res ipsa loquitur – SIPS (drinks) in REAL (Brazilian ready, roughly 6 to the £) + QUIT (desert) in OUR
17. Girl briefly visiting her doctor satisfied about backing measure to detect onset of cold (15)
katathermometer – KAT(E) AT HER MO + MET (satisfied) + RE (about) rev.
20. One avenging spirit: lawyer penning letter (9)
kadaitcha – KA (spirit) + AITCH (letter) in DA (lawyer)
21. Producer of oil fine embrocation contains (5)
neemb – hidden in fiNE EMBrocation. More commonly, neem… neem oil is used in cosmetics and is also an abortifact
23. Primate finally putting virtu before zeal, oddly (7)
guereza – (puttin)G (virt)U + ERE (before) + Z(e)A(l)
24. Failure to digest and copy extra comment, one with answer (7)
apepsia – APE (copy) + PS (extra comment) + I + A
25. How male comes to make regional side (4)
lisk – L IS K .. ie how to make male into make.. “lisk” means either flank or groin, potentially a source of embarrassing misunderstandings one would think
26. Wine taken from safe appeared unfinished (5-3-2)
Peter-see-me – PETER (safe) + SEEME(D). A sweet Spanish Malaga. I hadn’t heard of it, which surprised me rather. Apparently the name comes from failed attempts to pronounce/translate Pedro Ximenez, the grape it is made from. Like sherry = Jerez, claret = clairette etc etc.
 
Down
1. European holding a dry run for epic journey (5,4)
great trek – A TT R (a dry run) in GREEK (European). The Wiki article on the Great Trek makes for exciting reading .. blood galore.
2. Nothing needed by Polish for Scottish lament (5)
ohone – O + HONE (polish). I have never liked spurious capital letters .. it seems more of a lie than just a simple misdirection. But they are a regular enough feature
3. Guards’ captain being paid to fight with a passion (13)
protospataire – PRO (being paid) + TO + SPAT (fight) + A + IRE (passion). A Byzantine court dignitary
4. Hot sauce includes about 50 per cent rice with it (7)
harissa – RI(ce) in HAS (includes) + SA (sex appeal, ie “it”). A hot chilli paste originally from Tunisia
5. Oath men devised never again used by poet (7)
nathemo – *(OATH MEN). Spenser presumably being the poet referred to, since it appears in the Faerie Queen, albeit as nathemoe. But there are many much earlier references, it is in the Anglo-Saxon chronicles for example
7. Energy wasted covering shields for light reflector (9)
coelostat – E(nergy) + LOST (wasted) in COAT (covering)
8. Look to bring about trial of revolutionary antibacterial liquid (5)
eusol – LO (look) + SUE (bring about trial of), both rev.
11. Ultimately, their murmur goes on spreading? (6-7)
rumour-mongers – *(theiR + MURMUR GOES ON), the def. being an &lit.
15. Being fed up, returning sons post letters from abroad (9)
satedness – all rev: SS (sons) + END (post) + ETAS (letters from abroad, namely Greece)
16. Rival in speed contest for third time, maybe assuming black piece of armour (9)
rerebrace – B (black) in RE RE RACE, presumably intended to mean to race someone for a third time.. not sure it quite works for me but still, solvable. A piece of armour worn by all well-dressed protospataires
18. Tax from copper and silver brought in about four o’clock? (7)
escuage – CU (copper) + AG (silver) in ESE, ie East South East which is around 4 o/c .. SSE being 5 o/c, S 6 etc.
19. Business graduate encountering curse in African city (7)
mbabane – MBA (business graduate, usu. incompetent at actual business) + BANE (curse). The capital of Swaziland, as everybody knows .. though its population at 30,000 is only a quarter that of Maidstone
20. Pudding upset this country lass of good breeding (5)
kugel – UK rev., + GEL, a refined girl
22. Burns created these ashes? Around fifty become less severe (5)
easle – L (fifty) in EASE (become less severe)