I took 40 minutes to complete this very lively puzzle. I think 17ac may cause some trouble in some quarters but I got the reference straight away and I'm a fan of the act in question so I enjoyed it. I've not explained every last detail, so if there are any questions I shall be pleased to deal with them later if somebody else doesn't get in first.
Curly brackets indicate deletions
Curly brackets indicate deletions
Across | |
|---|---|
| 1 | BABY-BOOMER - BABY (address for beloved), BOOMER (skipper - i.e. kangaroo) |
| 6 | CAST - AS (when) inside CT (court) |
| 8 | ABATTOIR - Anagram of BOAR AT IT |
| 9 | GRANNY - Apart from being an old(er) lady, granny is a type of knot, which sounds like "not" when spoken or "related" |
| 10 | GALA - GALA{had} (knight - one of King Arthur's) |
| 11 | STIRRUP CUP - Cryptic definition. This is drunk at the "meet" when hounds and people gather prior to a hunt. |
| 12 | SCRUMMAGE - SC (scene), RUMMAGE (rifle) |
| 14 | AGENT - GEN (information) inside AT (engaged in) |
| 17 | EVADE - EVAD{n}E. I expect some of our overseas solvers (and possibly some of the native ones) will be mystified by this. Dr Evadne Hinge is the fictional persona of George Logan, one half of the performing duo Hinge & Bracket, a drag act who delighted audiences for some three decades from 1972 onwards with their fine music and catty repartee. Patrick Fyffe aka Dame Hilda Bracket died in 2002 but George is still around, so this borders on the inclusion of a living person. |
| 19 | PIROUETTE - ROUÉ (debauchee) + TT (on the wagon - teetotal) inside PIE (maybe shepherd's) |
| 22 | OVERCOOKED - 0 (duck), VER{y} then OK (approved) inside COED (school) |
| 23 | OBOE - OB (Russian river - one I'd not heard of), O{n}E |
| 24 | ALCOVE - CO (business) inside ALE (beer) |
| 25 | ESPRESSO - E (English) then PRESS (papers) inside SO{ft} |
| 26 | DIET - DIE (long), {parliamen}T |
| 27 | DISAPPROVE - Anagram of SAID, PP (very quietly), anagram of OVER |
Down | |
| 1 | BEAU GESTE - {h}UGE inside BEAST (animal), E (energy). This can be defined as a gracious but usually meaningless gesture. |
| 2 | BRAWLER - W (with) inside anagram of BARREL |
| 3 | OPOSSUMS - OP (work), OS (very big), SUMS (quantities) |
| 4 | MORNING SICKNESS - Anagram of CONGRESS IN MINSK |
| 5 | REGARD - RAGE reversed inside RD (road) |
| 6 | CHAMPAGNE - Sounds like "sham" (false), "pain" (bore) |
| 7 | SUNBURN - UN (A in French) + BURNS (poet) with the S moved to the front |
| 13 | UNDERFOOT - Cryptic definition. The Labour Party was led by Michael Foot from 1980-1983 |
| 15 | THEREFORE - {h}EREFOR{d} (cattle) inside THE (article) |
| 16 | SOLD A PUP - S (small), OLD (antique), A, P (penny), UP (dearer) |
| 18 | VIVALDI - VI (six #1), then A (area) L{or}D inside VI (six #2) |
| 20 | TABASCO - A inside TAB'S (bill's), CO (commanding officer) |
| 21 | DOG-END - DO (cook), G (good), END (part) |