It’s that time of month again. A new Monthly Club Special and the answers to last month’s revealed… and blogged. This one took me an age, but I got there in the end. Lots of lovely words and chewy wordplay to enjoy as usual. But I found as I was writing the blog I had spelt a word wrong, so I’m expecting a pink square when I check my solution. Grr! Thank-you clever setter for the entertainment.
Definitions underlined in bold italics, ( Abc )* indicating anagram of Abc, {deletions} and [] other indicators.
| Across | |
| 1 | Exasperated request, left hand raised, to return and suspend missing father (3-5) |
| PUH-LEEZE – LH (left hand) UP (raised) reversed -> PUH-L ,{fr}EEZE (suspend) without FR (father). | |
| 5 | Music player with glower cut short drum (6) |
| DJEMBE –DJ (music player) EMBE{r} (glower) [cut short]. Rats. I saw when doing the blog that I had submitted “DJEMBA”. “I know that word” I thought when solving… but, clearly, I didn’t know how to spell it! | |
| 8 | Busy year resulted in journalist getting published without restrictions (10) |
| COPYLEFTED – COP (busy) Y (year) LEFT (resulted in) ED (journalist). | |
| 9 | News, oddly absent, didn’t flow (4) |
| INFO – Alternate letters, [oddly absent], of dIdN‘t FlOw. | |
| 10 | Clay’s farewell boxing blunder is a flipping breather! (5,9) |
| TERRA SIGILLATA – TATA (farewell) [boxing], ERR (blunder) IS A [flipping] -> ASI, GILL (breather). | |
| 11 | Film’s about university in US provinces (7) |
| EYALETS – ET’S (film’s) [about] YALE (university in US). Provinces in the Ottoman Empire. | |
| 13 | Producer of tack for local religious feast repulsed temple (7) |
| WHITTAW –WHIT (religious feast), WAT (temple) [repulsed] -> TAW. UK dialect for a saddler. | |
| 15 | Welsh swimmer, close to buoy, wading out (7) |
| GWYNIAD – ({buo} y wading)* [out]. A white fish related to the powan found in Lake Bala in Wales. | |
| 18 | Feline with claw pared gets cross (7) |
| CATTALO – CAT (feline) TALO{n} (claw) [pared]. Like Beefalo – a cross between CATTle and buffALO. | |
| 21 | Spotted piece of game pie initially, then finally, stopping a past slimming operation (14) |
| ABDOMINOPLASTY – DOMINO (spotted piece of game) P{ie} [initially] LAST (finally) all inside A BY (past). | |
| 22 | Quietly force approval from Elysée Palace, ditching old, sceptical reaction (4) |
| PFUI – P (quietly) F (force) {o}UI (yes in French; approval from Elysée Palace) with out the O (old). | |
| 23 | Slack outfit from the Right is OTT, awkwardly embracing America First (6,4) |
| TSOTSI SUIT – ( is OTT )* [awkwardly] outside US (America) IST (1st; First) all reversed [from the Right]. South African – a Sotho corruption of zoot suit. | |
| 24 | Sky no longer used source for broadcast by similar group (6) |
| WELKIN – WEL sounds like [for broadcast] WELL (source), KIN (similar group). | |
| 25 | Half-fall of Briton in time accounts for fencing manoeuvre (3-2-3) |
| TAC-AU-TAC – [half of] AUT{umn} (fall of Briton) in T (time) AC (account) twice (time accounts). | |
| Down | |
| 1 | Illustration accompanying books, extremely elaborate, with darker edges (7) |
| PICOTEE – PIC (illustration) OT (Old Testament; books) [extremely] E{laborat}E. A type of carnation of which the flowers have a light ground and dark-edged petals. | |
| 2 | One talking up high, not allowing husband to be lower? (9) |
| HYPERGAMY – HYPER (one talking up) GAMY (high). The action of marrying or forming a sexual relationship with a person of a superior sociological or educational background | |
| 3 | Young migrants meeting flow of social assistance after reversal of original direction (7) |
| EELFARE – {w}ELFARE (social assistance), reversing the initial W to E (reversal of original direction) -> EELFARE. From the Thames valley, the migration of young eels up the river | |
| 4 | Sea monster god’s energy is providing twice, back to back (7) |
| ZIFFIUS – Z{e}US (god) replacing the E (energy) with IF FI (providing) [twice and back to back]. | |
| 5 | Assisted in East End hotel: lifted top drawer and pocketed order? (9) |
| DIDELPHIA – DID ‘ELP (assisted in East End) H (Hotel on NATO phonetic alphabet) AI (A1; top drawer) [lifted] -> IA. A genus of marsupials | |
| 6 | Send out guards to put a stop to flashing (7) |
| EMICANT – EMIT (send out) outside CAN (put a stop to). | |
| 7 | Gift turning up the month after it’s due, a crushing blow (7) |
| BEFFANA – An Epiphany gift, hence FEB (month after it’s due) [turned up] -> BEF, |
|
| 12 | Slimline drinks in vending machine, to cut out sweetener (9) |
| THAUMATIN – THIN (slimline) outside, [drinks in], AU{to}MAT (vending machine) with the TO cut out. | |
| 14 | Neat turns somehow producing effect outside the mind (9) |
| TRANSEUNT – ( Neat turns )* [somehow]. | |
| 16 | Docker down under working mostly when fair (7) |
| WHARFIE – [Working] ( whe {n} [mostly] fair )*. | |
| 17 | Drag artiste’s bottom hidden, fully exposed bust (7) |
| NUDNICK –NUD{e} (fully exposed) without the E [artiste’s bottom], NICK (bust). Drag as in a boring person. | |
| 18 | State constant, universal principle in broadcast coming up (7) |
| CROATIA – C (constant), TAO (universal principle) in AIR (broadcast) [coming up] -> ROATIA. | |
| 19 | Mum finds out from me after one has dropped plants (7) |
| TELLIMA – I TELL MA (mum finds out from me), with the I (one) [dropped] -> TELLIMA. A genus of hardy perennials with palmate lobed leaves and long racemes of small nodding five-petalled flowers found in western North America. | |
| 20 | Tiny cox frantically releasing a lot of corrosive stuff (7) |
| OXYNTIC – ( Tiny cox )* [frantically]. Of or denoting the secretory cells which produce hydrochloric acid in the main part of the stomach. | |
Re. BEFFANA: I had FEB reversed + A containing (crushing) FAN = blow.
For 17d, I had ‘Drag artiste’ as the tongue-in-cheek def., with ‘bottom hidden’ indicating the incomplete NUDE. But I agree it could work either way.
And, yes, it was a bit of a proper workout. Ta for the blog.
Thanks. I think you’re parsing for BEFFANA is more likely than mine – I didn’t see past there being a word FANA that sort of fit the wordplay. I’ll update the blog. But I beg to differ on NUDNICK.
I did say that both parsings work equally well. ‘Drag artiste’ just strikes me as a wittier definition.