Times 26533 – Pay More Heed

I thought this was a little on the trickier side for a Monday. Well, a lot trickier if you include 10a, where I managed to fall into the heffalump trap like Pooh and his cerebrally challenged porcine friend. Arguably, the other main challenge in this puzzle is the former province of the former Zaire, which features the maternal figure of Roo’s mother, possibly the least memorable of all the characters from the AA Milne series. 35 minutes.

Congratulations to the USA for a well-deserved win in the Ryder Cup, and of course the Western Bulldogs (AKA Footscray Football Club) for their AFL Grand Final win.

ACROSS

1. WATERFALLS – ‘forces in the north’; anagram* of FATS WALLER.
6. HIKE – double definition.
8. INSTINCT – TIN (‘money’) replaces E (first letter of’ England’) in INSECT.
9. UPPITY – UP (‘in the saddle’) + PITY.
10. SHUN – double definition; SHUN is militarese for ‘Attention!’
11. TANTAMOUNT – ‘equivalent’; first letters of T[o] + A[pprentice] in TAN + MOUNT.
12. CHOP HOUSE – CHOP[in] + H + OUSE.
14. LILAC – CALL reversed around I (electric current).
17. LAITY – IT (vermouth AKA ‘wine’) in LAY.
19. HAILSTONE – ‘a bit of a storm’; HAIL + S + TO + NE: ‘provoking’ is the link word.
22. DAUGHTERLY – ‘like Little Dorrit’ – U[nwonte]D + LETHARGY*. Amy Dorrit (the eponymous heroine) is devoted to her father William. The book itself contains one of the most incomprehensible passages in the English language – a disquisition on Arthur Clennam’s parentage.
23. ALEC – ALE + C.
24. MEANIE – MAN + IE around E.
25. OMISSION – O + MISS + reversal of NO I.
26. MYRA – YR in MA; I was dabbling with ‘Maya’, but she didn’t seem to mind.
27. MONTEVIDEO – T + E in MO + N + VIDEO; means ‘I see a mountain’, because, I imagine, the explorer chappie did. Alternatively, he wanted everyone to ask him ‘Say, why did you name that place Montevideo?’ when he got back to Spain.

DOWNS

1. WHIMSICAL – LAW reversed around HIM + SIC (‘thus’ – not the thing you shout to a dog).
2. TESTUDO – TEST + U + DO for the tortoise-like effect you get when you and your soldier mates advance with your shields slung over your heads.
3. FUNCTION – economical double definition.
4. LET ONES HAIR DOWN – a whimsical definition which relies on the double meaning of ‘shock’ as surprise and the hair on your head.
5. SQUEAL – SEAL around QU.
6. HYPNOTIST – PYTHONS + IT*.
7. KATANGA – the former province (and self-proclaimed state) and current region of the Democratic Republic of Congo; TA (our old friend the Territorial Army) in KANGA (Pooh’s personality challenged marsupial friend).
13. PATAGONIA – today’s Biff Banker; PAT (androgynous name) + AGO + IN reversed + A.
15. CRESCENDO – CRESCEN[t] + DO.
16. PLAYTIME – PLAY followed by EMIT reversed.
18. ACADEMY – AMY around AD in CE.
20. OILBIRD – ‘rooster in cave’; OIL (‘painting’) followed by initial letters of B[edecked] I[n] R[ed] D[ye].
21. STREAM – ST + REAM.