Garry Gillard > crosswords > solutions > 27186
This was lots of fun.
ACROSS1 E.g. Pancake Day hamper? (7,5) MOVABLE FEAST - Mardi Gras is movable because it's related to Easter, which is related to the phases of the moon (which is archaic, at least!) a 'hamper' is also a feast you can carry around - excellent dd
8 Conclude negative vote's a disaster (7) INFER,NO
9 Pre-publicity on the radio increasingly highly charged? (5-2) BUILD-UP - just a dd, I guess
11 Some on reflection uselessly fill unfillable void (7) NULLIFY - incl.
12 Drop fowl from behind, having permit (7) DRIBLET - BIRD rev. + LET (permission in racquet games)
13 Car wheel's sound (5) AUDI,O - where O is a wheel
14 Taking this turns friend into devil at once (5,4) RIGHT AWAY - take the R out of F(r)IEND - excellent clue - COD
16 Takes cue, perhaps, and breaks down (4,2,3) GOES TO POT - it's a cue in snooker, geddit? - 'breaks' is possibly working in both parts of the clue
19 Otologist, say, finding her area of expertise dull (5) DR,EAR
21 Vegetable lacking in hotel (7) AUBERG(in)E
23 Stint in lndia ends (7) TERM,IN,I
24 Taking home Anne, girl endlessly distressed (7) EARNING - (anne gir)*
25 I regret that Scottish cheese covers French bread (7) BRIOCHE - BRIE around OCH - which, here, is a Scot saying he's sorry
26 Gone to take corner (5,3,4) ROUND THE BEND - dd - 'gone' in the sense of 'gone insane'
DOWN
1 Subdued miss was forward (7) MUFF,LED
2 Doctor I try controls onset of rare medical condition (7) VERTIGO - VET (a kind of doctor) around R(are) + I + GO (try - as in 'have a go') - complicated
3 Bash goof up in unwelcome surprise (5,4) BOOBY TRAP - PART,Y BOOB - all rev.
4 Posh girl yours truly raised to get settled (5) EMBED - DEB + ME - all rev. - second in a row
5 English Literature is ultimately subject privileging the select few (7) E,LIT,IS,T - where T is the last letter of subjecT ('ultimately')
6 Salad's got a bit of earth on it —- proving this? (4,3) SOD'S LAW - SOD + SLAW - Sod's Law is more xenophobically known as Murphy's Law - it states that 'it something bad can happen, it will'
7 Replace ageing slang with ‘U' as digital expression (4,8) SIGN LANGUAGE - (ageing slang u)* - if you do with your fingers (sign), it's digital
10 At an early stage, continent's bananas went by rail (5-7) POTTY TRAINING - the brilliant element in this clue is the definition - you have to read 'continent' in that sense, and together with the first four words
15 Make reservation in restaurant that's accessible (3-2-4) GET-AT-ABLE - or 'get a table'
17 Trade restriction scary chap lifted with business expert intervening (7) EMBARGO - MBA inside OGRE rev.
18 Top person's rubbish, turning and twisting (7) TORSION - NO 1 (top person) + ROT - all rev. - that's the third clue of this type
19 Room to rest together and chill - will they have nibbles? (7) DORM,ICE - DORM(itory) - I have trouble spotting this word (and it occurs often) because I don't think we have dormouses in Australia
20 Indicated one man has kidnapped another (7) EVINCED - VINCE inside ED - typically weak clue approaching the end of setting
22 Loopy figure’s importance, bypassing the Head (5) (w)EIGHT
KEY
to abbreviations/terms/symbols which may have been used
(raga man)* = anagram of 'anagram'
cd = cryptic definition
dd = double definition
incl. = inclusive (hidden word)
def. = definition (synonym, literal)
rev. = reversed
anagind = anagram indicator
homophind = homophone indicator
surface - the apparent meaning of the clue, disguising what's really going on
&lit. - a clue in which the whole clue is the 'definition'
COD = clue of the day (imo); FOI, LOI, first/last one written in
Garry Gillard | New: 2 November, 2018 | Now: 3 November, 2018