Quick Cryptic 2651 by Oink

I had AGUE here, as in A + GUE{rilla}. An Ague is certainly painful, and this led to a total breakdown in this corner, as I didn’t consider the possibility this might be wrong.

I am sure I get ETON each time I blog, just so I blow a fuse.

Not such a common phrase these days, the OED has it as to reveal, divulge, disclose, or betray a fact by word or look.

Brilliant anagram, so smooth I didn’t see it at first. “certain” often means “sure” which is a handy set of letters. And “Foreign Pastor” contains 13 letters with a helpful “-ing” in there. Plenty of scope for misdirection here.

“Female Entertainer” covers a lot of ground. The OED has :

DIS, is short for disrespect. Appeared in rap music in the 1990s, went mainstream a decade later, and now probably passé.

I so wanted this to be AWAKE, but could not find any reason for WAK to mean fighting. Western Australia Karate club maybe.

Metaphorical use of “mine”, as in a “mine of information”.

Anagram indicator is “barking”, because this can mean “foolish or irrational”.  In fact this usage was only added to the OED in 2021.

Klaxon warning, its easy to put the wrong one in here, as the S/C is unchecked. General rule, the definition is at the start or end of the clue, and “mailed” is not.

Social worker was BEE last week, but nine times out of 10 it’ll be ANT,  because those letters are so handy.

Host for army is common in crosswords, even though it hasn’t been used in a military sense since ancient times.

I spent quite a bit of time trying to convince myself that this was correct. I know the capital C is meant to make us think of the painter, but it’s a pretty weak effort.

The metaphorical meaning of “auditor” is of course much more common than the almost obsolete primary meaning of “one who hears” In the OED, one who hears or listens, especially : one who is a member of an audience.

That DELA took a bit of chasing down. The African leader could have been MANCAEN, MANNICE or MANLYON for all I know. I even looked to see if there was a town in France called Dela.

Nana can be a silly person, it comes from “banana”. and to be “off ones nana” is Australian slang for losing one’s temper, I think. Our early posters from Oz can comment.

We English have one form for “The”, the Germans have six (der, die, das, des, dem, den). In crosswords you will certainly see the first three of these. Oh yes, Catalan? They have 10.

What do you call it in your house? The clicker, The remote, The Channel-Changer, The zapper, The Doofer. Something else?

In Crosswords DI is a Popular girl, that’s for sure.

For glasses, OED has usage from 1800s (including a quote from an ancestor of mine, R.D. Blackmore). The second definition, “technical specifications”, only from the 1960s.

And breathe. Oink is back.

And the clue could have been reworked as

His Majesty has a quiet bowel movement (4)