Solving time 15 minutes
Nothing too difficult or obscure here. Standard Times cryptic that shouldn't cause too many problems.
Nothing too difficult or obscure here. Standard Times cryptic that shouldn't cause too many problems.
| Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | SCAMPERED - DES (French for some) reversed contains CAMPER; to Les Halles no doubt; |
| 6 | FOCUS - F(OC)US(s); the point at which rays converge; |
| 9 | TEA,ROOM - TEAR-O-OM; rush=TEAR; round=O; order (of merit)=OM; a tea room is a bit posher than a cafe?; |
| 10 | VENISON - (ele)VEN-IS-ON; that's the cricket out of the way for today; |
| 11 | PHASE - PH(r)ASE; a physically distinct form of matter; |
| 12 | TURBULENT - (blunt + true)*; Henry II description of Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury; |
| 13 | MATABELE - MAT(ABEL)E; Bantu language, a dialect of Zulu; |
| 14 | LIDO - L-I-DO; |
| 17 | OGRE - E(R)GO reversed; |
| 18 | CINEASTE - (I can't see)*; flicks=old slang for cinema; nice clue; |
| 21 | REFLATION - RE(F)LATION; the mother of unorthodox monetary policies; |
| 22 | TIROS - (I sort)*; |
| 24 | KNAVISH - (jer)K-(his van)*; |
| 25 | GRUYERE - G(R)UY-ERE; R from (ta)R(t); tasty Swiss cheese; |
| 26 | RATTY - reference Toad from Wind In The Willows; |
| 27 | RATEPAYER - RATE-P(l)AYER; pounds=libra=L; spend=removal indicator; rates were the local property tax before Council Tax; |
| Down | |
| 1 | SIT,UP - "sit" up gives "tis"; what one does on election night; |
| 2 | AS,A,MATTER,OF,FACT - (a star team)*-OFF-ACT; tried for ages to include "beaten" in anagrist; |
| 3 | PROVERBS - two meanings; |
| 4 | REMOTELY - R(TOME reversed)ELY; cause of domestic unrest; |
| 5 | DIVERS - two meanings; |
| 6 | FUNGUS - FUN-GUS(h); |
| 7 | COSMETIC,SURGERY - (mug is correct yes)*; not sure Jocelyn Wildenstein would agree; |
| 8 | SUNSTROKE - SUN-STROKE; pet=STROKE; |
| 13 | MOONRAKER - MOO-N-RAKE-R; a sail, a James Bomd film and people from Wiltshire are known as moonrakers; |
| 15 | MIDNIGHT - M(I'D-N)IGHT; the witching hour; |
| 16 | HEAT,PUMP - peat hump to Spooner; |
| 19 | PARITY - PAR(I)TY; |
| 20 | WITHER - WITH-ER; ER=The Queen; |
| 23 | SHEAR - S-HEAR; on edit: SHEAR is a term used in physics to denote a strain or stress that distorts format (or if one wants to be pedantic volume); aplologies for missing this off the original blog; |
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