The puzzle may be found at https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/cryptic/30073.
I was happy to have avoided blogging yesterday’s Enigmatist, but if that one was easy for an Enigmatist (if that is not an oxymoron), I found today’s easy for a Brockwell, particularly in the top half. There is enough material built around 3D HORSE to constitute a theme, without being oppressive. Given the theme, I thought that 22D FLICKA was a gem in its brevity.
| ACROSS | ||
| 1 | HIGH TEA |
Spooner’s man from Bangkok makes meal (4,3)
|
| A Spoonerism of THAI, HE. Perhaps not the best of Spoonerisms, but the word ‘meal’ helps to obfuscate 10A. | ||
| 5 | TRIGGER |
Bouncer defending right cause (7)
|
| An envelope (‘defending’) of R (‘right’) in TIGGER (‘bouncer’; the Winnie-the-Pooh character who loves to bounce. “Bouncing is what Tiggers do best”). | ||
| 10 | FOUR |
Square meal left out (4)
|
| A subtraction’: F[l]OUR (‘meal’) minus the L (‘left out’). | ||
| 11 | GRANDSTAND |
Show off magnificent stomach (10)
|
| A charade of GRAND (‘magnificent’) plus STAND (‘stomach’, verb). | ||
| 12 | GIDEON |
Christian Bale finally doing wrong (6)
|
| An anagram (‘wrong’) of E (‘balE finally’) plus ‘doing’; for a member of Gideons International, which distributes free copies of the Bible). | ||
| 13 | TRUSSING |
PM briefly in front of No.11 preparing joint (8)
|
| A charade of TRUSS (Liz – in full Mary Elizabeth – the short-lived ‘PM’) plus ‘in’ plus G (‘Front of No. 11’, a reference to the answer to 11A, Grandstand), the ‘joint’ probably being prepared for roasting. The picture of the Prime Minister rolling a joint on Downing Street is delightful. | ||
| 14 | STUD FARMS |
Dr Faust confused by manuscript showing birthplaces of 6 and 28 (4,5)
|
| A charade of STUDFAR, an anagram (‘confused’) of ‘Dr Faust’; plus MS (‘manuscriot’). | ||
| 16 | SENSE |
Soundness of judgement is some change for Donald Trump in speech (5)
|
| A pun (‘in speech’) on CENTS (‘some change for Donald Trump’). | ||
| 17 | BOGGY |
3 whimsically entertained by youth’s description of Slough (5)
|
| An envelope (‘entertained by’) of GG (‘3 whimsically’ – 3D HORSE) in BOY (‘youth;). | ||
| 19 | SMACKDOWN |
3D wrestling match (9)
|
| A charade of SMACK (‘3’ – both HORSE and SMACK are slang for herion) plus DOWN (‘D’) | ||
| 23 | STEEPLED |
3 taking pulse oddly inspired? (8)
|
| An envelope (‘taking’) of PLE (‘PuLsE oddly’) in STEED (‘3’ -3D HORSE). | ||
| 24 | LIVERY |
Organ Symphony’s finale is uniform (6)
|
| A charade of LIVER (‘organ’) plus Y (‘symphonY‘s finale’). | ||
| 26 | HIPPOCAMPI |
Bits of grey matter in fish (10)
|
| Double definition; the fish are seahorses, fitting the theme. The brain region was so named for the resemblance of its shape to the seahorse. | ||
| 27 | SHOE |
Weeds cycling in Oxford? (4)
|
| HOES (‘weeds’) ‘cycling’, with an indication by example. | ||
| 28 | SHERGAR |
That woman in tattered clothing coming round for 3 (7)
|
| An envelope (‘in’) of HER (‘that woman’) in SGAR, a reversal (‘coming round’) of RAGS (‘tattered clothing’). Not as well known as 6D RED RUM, but another successful racehorse; when retired to a stud farm, he was kidnapped and held for ransom (the ransom was never paid, and the horse was not recovered). | ||
| 29 | CHARGER |
Spice Girl cut by tea tray (7)
|
| A charade of CHAR (‘tea’) plus GER[i] (Halliwell, ‘Spice Girl’) minus the last letter (‘cut’). Not the definition used by the clue, but another reference to the HORSE theme. | ||
| DOWN | ||
| 2 | IRONIST |
Club is ultimately perfect for George Bernard Shaw? (7)
|
| A charade of IRON (golf ‘club’) plus ‘is’ plus T (‘ultimately perfecT‘), with the question mark for the indication by example. | ||
| 3 | HORSE |
Hard rock capturing the heart of Mason Mount (5)
|
| An envelope (‘capturing’) of S (‘the heart of maSon’) in H (‘hard’) plus ORE (‘rock’). Brockwell often makes inventive use of real names; Mason Mount is a footballer who plays for Manchester United. | ||
| 4 | EUGENIA |
Plant from eastern New Guinea (7)
|
| A charade of E (‘eastern’) plus UGENIA, an anagram (‘new’) of ‘Guinea’. | ||
| 6 | RED RUM |
3 makes a killing after receiving a tip (3,3)
|
| A reversal (‘receiving a tip’ – that is, upended) of MURDER (‘killing’). One of the most famous Thoroughbred racehorses. His name came from his dam MaRED and sire QuoRUM. | ||
| 7 | GATESHEAD |
Billionaire boss in Northern town (9)
|
| A charade of GATES (Bill, ‘billionaire’) plus HEAD (‘boss’). | ||
| 8 | EL NINOS |
Climatic events during climbing season in Lesotho (2,5)
|
| A hidden (‘during’) reversed (‘climbing’ in a down light) answer in ‘seaSON IN LEsotho’. | ||
| 9 | PANTOMIME DAME |
Emma made point about cross-dresser (9,4)
|
| An anaram (‘about’) of ’emma made point’. | ||
| 15 | DIG DEEPER |
Pedigree dog’s heading off to investigate more thoroughly (3,6)
|
| An anagram (‘off’) of ‘pedigree’ plus D (‘Dog’s heading’). | ||
| 18 | OSTRICH |
Bird not up for courtship dancing (7)
|
| An anagram (‘dancing’) of ‘co[u]rtshi[p]’ minus UP (‘not up’). | ||
| 20 | COLTISH |
3 is hot and frisky (7)
|
| A charade of COLT (‘3’ – 3D HORSE) plus ‘is’ plus H (‘hot’). | ||
| 21 | WARZONE |
Spin bowler containing Australia up front? (7)
|
| No, not an anagram of ‘bowler A’. An envelope (‘containing’) of ZO, a reversal (‘up’ in a down light) of OZ (‘Australia’) in WARNE (most likely Shane, ‘bowler’, cricketer). | ||
| 22 | FLICKA |
Movie about mustang (6)
|
| A charade of FLICK (‘movie’) plus A (‘about’ – not a common abbreviation, but it is in Chambers). Flicka in the film of that name was a mustang, so that is a sufficient definition, or the entire clue may be read as an extended definition. | ||
| 25 | VISOR |
Counsellor spending a day in the shade (5)
|
| A subtraction: [ad]VISOR (‘counsellor’) minus A D (‘spending a day’). |
Nice puzzle, liked the gateway clue HORSE [has anyone else noticed that Mason Mount is almost without fail referred to by commentators by his full name? Another such is Declan Rice.]
For 10a (FOUR) I confidently put in UNCH (an unchecked square in a crossword). It works perfectly, if you ignore those pesky crossers.
Thanks, PeterO – needed you for SENSE and BOGGY.
TRIGGER presumably is a reference to Roy Rogers horse.
SHANE WARNE is/was a spin bowler.
Thanks Brockwell, too
Liked GRANDSTAND, TRUSSING (there must be such words to describe PMs with short tenure!), BOGGY,
HORSE, EL NINOS, WARZONE and VISOR.
Thanks Brockwell and PeterO.