Slormgorm has some of his usual panache on display in today’s puzzle.
| ACROSS | ||
| 7 | HERO |
Leading man appearing in The Rocketeer (4)
|
| Hidden in (appearing in) [T]HE RO[CKETEER] | ||
| 8 | IMMODESTLY |
Repurpose my old items in a fresh way? (10)
|
| Anagram of (repurpose) MY OLD ITEMS | ||
| 10 | CURERS |
Successful doc finally stops folk smoking (6)
|
| CURER (successful doc) + last letter of (finally) [STOP]S, i.e., people who preserve, e.g., meat | ||
| 11 | NEAR MISS |
Miserly teacher getting a close shave (4,4)
|
| NEAR (miserly) + MISS (teacher) | ||
| 12 | HANDS OFF |
Don’t touch fruity bunches on holiday (5,3)
|
| HANDS (fruity bunches, i.e., of bananas) + OFF (on holiday) | ||
| 13 | IGNITE |
Light tipless fag with dope inside at last (6)
|
| [C]IG (fag) minus first letter (tipless) + NIT (dope) + last letter of (at last) [INSID]E | ||
| 15 | DENTAL HYGIENE |
Canine welfare service? (6,7)
|
| Cryptic definition, “canine” here being a tooth | ||
| 18 | WOMBAT |
Beastly type with club stealing medal (6)
|
| {W (with) + BAT (club)} around (stealing) OM (medal, i.e., Order of Merit) | ||
| 20 | WINE PALM |
Tree in, say, Red China close to mausoleum (4,4)
|
| WINE (say, red) + PAL (china) + last letter of (close to) [MAUSOLEU]M, with a capitalization misdirection | ||
| 22 | CAVALIER |
Supercilious old royalist (8)
|
| Double definition | ||
| 24 | MANAGE |
Bloke with a gun espied at the front? Run! (6)
|
| MAN (bloke) + A + first letters of (at the front) {G[UN] + E[SPIED]} | ||
| 25 | BALD-HEADED |
Dad restyled with blade? He’s saving on haircuts! (4-6)
|
| Anagram of (restyled) {DAD + BLADE + HE}. This clue has an &lit aura. | ||
| 26 | EASE |
Flirt taking top off provides relaxation (4)
|
| [T]EASE (flirt) minus first letter (taking top off) | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 1 | GET-UP-AND-GO |
Drive is what oversleeping worker might do (3-2-3-2)
|
| Double/cryptic definition | ||
| 2 | POSEIDON |
God’s attitude essentially mortified fellow (8)
|
| POSE (attitude) + middle letter of (essentially) [MORT]I[FIED] + DON (fellow) | ||
| 3 | FIASCO |
I like company, having over fellow failure (6)
|
| I think this parses as: F (fellow) + I + AS (like) + CO. (company), with “having over” indicating the order of the wordplay | ||
| 4 | IDEATING |
Drug stopping one in a relationship conceiving (8)
|
| E (drug) inside (stopping) {I (one) + DATING (in a relationship)} | ||
| 5 | ASHMAN |
US refuse worker entry to abnormally quiet island (6)
|
| First letter of (entry to) A[BNORMALLY] + SH (quiet) + MAN (island). I would not consider this word current in American usage. | ||
| 6 | PLUS |
Litre in drink must be knocked back? Good point! (4)
|
| L (litre) inside (in) SUP (drink) inverted (must be knocked back) | ||
| 9 | MAN OF THE WORLD |
Experienced chap damn fool threw off (3,2,3,5)
|
| Anagram of (off) DAMN FOOL THREW | ||
| 14 | THEOLOGIST |
Religious student hogs toilet getting changed (10)
|
| Anagram of (getting changed) HOGS TOILET | ||
| 16 | ATTAINED |
Accomplished criminal tainted by Mafia ultimately (8)
|
| Last letter of (ultimately) [MAFI]A + anagram of (criminal) TAINTED | ||
| 17 | EXPANDER |
Old brute with black eyes delivered in stretcher? (8)
|
| EX- (old) + homophone of (delivered) PANDA (brute with black eyes) | ||
| 19 | BRANDY |
Bishop wanting relations to get a stiff drink (6)
|
| B (bishop) + RANDY (wanting relations) | ||
| 21 | NOMADS |
Foolish to go in numbers to see Wanderers (6)
|
| MAD (foolish) inside (to go in) NOS (numbers) | ||
| 23 | AWAY |
A custom in another country, perhaps (4)
|
| A + WAY (custom) |