Gosh, has it really been two weeks since Christmas Eve? This took well under an hour with distractions – I was expecting something a bit chewier for the festive season.
First in was OBSTREPEROUS but I forgot to note down my LOI and I can’t remember what it was.
Happy 2017 to all both my readers.
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Across |
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1 |
MOTHBALLED – MO then BALL in THE D(uke) |
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6 |
OBSTREPEROUS – O(utside) B(roadcast) then (superstore)*. My late father-in-law used to pronounce this OBSTROPOLOUS. He probably wasn’t alone. |
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14 |
TURPITUDE – T(rade) U(nion) then RUDE around PIT. One of those words you know exists but might struggle to define if put on the spot, especially as it kinda looks similar to TORPOR |
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15 |
INDIE – {d}I{d}N{t}d{r}I{v}E. True story. I used to think the term “indie” referred to Bhangra and the like. So for years I missed out on indie music as if the radio announcer said summat like “coming up, an hour of the latest indie tunes…” I’d switch off / over. |
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16 |
ITERATE – {l}ITERATE |
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19 |
Y-FRONTS – R(epublican) in Y FONTS (faces as in typefaces) |
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21 |
LONELY – LELY around ON (working), with “by himself as the definition. Peter Lely was portrait artist to Charles I and later Charles II’s Principal Painter in Ordinary |
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22 |
SCENARIO – S for small followed by IRAN reversed in C.E.O. |
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24 |
ILLICIT – IMPLICIT with MP replaced by L(iberal) |
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26 |
TEST TUBE – reversal of E(nergy) BUTT SET |
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27 |
UGLIER – UGLI (fruit) + ER for her Maj, with whom I appear to have shared the common cold virus this festive season |
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30 |
SOVEREIGNTY – (generosity)* with V(anuatu) tossed into the mix in an appropriate place |
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32 |
CANDELABRUM – (balanced)* with engineer as the anagram indicator then RUM. One of those words that is often mistakenly used in the plural to mean the singular, like data and phenomena |
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33 |
SUNNY-SIDE UP – three synonyms bunged together for the way normal people have their fried eggs cooked |
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35 |
TOTALISATOR – TOTAL (as in to write off a car) + TO {banke}R with ISA (Individual Savings Account) squidged in the middle. It’s basically what we know as The Tote, a system of betting in which dividends are calculated according to the amount staked rather than odds offered |
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38 |
POLITICO – TIC in POLO |
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39 |
ROAD BED – {b}ROAD + BED and if you’re still puzzled it’s sleepers as in railway |
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48 |
HAVOC – HAV{e} O(ld) C(old) |
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51 |
OXONIAN – OX (steer as in cow-type-thing) + O for round + NAN around I for one |
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53 |
EGOMANIAC – OMANI in CAGE reversed with “person up himself” as the witty definition |
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54 |
STAINED GLASS – G in STAINED LASS |
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55 |
PRETENSION – PENSION (foreign bed & breakfast) around RET (crosswordy word for soaking something or other in some textile-related process or summat) |
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Down |
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1 |
METAPHYSICS – (shy)* in (campsite)* with bats and abroad as the anagrinds |
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3 |
BRITANNIC – B(ritish) R(ail) + IT ANN IC, the def being OF THIS LAND |
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4 |
LAURELS – LAS around U REL. I didn’t know rel was an “acceptable” abbreviation for relative |
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5 |
ETERNAL – EXTERNAL with the X “stolen” |
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7 |
BODY POLITIC – BODY (stiff as in ex-parrot) then IT in POLIC{e} |
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8 |
THESIS – HE’S in SIT reversed |
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9 |
EXIGENCY – TA removed from EXIT AGENCY. An exigency is a pressing demand or urgent requirement |
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10 |
ELEPHANT GRASS – GR ASS burdened with (i.e. supporting) ELEPHANT. How does a male elephant find a female elephant in long grass? |
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11 |
OPAQUER – QU in (opera)* |
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12 |
SPECTROGRAM – E CT in S PROGRAM. Ready? A spectrogram is a visual representation of the spectrum of frequencies in a sound or other signal as they vary with time or some other variable |
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13 |
VIDEO NASTY – (advise Tony)*. I’m sure we’ve had video nasty a couple of times elsewhere recently. Driller Killer and I spit on Your Grave come to mind |
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20 |
RELEVANCE – NAVEL reversed in RE CE. Navel can mean the central point of a place as well as your belly button |
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23 |
AB INITIO – IO for 10 after AB IN IT. Why do bloody lawyers have to use Latin when there are perfectly good English equivalents? |
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25 |
TRIVIA – VI in TRIA{l} |
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26 |
TANGELOS TANG + SOLE “revolting” (rising up). What’s in the bag Angelos, tell us what’s in your bag… |
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28 |
IRRITABLE – in IR(ish) R(epublican) TABLE |
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29 |
PEDLAR – PEAR around (lan)DL(ady) |
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31 |
RHYTHM SECTION – (test choir hymn)* |
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33 |
SISTERHOODS – female orders is the def and it’s HOOD in SISTERS |
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34 |
PRIMA DONNAS – (or pre-Madonnas to the actual people who riddle cyberspace with escape goats and damp squids) PR followed by MADONNA in IS |
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36 |
RADIO BEACON – RADIO BACON around E(uropean) |
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40 |
APPERTAIN – APP + {c}ERTAIN |
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41 |
ARACHNID – (china)* in A RD, def is tick for one |
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43 |
PAVLOVA – PAVLOV + A. Barbara Woodhouse didn’t fit. |
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45 |
LOW GEAR – DD |
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46 |
SEA PORT – EA IN SPORT with “access to drink” being the rather elegant definition |
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50 |
ALIBI – ALI B(oxing) I(nstinctively) |
Nice blog Penfold. Hope your other reader drops by soon.
I haven’t been back to the States for nearly a decade, but there used to be (and maybe still is) something on the immigration forms about “moral turpitude”, which sounds like a Victorian euphemism for prostitution but turns out to be rather less scandalous.
David (Warwick)