Posted by beermagnet on 14th April 2008
A couple of capitalisations in the clues here attempt to misled that extra step - some might say a step too far.
| Across |
| 1 |
EGGCUP e.g. G-Cup |
| 5 |
TO BE SURE T(ime) RU back in OBESE |
| 9 |
GIVING HEAD Generous educating person |
| 10 |
OGLE O-(LEG)* First that I wrote in |
| 11 |
STIGMA (GITS)<-MA |
| 12 |
HORNY DD |
| 14 |
DREAMT-UP Anag (NEW PM REAL TURD) without an R and L |
| 16 |
PRIMLY RIM in PLY Cyclops has clued the most innocuous word in the grid in the rudest way |
| 17 |
UTERUS (TRUE)* inside the US from Bushes heart |
| 19 |
REFLEXES FLEX inside REES The “former Hom. Sec.” is Merlyn REES from the 70s ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlyn_Rees ) who might be unknown to younger solvers. But is FLEX synonymous with “contract”? Last I put in and then only because it fits the crossing letters and the definition. Full clue:
Gut reacions of former Home Secretary bagging contract (8) |
| 21 |
ODDLY 2nd last in - For a long time I thought it was going to be ODDIE from the definition (”a git”), which it cannot be from the crossing Y. It was only while writing this blog I saw it - the odd letters of “Anglia TV” are “AGIT”. Full clue:
Thus could Anglia TV be taken to be a git (5) |
| 22 |
ALLEGE LEG in ALE Oh not piss = ale again |
| 25 |
SOAK S(uck) O(ff) A(ctor) K(night) A bit contrived |
| 26 |
EPIGLOTTIS (G-SPOT IT LIES)* |
| 27 |
WHITE TIE |
| 28 |
YO-HO-HO Reminded me of the childrens’ cartoon “Yo-ho Ahoy” - recommended viewing (just the once will do) |
| |
| Down |
| 2 |
GLITTERATI LITTER in (A GIT)* |
| 3 |
CLING CL[EAR]ING I found this terribly obvious |
| 4 |
PAGEANT AGE (”to get on”) about PANT (”Puff”) |
| 5 |
TOE THE PARTY LINE It took several crossing letters before this became clear, but it is solidly clued.
TOE (”Reportedly pull”) THE (”article”) PARTY (”social”) LINE (”dose of cocaine”) |
| 6 |
BAD TRIP <shudder> |
| 7 |
STORYLINE S TORY-LINE |
| 8 |
RULE DD |
| 13 |
OLD ENGLISH (SOD IN HELL G)* |
| 15 |
AIR POCKET Nick as in steal - sneaky capital:
This should interrupt the smooth rise of broadcast by Nick (3,6) |
| 18 |
SADDEST S(enate) (DEAD)* ST |
| 20 |
FRAILTY AIL-[doors]T[epper] inside FRY (”Cook”) - another naughty capitalisation:
It’s a weakness of Cook, welcoming trouble (doorstepper at heart) (7) |
| 23 |
LATCH C(amilla) in LATH |
| 24 |
TOSH T(urn) O(ver) SH (be quiet) |
Posted in Private Eye/Cyclops | 5 Comments »
Posted by beermagnet on 30th March 2008
| Across |
| 1 |
OFFBEAT OFF-BEAT I liked “copper back in the station” |
| 5 |
ODD FISH Perch is a FISH, and 3 is an ODD number, and John Redwood is … |
| 10 |
BLOOD MONEY M-ONE (chief of Manchester United) inside BLOODY (bleeding) |
| 11 |
NAVY V[ery] inside NAY - I think. Originally I was thinking vaguely of an old warmonger who gained a reputation for use of the cat, but there was no Admiral Nay that I can find - I must’ve been conflating Marshal Ney. So how does this work? Full clue:
Sailors strapping chap, very taken (4)
Dan points out that the “strapping chap” is a NAVVY and the V[ery] has been taken away. |
| 12 |
EMINENCE EMINE[m] N[elly] C (hundred) E(uros) |
| 13 |
REEFER REEF (spit) ER (Brenda) |
| 14 |
BOSS DD |
| 16 |
CRUMPET RUMP inside (ETC)* |
| 18 |
ISTHMUS (SHIT)* (SUM)< |
| 21 |
ROWS Homophone “Woes” when Jonathan Ross says it |
| 23 |
WALLOP WA (Washington state abbr.) (POLL)< Here we go again equating decent ale with piss. The many pints of wallop I’ve had have been brilliant! |
| 24 |
THE QUEEN T[ickle] HE (male) QUEEN (homosexual) HRH getting a name-check that isn’t Brenda for a change |
| 26 |
SHOE O (ball) inside SHE (female) I’m not sure if the final question mark is necessary. |
| 27 |
CHECK DIGIT Couple of good offbeat definitions. Full clue:
Examine member - it might get stuck into a PC (5,5) |
| 28 |
SMUGGLE MUG (dick) inside (LEGS)* |
| 29 |
CRUNCHY C (about) R[a]UNCHY |
| |
| Down |
| 2 |
FULL MOON DD |
| 4 |
ALMANAC AL (Gore) M[onica] AN (one) AC (Bill) |
| 6 |
DAY TRIP (Robin) DAY TRIP (error) |
| 7 |
FAN LETTER A[ct] N[ervously] L[egs] inside FETTER This was a close second for the favourite clue:
Starts to act nervously, legs in shackle, enveloped by admirer? (3,6) |
| 8 |
SOVIET VIE (compete) inside SOT (drunk). This was the last I put in. I was misled by “drunk” to try anagrams of “old Russian” etc. but it’s a solid answer once you know it. As a result I’ll give it the favourite clue award. Full clue:
Compete - but hemmed in by drunk old Russian (6) |
| 9/3 |
KNEES UP MOTHER BROWN KNEES UP (party) MOTHER (mum) BROWN (PM) On first sight of this crossword I went straight to this long answer and it was apparent immediately. The “mum” = “mother” part was a complete give-away for me. |
| 15 |
SPIELBERG SPIEL (pitch) (B[UG]GER)* UG = “what caveman said”. I wonder if Spielberg will ever do a caveman pic? It’d be much better than the latest offering, 10,000 B.C., whose release was timed to coincide with this clue. The clue is far better than the movie. |
| 17 |
SWEETISH S[ulphur] WEE (SHIT)* Two anagrams of shit in one crossy and neither making “this” - that’s OK by me |
| 19 |
TOPICAL TOP (bust) [mon]ICA [bil]L Yet another ref. to Clinton+Lewinsky - I think this one’s getting long in the tooth now |
| 20 |
SPEAKER S (second) PEAK (climax) ER (Brenda) |
| 22 |
MAYHEM (Dr Brian) MAY HEM (”bit of skirt”) Ref. the well-known astrophysicist, OBE and Chancellor of Liverpool Uni. who plays a bit of guitar as well |
| 25 |
UNION CD |
Posted in Private Eye/Cyclops | 2 Comments »
Posted by beermagnet on 16th March 2008
The surface readings of clues in the Eye crossword have become famous for conjuring up delightfully rude and disrespectful images, and of course funny as a result. This crossword did not disappoint. It was a much more enjoyable puzzle than that in the last issue, although it was a fair bit easier.
| Across |
| 8 |
UNTAPPED (UP PEDANT)* |
| 9 |
BAGPIPES BAG(PIPE)S Is a churchwarden ever used for other than “pipe” in crosswords? |
| 10 |
PENURY (Y[o]UR PEN[is])* Dare I repeat this clue? Of course! Favourite clue award for this:
Tossing your penis, love is lacking, a poor state indeed (6) |
| 11 |
UGANDA PE reference to “Ugandan relations” |
| 13 |
BONHOMIE B[ack] ON (for) HO[use] [P]M IE (that is) |
| 14/7 |
KISS AND TELL STORY ‘X’ = KISS ; plus = AND ; William TELL (who shot his bolt) S[cotland] TORY (politician) |
| 18 |
LIMPIDLY This was the last I wrote in. I’m not sure of the construction - Is it a DD or a CD or &lit? Probably to do with LIMP and IDLY. Full clue:
Clearly not up for it, in a shiftless way (8) |
| 19 |
NARKED NARK (grass) ED Ref Ed Balls now Sec. of State for schools. I always felt a bit sorry for teachers etc. with unfortunate names - strangely not this bloke. |
| 20 |
THE LOT HEL[l] (75% torment) inside TOT |
| 21 |
BAWLS OUT Bawls homophone balls |
| 23 |
PASSOVER When you “croak” you die thus “pass over” |
| |
| Down |
| 1/22 |
SOAP STAR SOAPS TAR Another one of those surface images (just the sort of thing a B Windsor character might do in a Carry On remake) Full clue:
Perhaps Windsor assists sailor in the bath (4,4) |
| 2 |
MYOPIA MY OP 1A It helped that the grid did not have a 1 Across to see that IA was intended |
| 3/13 |
BUGS BUNNY “Shorts” = short films; “Hostess” = Bunny girl |
| 4 |
STEP ON IT (NEPOTIST)* My fingers wrote in “step to it” when I wasn’t looking, which gave me pause for thought on 13A though the silliness was resolved quickly enough |
| 5 |
SPIN BOWLER Can’t you bowl a fast ball with spin then? Full clue:
Not a fast deliverer of Alastair Campbell’s business hat (4,6) |
| 6 |
BEARDIER (BEER AD I[ndependent])* Fungus-grower - Face fungus that is (guilty as charged y’honour) |
| 7 |
SHAGGY SHAG G[u]Y Rugged as in the rug you walk on I presume |
| 12 |
NAIL POLISH Skewer tongue |
| 15 |
SEDATIVE SE[x] then I and V inside DATE |
| 16 |
BIGHEAD BIG HEAD I was going to say something brilliant about this clue - but you lot might have got the wrong idea about me:
Cocky sort who gives great oral sex (7) |
| 17 |
SEQUIN Q[uestion] inside (IN USE)* |
| 19 |
NAWABS A[merican] W[ife] inside NABS (bags) |
| 21/24 |
BIRD-BRAIN Hen + bash = Dumbo |
Posted in Private Eye/Cyclops | 2 Comments »
Posted by beermagnet on 3rd March 2008
For me, this was harder than usual - I ended up tackling it over three sessions. Yet again I’m not sure everything below is correct or fully explained. As a result I didn’t enjoy it that much - but that’s probably me panicking while staring at the wide open spaces in the unsolved 6 or 7, and wondering what the hell I was going to put in this blog for them.
| Across |
| 7 |
BEHEADED First pass I wrote Beheaded or Headless by the clue - at that point I thought the crossword was going to be an easy solve - but it did set the precedent that for several answers checking letters were required before the correct answer could be confirmed |
| 8 |
MONGOL MO-(LONG)* Maybe. I do not know this as a language (”tongue”). Surely Mongol is a member of the race while the language (tongue) is Mongolian? Full clue:
Short girl sporting long tongue (6) |
| 9 |
DIPSO DIP-SO I was so tempted to write in “crawl” on the first pass |
| 10 |
STRAPPING DD One of those Private Eye double defs |
| 12 |
UTERUS (TRUE)* Us = Private Eye. One of very few I solved on the first pass |
| 13 |
PATELLA Last one in - is it right? How does it work? Full clue:
Joint certain terrorists often chose for getting smashed (7)
Aha - kneecapping - Ugh |
| 16/26 |
OSCAR ACCEPTANCE SPEECH CD Well timed clue |
| 19 |
SESSION S from paiSley’s heart, then IS in NOISE reversed. Favourite clue:
Paisley’s heart is in rows over Assembly (7) |
| 21 |
DOODAH DOO-(HAD)* Maybe. Full clue:
Dick, as you might coyly say, having to pull off ring, had breakdown(6)
Don’t understand how to get DOO from “having to pull off ring” |
| 23 |
CORN DOLLY RN (sailors) and D (date) inside COOLLY |
| 25 |
BEHAN EH for “didn’t catch that” inside BAN for bar. Drunken writer had me thinking of Brendan B quite quickly: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brendan_Behan |
| |
| Down |
| 1 |
CHOPSTICKS STICK inside CHOPS “easy piece” I can think of better uses for two fingers - or feet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZRPM1Fn-Aw |
| 2 |
LABOURER LABOUR-E-R Hired hand |
| 3 |
CENSUS Is this supposed to be a homophone of Censors? Full clue:
Almost sounds like editors count! (6) |
| 5 |
UGLI Homophone Ugly. I was unsure whether the answer should be ugli or ugly but luckily the final letter is checked. Full clue:
Hideous, being given ‘oral’treatment in the fruit store (4) |
| 6 |
FLAGWAVER FLAG-WAVER One of the answers I was stuck on - not sure why now |
| 7 |
BODY D inside BOY as in “Oh Boy” |
| 11 |
RUPEE UR reversed then PEE. I normally expect Ur to be indicated by “ancient city” or similar rather than just “city” |
| 14/4 |
LANCASHIRE HOTPOT (CASTRATION HELP HO(use))* This nice big juicy anagram was my way into the puzzle |
| 15/22 |
WORST-CASE SCENARIO CD I initially wasted time on this searching for anagrams involving “A more dire” |
| 17 |
CANAL C-ANAL |
| 18 |
TROMBONE TOM BONE with R at 2nd spot. Did you know Trombone in french also means paperclip. NALOPKT. I’m not sure why that pleased me so when I discovered it the other day. |
| 20 |
IL DUCE (CLUE DI)* When dictator is mentioned in a clue Mussolini is often found. One of very few I solved on the first pass |
| 21 |
DRY ICE CD Referring to the use of solid CO2 to fog up a stage. This can be very effective as in a Dame Edna Everage show some years ago when (s)he was taking a few curtain calls and was sneakily attached to some crane arrangement. When the fake-fog clouded up the whole auditorium suddenly there was the harpy flying through it like some demented David Bowie, flying through the air towards the circle, flinging gladioli all round. Very frightening. |
| 22 |
UNDO I presume this is a cryptic def. referring to the way old reprobates such as the 13th Duke of Wybourne relieve their conquests of their togs, but I can’t see why this should particularly lead to “undo” as opposed to, say, “peel”. Again, checking letters required here. Full clue:
Start removing clothes as an old seducer would do? (4) |
| 24 |
REEF Reefer with ER removed |
Posted in Private Eye/Cyclops | 5 Comments »
Posted by beermagnet on 18th February 2008
A lot of comedic sailors in the puzzle answers this time, what with PRATFALL crossing with SLAPSTICK and a raft of TARS, SALTS, SAILORS, RATINGS and SEAMEN. Strangely, I hadn’t noticed this mini-theme until writing this blog. Also strange in the circumstances - no sign of Ted Heath.
| Across |
| 1 |
STOOLS Double Def |
| 9 |
PRATFALL P-RAT-FALL P(arking) + Arse + Sink |
| 10 |
ADVISE (SAVED I)* |
| 11 |
NARCISSISM Reference to the beautiful hero of the archaic myth who falls in love with his own reflection |
| 12/15 |
ABLE SE(A)MEN |
| 13 |
EDIFYING (EFFING DIY)* minus one F (F-off!) |
| 16 |
SHMUCK SH-MUCK |
| 18 |
ROAD HUMP (b)ROAD |
| 20 |
SNOT (ma)N inside SOT |
| 21 |
ESTATE DUTY (A TESTE[s])* This was the only place I had any trouble with this crossword - due to a touch of silliness on the first pass I wrote in Excise Duty |
| 23 |
AFRESH AFR(ican) (SHE)* |
| 24 |
NAVY BLUE Sailors + Dirty = Shade |
| 25 |
OLD SALTS Getting on + Purgative = Sailors |
| 26 |
REGINA I inside (ANGER) reversed Brenda is ER in PE |
| |
| Down |
| 2/5 |
TARS AND FEATHERS I think this is a bit more serious than implied by the definition “smears”, the subsiduary part of the clue “Sailors with things that tickle” make it surprisingly easy |
| 3 |
OPTIC O then T (Thatcher’s head) inside PIC |
| 4 |
SLAPSTICK Socks + Second = Broad humour |
| 5/18 |
FALLING RATINGS Almost my favourite clue:
Sailors acting pissed not welcomed by TV bosses (7,7) |
| 6 |
ALARM LA (foreign article) inside ARM (member) |
| 7 |
HAVE A BASH Shag + Ace + Hit = Attempt |
| 8 |
RESOLVE (LOVER’S)* then E. What I find myself doing to write this blog a week after doing the puzzle the first time |
| 14 |
FAULTLESS This is my favourite clue:
Perfect, unlike a large slice of California? (9) |
| 15 |
START OVER S-TART |
| 17 |
HANDFUL Hidden in hammersmitH AND FULham |
| 19 |
METHUEN (THE MENU)* Publisher well known by me for publishing Monty Python books |
| 21 |
ETHEL T(ense) and H(ot) inside EEL. This answer reminds me of, and prompts me to recommend, the book “Ethel and Ernest” by Raymond Briggs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethel_and_ernest |
| 22 |
DEBUG E(lectronic) B (a musical key) inside DUG |
Posted in Private Eye/Cyclops | 1 Comment »