Solving time: 42 minutes. 9ac and 10dn had me wondering if today’s setter might be Oink.
As usual definitions are underlined in bold italics, {deletions and substitutions are in curly brackets} and [anagrinds, containment, reversal and other indicators in square ones]. I usually omit all reference to positional indicators unless there is a specific point that requires clarification.
 Across |
|
| 1 | Lean jockeys in lead, with food intake making body shapely (5,7) |
| PANEL BEATING | |
| Anagram [jockeys] of LEAN contained by [in] PB (lead), EATING [food intake]. ‘Jockey’ may seem a strange anagrind but we’ve had it before and it’s in the Chambers list. One definition is ‘manipulate’. | |
| 8 | Possibly corny item to advertise swimmer’s aid (7) |
| EARPLUG | |
| EAR (possibly corny item – ears of corn), PLUG (advertise) | |
| 9 | Greedy guts swallowing last of bacon on soggy ground bread once (7) |
| PFENNIG | |
| PIG (greedy guts) containing (swallowing) FEN (soggy ground) + {baco}N [last of…]. ‘Bread’ as slang for ‘money’. | |
| 11 | More bananas in dish consumed by ladies, say, and queen (7) |
| LOOPIER | |
| PIE (dish) contained [consumed] by LOO (ladies, say) + R (queen) | |
| 12 | Undressed escort irrational round certain stars (7) |
| SCORPIO | |
| {e}SCOR{t} [undressed], PI (irrational), O (round) | |
| 13 | Both sides in Highbury perhaps useful (5) |
| HANDY | |
| H{ighbury} AND {highbur}Y (both sides of Highbury). I had just been considering ‘handier’ as a possible answer at 11ac based on ‘hand’ being another term for a bunch of bananas. Of course it was never going to work with the rest of the clue but rather conveniently ‘hand’ was fresh in my mind as I came to this one. | |
| 14 | Fool previously grasping an element of poetry (9) |
| ASSONANCE | |
| ASS (fool), then ONCE (previously) containing [grasping] AN. SOED: The rhyming of one word with another in accented vowel and those that follow, but not in consonants, or (less usually) in consonants but not in vowels | |
| 16 | Filled with spirit, steed periodically follows groups of lawmen (9) |
| POSSESSED | |
| POSSES (groups of lawmen), S{t}E{e}D [periodically]. Fans of Westerns will be aware of posses in this sense. | |
| 19 | Sports vehicle tours in escapade (5) |
| CAPER | |
| CAR (vehicle) contains [tours] PE (sports – Physical Education) | |
| 21 | In Latin, maybe I learn afresh without hesitation (7) |
| NUMERAL | |
| Anagram [afresh] of LEARN containing [without] UM (hesitation). Roman numerals. We had something very similar in Izetti’s QC last Tuesday. | |
| 23 | Decoration for the head of diminutive fellow? (7) |
| CHAPLET | |
| CHAP (fellow), LET clued by ‘diminutive ‘, ‘-let’ being a suffix added to some nouns to indicate small or lesser e.g. booklet. | |
| 24 | Party during time off jobs in bank, say (4-3) |
| HOLD-UPS | |
| DUP (party – Democratic Unionist Party) contained by [during] HOLS (time off). This Northern Ireland party is very much in the news at the moment. | |
| 25 | Grating, 50 per cent heavy metal, released smoke (7) |
| IRKSOME | |
| IR{on} (heavy metal) [50 per cent], anagram [released] of SMOKE. As I grow older there’s a lot that grates on my nerves and I find irksome. | |
| 26 | Hurry to succeed, lacking patience (4,2,6) |
| MAKE IT SNAPPY | |
| MAKE IT (succeed), SNAPPY (lacking patience) | |
| Down |
|
| 1 | Not quite clean cut or appropriate (7) |
| PURLOIN | |
| PUR{e} (clean) [not quite], LOIN (cut of meat) | |
| 2 | Make invalid endlessly fill unwieldy bags up (7) |
| NULLIFY | |
| Hidden [bags] and reversed [up] in {endlessl}Y FILL UN{wieldy} | |
| 3 | Deliveries left for one on periods without work (3,6) |
| LEG BREAKS | |
| L (left), EG (for one – example), BREAKS (periods without work). SOED: in cricket – a bowled ball that spins from leg to off on pitching | |
| 4 | Dispatching right goods sold abroad for displays (5) |
| EXPOS | |
| EXPO{rt}S (goods sold abroad) [dispatching right] | |
| 5 | Truss neck with something worn around it, at first (3,4) |
| TIE DOWN | |
| TIE (something worn around it – neck), DOWN (neck – drink) | |
| 6 | New, doubly trendy, absorbing record? One’s bowled over (7) |
| NINEPIN | |
| N (new), then IN + IN (trendy) [doubly] containing [absorbing] EP (record – extended play) | |
| 7 | Lack means to skin a certain bird, according to Spooner (4,3,5) |
| FEEL THE PINCH | |
| Spoonerism of “peel the finch” [skin a certain bird]. Not having as much money as one used to. | |
| 10 | Traveller has fling in Greece, disheartened by a bit of a pig (12) |
| GLOBETROTTER | |
| LOB (fling) contained by [in] G{reec}E [disheartened], TROTTER (bit of a pig). Pig’s trotters are considered a culinary delicacy in some parts of the UK. | |
| 15 | Winning over Spain is painless: centre for training is lacking (9) |
| SEDUCTION | |
| S{pain} [pain-less], EDUC{a}TION (training) [centre…is lacking]. Have some Madeira, M’dear! | |
| 17 | Is it therefore African country close to Ethiopia? (7) |
| SOMALIA | |
| SO (therefore), MALI (African country), {Ethiopi}A [close to…]. And Somalia does indeed share a border with Ethiopia. | |
| 18 | Travelling with pastry case, about to go (2,5) |
| EN ROUTE | |
| EN {c}ROUTE (with pastry case) [about – c – to go]. Trotter en croute, anyone? | |
| 19 | Boost position entering sports competition (5,2) |
| CRANK UP | |
| RANK (position) contained by [entering] CUP (sports competition) | |
| 20 | Stocks cushion wife dismissed on line (7) |
| PILLORY | |
| PILLO{w} (cushion) [wife dismissed], RY (railway line). Both were forms of mediaeval punishment involving public humiliation, but I understand that pillory and stocks were not exactly the same. In the pillory the victim was standing with head and hands restrained by holes in the board. In stocks he was sitting or lying down with feet restrained at the ankles. | |
| 22 | Great pianist listened to record (5) |
| LISZT | |
| Sounds like [listened to] “list” [record] | |
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