Well, inspired by Verlaine's recent
personae changes, I thought I'd change my avatar to something more relevant; but as nobody has commented on my hi-jacking of good old Rip Kirby - either with praise or condemnation - I'm going to be an owl again; I just love owls.
This puzzle took me 10 minutes to finish. It has some nice anagrams and neat clueing, there's nothing obscure, and we've got a horse racing clue again. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
| Across |
| 1 | ONE MAN BANDS - A nice witty cryptic to begin. |
| 8 | SLEIGHT - Insert LE = cross-channel article, inside SIGHT = vision; def. deception, as in 'sleight of hand'. |
| 9 | REMIX - Hidden reversed word in TA(XI MER)RILY; def. refreshed song. |
| 10 | OVEREATEN - OVER = regarding, EA = each, TEN(T) = canvas, endlessly; def. scoffed excessively. |
| 12 | DOH - HOD = what brickie carries, reversed; def. note. If you carelessly entered HOD, say DOH! and read the clue more carefully. |
| 13 | GROTTO - GROTT(Y) = unpleasant, mostly; O for old; def. cavern. Apparently grotty comes from 'grotesque', coined in the 1960's by the Beatles. |
| 15 | STUCCO - CUTS = hacks, turning over = STUC; CO = firm; def. wall decoration. For once, hacks are not journalists. |
| 17 | LEI - Reversed in F(IEL)D; def. ring of flowers. Hawaiian term for objects (usually flowers) strung together to be worn. |
| 18 | ROTTERDAM - ROTTER = rogue, MAD = crazy, backwards = DAM; def. Dutch port. Boring fact: The port of Rotterdam is the largest cargo port in Europe and the 10th largest in the world. |
| 20 | CRAFT - Ships are craft, and shipbuilders build them, and craft is handiwork; I can only smile. |
| 22 | PLASTER - P = soft (piano); LASTER = survivor; def. dressing for wound. |
| 23 | PRIME MOVERS - Amagram (indicated by 'involved') of (P RIVER SOMME)*, the P being plan, initially; def. chief architects. |
| Down |
| 1 | OBESE - O.B.E.s = honours, E = European; def. heavyweight. |
| 2 | EGG BEATER - EG = say, G B = Great Britain, EATER = diner; def. kitchen utensil. |
| 3 | ASTUTE - U = tip from you, inserted in (TASTE)*, indicated by 'poor'; def. sharp. |
| 4 | BAR - Double def., as in 'bar of music' and 'bar none'. |
| 5 | NOMADIC - I'D A MO = I had a moment, reversed = reflected, then inserted into NC for North Carolina, N(OM A DI)C; def. wandering. |
| 6 | SIXTH FORMERS - (SEXIST FROM HR)*; def. senior class members. |
| 7 | ASCOT GOLD CUP - (COULD GO PAST C)* the C from top of camel; def. racing trophy. The actual title of the race does not include the word 'Ascot', but there are other Gold Cups, like Cheltenham, on which shirts can be lost. I lost mine on Tied Cottage in 1980 (he won at 14/1 and was later DQ for theobromine traces, allegedly because a stable boy had given him a corner of a Mars Bar). |
| 11 | NOTRE DAME - NOT RED = either green or amber presumably; A M(iddle) E(ast); def. church. Good stuff. |
| 14 | ORIGAMI - O = over, RIG = equipment, AM I = is the writer; def. folding. Well, a specialised kind of folding. |
| 16 | STOP-GO - STOP = finish, GO = turn; def. proceeding fitfully, as in a stop-go policy. |
| 19 | DATES - Double definition. |
| 21 | TEE - A plane is one sort of TREE; it loses the R for 'runs out'. Tee-pegs are used by golfers to rest their balls on. |