Thank you to Gaff. Definitions are underlined in the clues.
Today, 23 June 2026 is the 10th anniversary of the referendum that led to Brexit. There are solutions (highlighted in the grid) connected with that event. There may be more that I’ve missed. (And for some reason, there are some Japanese-flavoured solutions.)
Across
1. False promise provided by drink containing dark grounds (6,7)
SUNLIT UPLANDS : SUP(to drink) containing(containing) UNLIT(dark) + LANDS(grounds).
Answer: A metaphor for a (false) promise. Also used by Leave campaigners to promise a prosperous, independent and a globally-focused future for the UK after Brexit.
10. Artificial summons to argue endlessly (2,5)
IN VITRO : [“invite”(a summons, say, to an event) “row”(to argue)] minus their last letters, respectively(endlessly).
Defn: …, or, in an artificial environment, in reference to, say, fertilisation of an egg.
11. Casts out houses (5)
SHEDS : Double defn: 2nd: …, or, outhouses.
12. Completely prepared to adore envy wrongly (4-5)
OVEN-READY : Anagram of(… wrongly) ADORE ENVY.
Defn: Used figuratively to describe plans or projects without any loose ends and are ready to be implemented.
13. Policeman’s bloomer causes catastrophe (8)
DISASTER : DI(abbrev. for “detective inspector”, a policeman)’S + ASTER(a flower/bloomer).
Answer: And also an opinion as to what Brexit was and is.
15. Winger to start wide, then wheel inside (6)
TOWHEE : TO + 1st letter of(start) “wide” plus(then) internal letters of(… inside) “wheel”.
18. Avoid rocky region (6)
IGNORE : Anagram of(rocky) REGION.
19/9. Grab support with key slogan (4,4,7)
TAKE BACK CONTROL : TAKE(to grab/seize) + BACK(to support/champion) plus(with) CONTROL(full name of the Ctrl key on a computer keyboard).
Defn: … of the Brexiters.
23. Set-back to filling pan with fawn (5)
KOTOW : Reversal of(Set-back) [TO contained in(filling) WOK(a frying pan used in Chinese cuisine) ].
Answer: …, an alternative spelling of “kowtow”.
25/21. Simple agreement derailed as European state gets difficult (7,5,4)
EASIEST TRADE DEAL : Anagram of(… gets difficult) [DERAILED AS + E(abbrev. for “European”) + STATE ].
Answer: Brexiter statement of what the post-Brexit free trade deal with the EU would be. But it was far from that – you might say that it was derailed.
26. Initial excitement around new song (7)
RONDEAU : Anagram of(… new) [ 1st letter of(Initial) “excitement” + AROUND ].
Defn: … in which a refrain is repeated.
27/24. Unfortunate defections will fund shot in the foot (4-9,5)
SELF-INFLICTED WOUND : Anagram of(Unfortunate) DEFECTIONS WILL FUND.
Answer: And also an opinion as to what Brexit was and is.
Down
1. Orders report on getting off (5)
SECTS : Homophone of(report on) [ “sacks”(dismisses somebody, so they’re getting “off”) OR “sex”(activity in which somebody gets off/gets immense pleasure) ]. In either case, I can’t fully explain the connection, so that’s probably the wrong parsing.
Defn: …/formal societies of, say, individual groups of monks.
2. Could be robot’s cipher (9)
NONPERSON : Double defn: 1st: …, a non-human; and 2nd: An insignificant someone.
3. From a mountain rose pillboxes (5)
INROS : Hidden in(From a) “mountain rose”.
Defn: Traditionally small Japanese containers used to keep, eg. medicines.
4. Release top chemist hugging ladies, perhaps (8)
UNLOOSEN : “Bunsen”(Robert, German chemist) minus its 1st letter(top …) containing(hugging) LOO(slang for a toilet, an example of which/perhaps is the “Ladies”).
5. It’s substituted for whiskey in inferior lounge (6)
LOITER : IT replacing(…’s substituted for) “w”(letter represented by “whiskey” in the phonetic alphabet) in “lower”( underneath, say, in status/inferior).
6. Broken toe lost over one metre, no longer (9)
NEVERMORE : Anagram of(Broken) [“toe” deleted from(lost) “over one metre”].
7. Starts to struggle, unwilling to read an instruction manual (5)
SUTRA : 1st letters, respectively, of(Starts to) “struggle, unwilling to read an instruction”.
Defn: … in Eastern philosophies and religions.
8. Commemoration of final days with keyhole surgery (4,4)
HOLY WEEK : Anagram of(… surgery) [ W(abbrev. for “with”) + KEYHOLE ].
Defn: … of Jesus Christ in Jerusalem.
13. A lot of mesh likely to turn up around cleavage (5,3)
DRIFT NET : Reversal of(… to turn up, in a down clue) TEND(likely/prone) containing(around) RIFT(a split/cleavage).
Defn: …/interwoven threads.
14. Perform strongly in court without break? (5,4)
SERVE WELL : In tennis, if a player wins a game when his/her opponent is serving, he/she is said to break service. Hence if the player serving wins the game, he has served well, without a service break.
16. Sincere man painting material (9)
HEARTFELT : HE(pronoun for a man) + ART(an example of which is painting, collectively) + FELT(a soft non-woven textile/material).
17. Reliant, maybe, on leading lady’s choice of very loud composer (4,4)
CARL ORFF : CAR(an example of which/maybe was any of the models manufactured by the former Reliant Motors) placed above(on, in down clue) 1st letter of(leading) “lady” plus(…’s) OR(signifying a choice of alternatives to be made) + FF(abbrev. for “fortissimo”, musical direction to play very loud).
Answer: …, German composer.
20. A bit of ash entails smut (6)
HENTAI : Hidden in(A bit of) “ash entails”.
Answer: A collective term for Japanese anime, manga and video games featuring explicit sexual themes and imagery.
22. Lots of topless idiots (5)
ASSES : “masses”(lots of) minus its 1st letter(topless).
23. King amuses not just international leading characters (5)
KANJI : 1st letters, respectively, of(… leading) “King amuses not just international”.
Answer: Chinese written characters adapted for writing in Japanese.
A mournful theme.
Another Brexit related clue is 12ac OVEN-READY referring to the post-Brexit trade deal.
Clever puzzle and excellent illustrated blog.
Thanks to Gaff and scchua.
You missed oven ready which was how the new trade deal was described.
Found that one tough. I think sects and sex are the supposed homophones, I think they are a little weak though.
SECTS
‘Get off with’ has a meaning of ‘have sex with’ in many dictionaries
(The C boss included).
ASSES
lots=masses or lots of=masses? If it’s just lots, then the clue
doesn’t seem to work all right.
My faves: SUNLIT UPLANDS and DRIFT NET
Thanks Gaff and scchua.
The sad theme nicely clued and lightened up with the towhee pic
Thanks all!
SECTS. A SECT can be an order. “reports on” is the homophone indicator.
If 1d is a homophone, it’s a very poor one.
I noticed Mr Pooter appearing in the middle of row three, and wondered whether there might be another anniversary, but I see The Diary of a Nobody was first published in 1892 so it must be a coincidence.
I think DRIFT NETS featured in Brexit too. I tried to find an “Ever” to go with the TRADE DEAL. It’s almost in SERVE WELL but not quite.
@Babbler #8 A quick Google search suggests that both Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings were accused of having Pooter-like traits…
Not to mention the person who made an [O] fortuna out of it.
Not an enjoyable experience, and we gave up with about a quarter unsolved. We hardly think the disaster of Brexit is a cause for celebration, and we’d never heard of hentai or kanji. Sorry Gaff, but thanks to scchua for the explanations.
Not living in UK, I observed Brexit from afar so most of these phrases were meaningless to me. This made it quite a challenge. Indeed, it was only at the very end that I realized what the theme was.
One question: HENTAI is Japanese, and does not mean smut. Did it get adopted into English? Never heard it and it is not in my dictionary. I guess it is possible that the meaning morphed if it is an English word somewhere in UK.
I kept going to the finish and found it a bit of a chore. 27ac, no doubt.
Thanks Gaff and scchua
Could the homophone for Sects be sexts? This was a well constructed puzzle but a sad anniversary to mark. Clear which side if the debate the setter landed.
Martyn@12: I could not find hentai in my usual print dictionaries. Collins online gives the meaning in British English as “a sexually explicit anime or manga”, more or less as indicated by scchua. Whether that in turn equates to “smut” is, I think, questionable.
I really dislike answers positioned the way EASIEST TRADE DEAL appears in this grid, and possibly that dislike acted as an inhibiting factor. I eventually gave up with no idea for that answer and did not think of DRIFT NET either. The connection between the verb TEND and the adjective “likely” seems quite loose to me – can anyone help on that? I wondered if HENTAI was a word, but did not enter it with two checked letters missing.
Thanks Gaff for the rest of the puzzle and scchua for the whole of the blog.
To loosen is to release, to unloosen is …?
Collins 2023 p 2166 gives “unloose or unloosen vb (tr) 1 to set free; release 2 to loosen or relax (a hold, grip, etc) 3 to unfasten or untie”. Ordinary language has these kind of oddities in it.
I found this hard. Made harder when I had an inkling about HENTAI and it wasn’t in the dictionary. I got there before the football started and I think the theme helped with SUNLIT UPLANDS and DRIFT NET. Heavy going though.
Thanks GAFF and scchua.
Thanks Gaff and scchua. A great achievement for Gaff to write this Brexit-themed crossword with a full nappy.
There’s probably a joke to be made at Gaff’s expense re 20 down too.
While I agree with the setter’s sentiments about Brexit, I have to say that I thought that puzzle was a load of nonsense. You’ve had better days, Gaff.